'^^■■--^-^^>---->^:^;«;-X; ■ay ' r^ % ' ' . . N " A" %'"' ^^c % ^>?^ -^^VU LAW OP PLANETARY DISTANCE AND DENSITY. 33 soaring eagle ; from the inferior animals up to man, and from mankind to worlds — all assume forms at once spe- cific and peculiar to their kinds. Third : It will be ob- served, from the distances of the planets from the sun, as previously mentioned, that there is a regular or nearly regular increase, from one to the other, thus going to show that there was a law under which the expulsion of the planets from the primary solar nebulas was regulated ; that, in fact, they were not thrown off by mere chance or accident, but at regular intervals, and according to a fixed and previously arranged plan. This law (concerning the bearings of which we have still much to learn) was dis- covered by the celebrated Bode, and is expressed by say- ing "that the interval between the orbits of any two planets is about twice as great as the inferior interval, and only half the superior one." Fourth: Not only is there a fixed order in th^ relative distances of the planets from the sun, and from each other, but there is a similar order in their respective times of revolution. Thus, Mer- cury, the nearest planet to the sun, revolves around him in two months and twenty-eight days ; Yenus, in seven months and fifteen days ; the Earth, in one year and six hours ; Mars, in one year, ten months, and twenty-one days ; Vesta, in three years, seven months, and twenty- one days ; Juno, Ceres, and Pallas, in four years and some eight months each ; while Jupiter occupies eleven years, ten months, and seventeen days ; Saturn, twenty-nine years, five months, and twenty-four days ; and Uranus eighty-four years and twenty-seven days ! Here, it will ]je observed, the order of time is strictly in correspondence with that of distance, and we thus evolve a powerful in- ference in favor of the primary origin of all these bodies from the central sun around which they revolve — begin- ning with the most distant, as Uranus and Saturn, and terminating with the Earth, Yenus, and Mercury. The 34 THE FIRST DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. weight of these orbs, as compared with an equal bulk of water, undergoes a change somewhat similar — dimin- ishes outward from the sun. Mercury weighs more than seventeen times as much as water ; Yenus more than five times ; the Earth more than four ; Mars more than three ; Jupiter more than one ; while that of Saturn is barely half as great. Thus, an individual who weighs one hun- dred pounds on the Earth, if removed to Mercury, would weigh nearly four hundred pounds ; while, if transferred to Saturn, he would dwindle down to fifty pounds. This law is accounted for in the superior density of all bodies toward their centre, and applies equally well to the Earth itself as to the planets in general. The nearer w^ approach to the centre of the Earth, the greater becomes the force of attraction ; and it is precisely thus with the planets in their relation to the sun. The weight of the waters of the sea is such that, beyond a certain ascertained depth, the minute corals and mollusca that inhabit it, and fill the waters with their comminuted slime and chalk, cannot live. The radiation of light is a good illustration of the law which graduates the density of planets. To illustrate : let the letter A represent a light. Let B repre- sent the surface upon which the light A is reflected, which we may suppose to be distant one hundred feet ; at the distance of two hundred feet, the light of A would occupy at G four times the surface that it did at B, but would lose correspondingly in density. At the distance of three hundred feet, D, the light of A would cover nine times Ihe extent of surface as at B, but with still diminished density ; while at E, being four times the distance, the light would expand to sixteen times its original area ; but in each case its density would decrease, like that of milk diluted with similar proportions of water. This law of variation ac- cording to the square of the distance, applies equally to all physical forces which are capable of radiation from a THE KNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN. 35 central nucleus, as gravitation, heat, electricity, magnet- ism, steam, sound, etc., etc. While the human mind may imagine the origin of worlds, in the manner here suggested, and find much to support the hypothesis in the known and familiar laws of nature and matter, it is yet utterly incapable of proceeding further. It cannot comprehend — it cannot conceive, for a single moment, how, where, or when the great Creator obtained the seemingly varied materials with which he has constructed so many millions of radiant worlds. It cannot conceive any plausible explanation of forces, even. Things which we daily see and feel, as light, heat, air, ^llectricity — or which we daily handle, as gold, silver, iron, sulphur, or any of the other sixty-two simple elements or substances with which we are acquainted — nobody can satisfactorily explain their primary origin, or trace them back to the laboratory whence they were evolved. We see them — observe their effects — and perceive that they all work agreeably to law. We thus detect a primary cause — a Creator who acts by a plan. We see him in all things — from the minute atom or particle to stupendous globes ; — yet we cannot even imagine his vital or personal embodiment, much less can we imagine his origin. All these are points, the solution of which can only be deter- mined by God himself; — they are not for man. It is enough for us to know that worlds exist within worlds ; that whole systems and universes revolve in space, so far distant from our own that no conception can be formed of the intervening space ; and yet, all that we can see or learn concerning them, shows that there is universal law, order, and harmony among them all. Now, supposing the planets of our system (twenty-two in number, with perhaps an equal number of satellites or moons,) to have primarily belonged to the sun around which they revolve, and to have been successively thrown 36 THE PmST DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. off in the manner indicated ; we may assume that the sun previously stood in the relation to the other systems that these planets now occupy to him. In the beginning, therefore, the elements now comprising manj- globes, comprised but one. There was absolute unity, the em- bodiment of which was the Creator himself. In him all things centred, and upon the exercise of his volition, all things sprang or irradiated, — each particle of matter, or force, or principle, being clothed with powers for combi- nation, affinity, and relation to other particles, in the union of which life was inclosed as in the seeds of fruit. After the planets had been thus irradiated, they were kept in place by an inherent propensity to return back into uni% — a propensity which may be termed the law of gravita- tion. But, in consequence of the superior velocity of the primary sun around which they revolve, and the varied relations which they respectively owe to each other, there is no possibility of their fusion, and hence, the two opposing forces of attractive gravitation and diffusive re- pulsion, merely serve to keep them in constant motion around the primary source. As to the earth itself: When we reflect how easily, by the mere change of temperature, water is converted into ice, or dissipated into steamy vapor — how copper, lead, or any other mineral or rock, may be made to bubble and boil in liquid fire at our feet, there is little real diffi- culty in the way of tracing the earth, according to the nebular hypothesis, throughout all the stages of a gaseous, a liquiform, and thence into that more dense, compact, and solid condition preceding the great purposes it was to subserve in the almighty design. The combination of oxygen with hydrogen, in certain equivalents, produces water ; the compounds of carbon with both, form the great bulk of all vegetation and animal substances. These and other chemical compounds, comprise the solid WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS. 8T body of the earth, and of the atmosphere around it ; and hence, its origin from the nebulous elements abounding in universal space, is merely a chemical phenomena, so far as its aggregate particles have been formed and attracted to each other. If the embryo foetus of animals be instinct with the vitality that is to bear them onward through the various stages of birth, of youthful development, and mature age ; it may likewise be assumed that these nebulous bodies inherit primarily the light, or heat, or vital principle necessary for their subsequent develop- ment into planets, and for the discharge of all those func- tions in the future, which the unchanging laws of the universe impose. And the same law that originates and sustains organic life, and causes earthly and mineral atoms to cohere, has formed the world — for these are in fact but the great aggregate compounds of innumerable and inde- pendent atoms. A drop of water suspended from a trembling leaf, is as much, as completely a world to the animalculae that inhabit it, as our world is to us ; — and very likely the phenomena outside and around them, appear to their microscopic vision as stupendous, and wonderful as the other worlds that are suspended around us. The air, the ocean, and the earth, teem with minute worlds, inhabited by creatures so inestimably small that the highest powers of the microscope are often insuflicient to reveal them, and yet our world is nothing but the com- bined aggregate of the whole, as the great universe itself is but the aggregate of millions upon millions of other worlds, many of them far exceeding the dimensions of our own. As to the formation of the earth : if Moses, inspired by prophecy, could penetrate the narrow vistas of the future, there is every reason to infer that the past was not beyond the reach of his mental vision ; but that, like 88 THE FIRST DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. " Caethus, the seer, his comprehensive view The Past, the Present, and the Future knew. In ancient times the seers and soothsayers comprised a numerous, if not always a somewhat influential class ; and though they did not invariably pretend to divine in- spiration, they yet often directed the most important movements of armies and of states. The oracles of Greece were the most potent institutions of the confedera- tion ; and that of Delphi was endowed with the richest spoils of victory, and the most magnificent offerings of kings and states. As it would seem to be perfectly con- sistent with the whole theory and practice of prophecy, we have a right to suppose that the description he gives of the creation was revealed to Moses in a series of Ideal Tableaux, corresponding to the six calendar days or cos- mogonal eras. These tableaux or pictures would, of course, delineate only the more prominent features of each day or formation, leaving the subordinate incidents or details in the background of Time. When Moses, therefore, lifting the vail that revealed the unshaped embryo of the world, declares that " in the be- ginning God created the heaven and the earth, and that the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep," he simply describes a phenome- non which the nebular theory reclaims from mysterious obscurity. " He created the heaven and the earth ;" that is to say, he created the substances of which the heaven and the earth are composed : for if any thing more or be- yond, the embryo was created " in the beginning," there would obviously have been no occasion for the subsequent six days' creation, during which the earth was being gradually developed for its future purposes. The heaven was first in the order of time, and it was only the earth that was without form at the era which Moses describes — the THE EARTH IMPREGNATET WITH LIFE. 39 heaven having evidently been complete. From this the substance of the earth was derived, and impregnated with the creative vitality — for " the spirit of God now moved upon the face of the waters;" or, in other words, God moved the waters, or caused motion to exist on the face of them, or throughout the entire body of the elemental mass. We must here bear in mind that words often lose their original meaning. While it is natural for us to sup- pose that the spirit of God moved like a spectre on the face or the surface of the waters, the truth is that the word face was formerly equivalent to our word through- out, and therefore implies that the spirit, moving as it did, communicated to the waters, or the half-hquid nebula, the force and strength and animation of his volition. In brief, the embryo earth thus became a living foetus in the womb of the Universe, and had now entered the period of gestation. " And God said, Let there be light ; and there was light ; and seeing that it was good, divided the light from the darkness." It will be borne in mind that light is not only reflected from nebulous bodies, but that, in conse- quence of its solar derivation, it forms an inherent con- stituent of their composition ; hence, on attaining a certain degree of density, they are resolved into luminous globes. It was thus with the earth. Light, or rather heat, emerg- ing from the elements thus chemically combined, was separated from the original gloom. It was not, perhaps, the flaming light which results from the combustion of gases, but rather the radiated heat of molten or liquid matter — such as is reflected from incandescent bodies, or such as now comprises the liquid atmosphere of the sun. The solar atmosphere which surrounds our earth had no existence upon it at that time — the heat having been confined to the centre while the opaque exterior was un- dergoing refrigeration. Consequently, there could have 40 THE FIRST DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. been no such day as ours, and for the sufficient reason that the world had not yet come under the direct and equable influence of the sun, but existed for an indefinite period as an incipient or embryo nebulous planet, "Let there be light," said God ; and forthwith light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, Sprang from the deep, and from her native East To journey through the air)' gloom began, Sphered in a radiant cloud — for yet the sun Was not 5 — she in a cloudy tabernacle Sojom*ned the while. God saw the light was good, And light from darkness by the hemisphere Divided — light the day, and darkness night, He named. This was the first day, even and morn." Miltotk, THE SECOND DAY— ASTRONOMICAL. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firma- ment, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. The earth which we inhabit occupies a position in that broad belt stretching over the firmament which, from its nebulous aspect, has been termed the Milky Way. Al- though this zone is studded with millions of worlds, many of them immensely larger than our own, its prevailing aspect, as indicated by the name, is that of nebulosity ; and in connection with the supposed primary origin of our globe, this fact betrays a great deal of significance. From unshapen nebulosity, the earth passed into a fluid condition, having its inherent heat in the centre, as the axis. The earth is therefore described by Moses as a fluid — as a vast globe of water ; and such, in fact, it was, and is even now. While water itself, in the form of seas and rivers, occupies more than three-fourths of the actual surface of the earth. Its elements, in the form of hydrogen and oxygen, mainly fill the air. Its presence in organic life is equally as great as in inorganic substances. A man, for example, who weighs 154 pounds, is made up of 116 pounds of water — leaving but 38 pounds of dry matter ; while in lower animals the quantity of water is still 'comparatively greater. Some aqueous animals, in- (41) 42 THE SECOND DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. deed, contain 99 per cent, of water in their solid compo- sition. The original fluidity of the earth, therefore, as here described by Moses, is one of those singular and extraordi- nary facts which, although little suspected by the popular mind, is incontestibly established by the testimony of nature. When the phenomena of the second day were revealing themselves to the mental vision of Moses, the young or embryo earth had already surrounded its interior heat by a wall of sub-aqueous granite — that is, while the exterior surface was a boiling sea, the interior heat was surrounded like the shell of an egg, by an earthy precipitate congeal- ing into crystalline rock.- This was the immediate result of calorific sublimation, as opposed to the external ten- dency to refrigeration. The pores of the rocky shell, however, were easily penetrated by the overlying water, while they also served as conduits of the interior heat. The carbon (of the heat) thus operated as a liberator of the oxygen of the water, and upon its partial decomposition, or rather its evaporation, the volatile gases were dispelled into the surrounding atmosphere. Water thus decom- posed would leave behind its earthy precipitates, and evolve iron, sulphur, alumina, lime, or whatever solids remained in the rocks thus accumulating. In the mean time, the steamy evaporation compelled the gases to form new combinations with the ether (a substance believed to exist, but of unknown qualities), and nothing could have been more natural than for these (especially in view of the lightness of hydrogen) to arrange themselves into an arching vault over the vast plain of boiHng water beneath — or rather, the vast concave surface of boiling oceans. Constantly and regularly widening, with the increased evaporation or liberation of the aqueous mass below, it was finally transformed into that magnificent ethereal dome, strung with myriads of glittering jewels, which we THE FIRMAMENT — WHAT IS IT? 43 see suspended over us, and which, in fact, merely adapts itself, as Moses implies, to the convex surface of the earth. And here, again, we have another beautiful illustration of the divine origin of the Mosaic revelation. The ancients almost universally regarded the firmament as a solid crystalline body, to which the stars were attached as if by metallic rivets. At the same time the surface of the earth was very generally regarded as a level plain. In- deed, the Church of Rome, at one period, made it heresy to doubt this proposition, with others equally absurd. But long anterior to this, and in the face of all the acade- micians and philosophers of his own and subsequent ages, Moses enunciated a cosmogony utterly at variance with the old philosophy, and the truth of which seems to have been reserved for the Telescope, and other modern appli- ances, fully to establish. Now, in the original Greek, biased by the then prevailing speculations, the word firma- ment here used is translated to signify a concave with a solid base ; but it appears that, on referring to the original Hebrew text, it is found strictly to imply a vast space without limitation ! Even the great Kepler at one time regarded the earth as a stupendous animal, who, breath- ing in and spouting out the waters of the ocean like a whale, occasioned the ebbing and flowing of the tides I Yet, here we find Moses, several thousand years in ad- vance, calmly and briefly detailing the cosmogony of the earth, and its varied creation, according to the concen- trated and constantly accruing /ac^s of six thousand years I He was, in fact, not only in advance of his own age, the age of Egypt in its highest power and glory ; but he was in advance of Greece, by whom he was translated, in its highest power and glory ; and he remains still in advance — far in advance of modern Science, and of an age unex- ampled in wisdom and intelligence ! But, unlike preceding ages, the discoveries of modern times tend to the con- 44 THE SECOND DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. firmation of his cosmogony ; and every progressive step ' — every fresli incursion into the mysterious domain of Nature, only establishes the sublimity and depth of his penetration, and the absolute purity and extent of his inspiration. But the process of evaporating or separating the waters was by no means a slow or tame one. It was accelerated by the most terrific volcanic action, the necessary prelude to the gigantic object to be attained. In anticipation of the birth of animated nature, with which the young earth was now pregnant, and in view of the great events to occur in the succeeding days, there crept beneath those vapor-enveloped seas a dull, complaining, and rumbling sound — faint and half-suppressed at first by the hissing waters, but rising anon in might and strength, like con- tending armies of defiant thunderbolts, whose glittering sabres throw off the vivid lightning's flash. Then fol- lowed fast, and then faster still, the stifling, choking volcano, every new explosion vomiting up lurid smoke, and scalding steam, and fantastic clouds of glaring fire I The earth shuddered ! Its seas roll up in savage tem- pest-tossed billows ; its submarine floors of granite break in deep and lengthened gulfs, while the elemental warfare still continues with redoubled strife within its cavernous bowels. Around — above — beneath — all was now one grand, seething, hissing, roaring, eruptive caldron ! No animal — no living creature was. on the earth. No fish was in the sea. No bird spread his soaring pinions in the air! No flowers bloomed. No trees waved their spread- ing foliage to the breeze ; — but, amid the dusky atmosphere of poison — amid the detonations of hydrous oxygen, the stifling fumes of sulphur, the mephitic vapors of azote, and the scorching avalanches of porphyritic soot, the young Earth groaned in labor, and at every convulsive throe, THE BIRTH OF ANIMATED NATURE. 45 fragments of molten rock, huge as high Olympus, fell in fiery tempests on her heaving breast I Such were the extraordinary convulsion* which char- acterized the second, and aided the operations of the third day. Toward the evening, when the waters began to withdraw like the ebbing of the tide, vast regions of sub- merged lands struggled with the shallow surfs to escape the dominion of the sea. The rocks thus emerging com- prise the most extensive and wide-spread groups in the stratification of the earth, forming, as they now do, the central nucleus of the most elevated mountain chains that distinguish its surface, and the solid basis upon which all the others rest. They are the family of granites, and the immediate progenitors of the volcanic rocks that resulted from the disturbance of the primary shell surrounding the interior heat. There is scarcely a district in Europe, Asia, or Africa, in which these rocks do not exist — though the more recent groups are often deposited over them in irregular patches. In America they constitute at least three-fourths of the surface, covering the greater portion of Canada and Russian America, and stretching in an uninteiTupted belt along the Pacific Ocean, from South America to CaUfomia, Oregon, and Behring's Straits. In the United States an irregular, though continuous belt of igneous rocks extends along the Atlantic slope, from Maine to Georgia ; on the one side, running parallel with the Ter- tiary, which dips into the ocean, and on the other with a group of the New Red Sandstone, lying to the north- west. They also cover a large surface in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan ; while they occupy nearly the whole extent of the Rocky Mountain country. As these are the lowest rocks yet discovered in the earth, and the most widely distributed, there can be no 46 THE SECOND DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. question whatever as to their being also the oldest. Granite itself is composed of mica, quartz, and felspar — . the latter predf>minating. Being crystalline and unstrati- fied, it bears equal pressure in every position, and hence is largely employed in architecture. The rocks comprising the inclosing circle of the interior heat, are usually termed Plutonic, to distinguish them from those immediately subsequent, which are volcanic. The two combined are termed igneous rocks, and are thus distinguished from the metamorphic. The Plutonic include granite, syenite, and eurite ; the volcanic— which are the others differently amalgamated by fusion — are basalt, greenstone, claystone, porphyry, amygdaloid, and lava. Now, when the interior heat burst through the rind of granite, thousands of great streams of lava were discharged, in various quarters of the earth, from sub- marine volcanic craters. The fragments of rock were ground and shattered into pebbles and sand, in their upward passage, and their particles uniting with the liquid lava, spread over the bottom of the sea, the agita- tion and pressure of the water often giving them a wavy, irregular, and contorted structure. The ultimate effect of this universal and stupendous volcanic action (converting gases into liquids, and liquids into solids) was to bring from the watery waste a series of island reefs, united together by a reticulated chain of narrow peninsulas, stretching around expansive lakes, rivers, and basins, far into the ocean. These islands subsequently become continents. Although basalt, greenstone, claystone, porphyry, amyg- daloid, and lava, are the general names of the volcanic group, the various subsequent combinations of their par- ticles by sublimation, have produced a large family of other rocks, bearing specific names. For instance, clink- stone belongs to the group, being a combination of felspa. THE PRIMARY AND VOLCANIC ROCKS. 4t and quartz, and so named because of its ringing sound under the hammer. Trachyte and basalt often pass into clinkstone, by very gradual transitions. Diallage is synonymous with euphotide and gabbro, and is made up of euphotide and felspar, with occasional infusions of ser- pentine, mica, and quartz. Dolerite is merely another and a better name for greenstone (since it is not always re- cognized by color) and includes black augite, or hornblende and felspar, or augite, felspar and magnetic iron. Felspar forms an important ingredient in a great number of rocks. It is the base of felspar-porphyry, which contains crystals of felspar and quartz. Hornblende is composed mainly of black augite and iron, often mixed or imbedded in felspar. Hornstone is a species of flint, and only differs from com- pact felspar in its action before the blow-pipe. Obsidian is another name for lava. It is vitreous, and resembles the fracture of glass. Ophite is composed of hornblende and telspar, and becomes serpentine by the addition of talc. Pearhtone is somewhat similar to obsidian, and is thus named from its pearly lustre. FitcJiMone is another name for volcanic lava, and is so called from its resinous lustre. Porphyry is a stone abounding in large isolated crystals of felspar. Pumice is a spongy trachyte. Scoriae is volcanic cinder. Serpentine is a green rock, abounding in magnesia. Noble serpentine is a transparent mineral, sometimes aiffording gems. Syenitic greenstone is com- posed of felspar and hornblende. Trachyte is glassy felspar. Amygdaloid is so called from its cellular struc- ture, the cavities of which are in the shape of almonds. In Lake Superior these cavities are often filled with chlorite, and sometimes with copper. Besides the six or seven principal varieties of the vol- canic rocks, it will thus be perceived that there are a great number -of subordinate members of the family. These, however, only differ from the others in the propor- 4 48 THE SECOND DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. tions with which the original ingredients are united And chemical analysis shows that the leading elements in all of them were silica, alumina, and magnesia — there being comparatively but a trace of lime, potash, and man- ganese. Many of them, however, had a large content of oxyd of iron, as, for instance, augite, chlorite, diallage, epidote, hornblende, hypersthene, mica, olivine, etc. It may be suggested that because these rocks had not yet assumed the superficial characteristics of continents, they do not properly belong to the second day. But if they formed vast oceanic reefs, or incipient islands, it was sufficient, for Moses did not command the dry land to appear until the third day. In using the word dry land, he leaves us to infer the previous existence of rocky reefs and sub-marine continents ; and because they did not rise up in tall cliffs, is no reason that they did not exist as rocks, or that they do not belong to this geological era. As well, indeed, might the alluvial silt of submerged river estuaries be ranked with the primitive rocks upon which it lays, as for those rocks to be included with more recent formations. Again God said : Let there be firmament Amid the waters, and let it divide The waters from the waters ; and God made The firmament, expanse of liquid pure. Transparent, elemental air, diffused In circuit to the uttermost convex Of this great sound -, partition firm and sure, The waters underneath from those above Dividing ) for as earth, so he the world Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes Contiguous might distemper the whole frame : And heaven he named the firmament: so even And morning chorus sung the second day. — Milton, COAL AND MINERAL COMBUSTIBLES. THE THIRD DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas : and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. When Moses lifted the vail which revealed the picture of the Third Day, he saw the waters receding from the effects of the recent violent convulsions ; and as they withdrew, the land gradually emerged, and appeared con- spicuously in the scene. The command for the dry land to appear was based upon the capability its structure now possessed for drainage, and was only the necessary pre- liminary for that following, " for the earth or dry land to bring forth grass, and herb, and fruit. " After the land had thus emerged from the primitive seas, another group of strata was immediately commenced. This is called the Metamorphic, because the lithological nature of the rocks has been changed from an ordinary sedimentary to a crystalline, a compact granular, or fibrous structure. Beds of limestone were converted into white statuary marble, and particles of felspar and mica, or quartz and mica, united to form compact gneiss. The "(49) 50 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. heated and agitated waters sweeping around, and per- meating the long narrow islands and reefs, wore off their jagged edges and incoherent fragments, and carried away their comminuted debris into the adjacent seas, lakes, rivers, and basins, where they were spread out in thin laminae, or rolled into contorted heaps by the motion of Hie water and the reciprocal vibration of the floor beneath. It was thus that the extensive layers of gneiss, hornblende, mica slate, talcose slate, and clay slate were deposited. Their position to the previous rocks is unconformable, but it is nevertheless easy to pass from them to the volcanic, and thence to the primitive rocks below. An 'illustration presents itself all along the zone of primitive rocks, pre- viously referred to as extending parallel with the Atlantic coast, where most of them are adjacent and lead to the volcanic, and thence to those of the metamorphic varieties. This is owing to the fact that granite and the volcanic rocks formed the original reefs and islands, and hence now often appear on the summits of mountains, while the metamorphic occupy the slopes or the valleys below. These valleys, at the time of their deposition, were filled with water, and the debris from the islands gradually settled at the bottom. Now, although these rocks were elevated and changed by heat, it was not by means of direct volcanic eruptions, as in the previous case. It was by the more gradual expansion of the interior heat, the effects of which were felt at the weakest parts. This, owing to the pressure of the water, now that it had gradually collected into a great body, would be ir the vicinity of the islands ; and hence, while the heat was constantly baking and solidifying the soft mud in the lakes and basins, the islands and the basins themselves were gradually rising, higher and higher, from the water. In process of time, the water was entirely withdrawn ; the vast regions of dry land were redeemed, and the earth THE METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 51 was fully prepared, agreeably to the Divine command, to "bring forth grass, and herb, and fruit after his kind." And it may be added, that the silt thus exposed furnished a prolific soil for this purpose, containing, as it did, all the ingredients which the farmer, by the application of manures, now infuses into his soil. After the deposition of the metamorphic rocks (for- merly called the Transition), the earth seems to have generated or discharged a large amount of carbonic acid gas. It had most likely been generated in its bowels, and resulted from the spasmodic explosions of the interior heat. This is the more probable, from the fact that it has been diminishing in extent from the Paleozoic forma- tion down to the present time. If it was the result of gaseous explosions during volcanic action, the fissures that disruptured the strata of the globe allowed it to es- cape in great abundance, and, combining with the air, it was ag^in precipitated upon the earth in the form of vege- tation, and to the seas in grass, moss, algae, and half- vegetable corals and zoophytes. In fact, the beginning of organic life appears to have been simultaneous with the formation of beds of coal and limestone — the fossil- iferous layers of which, alternating with slate, sand, and shale, distinct and in combination, comprise the main ingre- dients in the rocks known respectively as the Cambrian, the Silurian, the Devonian, and the Carboniferous — all of which are properly included in a common Paleozoic era, since it was begun and terminated by violent convul- sions, and occupies a position unconformable alike to the preceding and subsequent rocks. This, I am well aware, is not the usual classification of geologists ; for although it is the system of Conybeare and others, many assign a separate era to the old red sandstone and coal, and thus directly, as well as by inference, recognize the priority of the marine animal life of the Silurian group over the 52 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. vegetation of the land. Such priority is in conflict with the order of nature and the authority of Moses, and I have never been able to discover sufficient grounds for its support. In geological order, what are termed non-fossiliferous rocks occupy two distinct formations — the one termed Igneous, or Plutonic and volcanic (as previously men- tioned), and the other Metamorphic, or stratified. The igneous rocks include granite and its varieties as pri- maries; and amygdaloid, porphyry, greenstone, and basalt as secondaries, or volcanic — all of which, bearing the traces of heat, exhibit no parallel lines of stratification. The metamorphic group comprises gneiss, hornblende, mica, talcose and clay slates ; and although they are stratified, it is assumed that none of them contain fossil remains — a proposition, so far as traces of vegetation are concerned, which I propose hereafter to question. The igneous rocks proper, it has already been re- marked, form the inclosing rind of the earth. As they are, therefore, the immediate result of its primary nebu- losity, undergoing the process of refrigeration, condensa- tion, and chemical combination, they properly belong to the work of the preceding astronomical days. Although they had not yet emerged from the water, they neverthe- less existed as rocks as fully as those now at the bottom of the ocean ; and they therefore belong, not to the day that withdrew the water from them, but to the day during which they were formed. The metamorphic group is not only diS'erent in its origin, but different in structure and character. Being the fcEtus which gave birth to organic life, it should be included with the Paleozoic formation, as the basis upon which to stand. There would, indeed, be no more propriety in dating the years, or geological eras of the animated earth, from the period of gestation^ than there would be in the case of an animal or a humaa GIVING OLD THINGS NEW NAMES. 58 being. Having been elaborated from the abrasion of the previous rocks, they exhibit a striking transition from them into those of the Paleozoic, and really form the very bed upon which life was first introduced on the face of the earth. The granite and volcanic rocks, therefore, belong to the evening of the second day ; while those of the metamor- phic introduce us to the morning of the third. This day I conceive to be represented by the paleozoic period ; and I shall proceed to point out some of the varied phenomena which distinguished it. The term paleozoic refers to the fossil remains of the ancient earth, and is usually applied by geologists to dis- tinguish those great systems of fossiliferous rocks, known as the Cambrian, the Silurian, the Devonian, and the Carboniferous. I .have enlarged its scope so far as to include those of the metamorphic, since these rocks form the basis of all the others, and very frequently are in- truded between them. I should not have assumed this freedom (with the respect I entertain for the ancient landmarks), had I not good grounds to believe, in addi- tion, that tlic}^ were originally fossiliferous, and exhibit the metamorphosed remains of a primitive vegetation. Some geologists, it is perhaps proper to state, do not adopt the word, notwithstanding its peculiar significance as applied to a great paleontological formation. Among these is Sir Charles Lyell, always great in small things, ' and sometimes small in great ones, but whose extensive travels and amiable literar}^ style entitle his works to all the respect they have received. Instead of the word Paleozoic, he adopts that of Prlmcu^y — primary fossilifer- ous ; but as this word is often applied to the Azoic, or non-fossiliferous strata, whose chronological priority none will question, its use is only calculated to mislead. Lyell, in fact, has invented more words, and made fewer bona 54 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. fide disccveries in geological science, notwithstanding his extensive travels and experience, than any leading geolo- gist in Europe or America. The truth is, that the accu- mulation of mere words is far in advance of geological progress ; and such is the confusion and complication of nomenclature among geologists themselves, that it is almost impossible to describe or identify strata without resorting to technical tautology. The propensity for calling old things by new names, invariably betrays the weakness of those who indulge it. * * I will here step out of my way to notice the most recent and the most absurd innovation of geological nomenclature ever attempted. The Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, commenced in 1836 and completed in 1869, is perhaps the most stapenddhs scientific trash ever collected together. The Surveyor, in his annual reports to the Legislature, arranged the leading geological formations of the State in numerical order. This, although a serious annoyance, and the sublimation of impracticable folly, was quietly submitted to, and our people in time learned to regard their native rocks as " No. 1," or '''No. 2," etc. For my part, I never attempted to master this nomenclature, but adhered to the old family names — names which, like that of Weller, have long been read of in history ; have, in fact, be- come classical in geological literature, and will stand with those of the sun and stars in cosmical philosophy. After having, for many years, used these numerical terms in all his previous annual reports, the official surveyor again presents himself, after a long absence (which the geological interests of the State never appear to have realized), clothed from head to foot in a new suit of unmeaning words. Two thousand heavy, cumbrous pages teem with the words Primal, Auroral, Matiual, Levant, Surgent, Scalent, Pre-meridian, Me- ridian, Post-meridian, Cadent, Vergent, Poneut, Vespertine, Umbral, Serai, etc. These terms, I believe, are based upon the idea of a Paleozoic day, and may be supposed to represent the hours. According to his own explanation, obscurely inserted in the preface to the first volume, they respectively imply the Dawn, Daybreak, Morning, Sunrise, Mounting Day, Climbing Day, Forenoon, Noon, Afternoon, Declining Day, De- scending Day, Sunset, Evening, Dusk, and Nightfall! Although these absurd terms are applied to a Paleozoic Day (a day which, by the way, he fails to describe in his report, except so far as pertains to the coal formation — for the mere incidental and obscure references to the charac- ieristics of the other fossiliferous rocks cannot be regarded as a geological GEOLOGY DWINDLING INTO VERBOSITY. 55 This increasing disposition to embarrass and complicato the Natural Sciences should be checked. More time and trouble are often wasted in overcoming the barriers of no- menclature thus surrounding ideas and facts, than in comprehending the naked facts themselves. Words should elucidate, not perplex and confound. The old geological nomenclature of England is tiiat of the English language everywhere. It originated in her mines and description), they could, wit;h much more propriety, be applied to geo- logical time as a whole — weeks, months, years; in which case granite would be Primal ; basalt, amygdaloid, porphyry, and other volcanic roc-ks, would be Auroral, or day-breaking rocks; Talc, mica, and the clay slates would be Mntinal; the Cambrian group would become Levant, or sun -rise rocks; the Silurians would be Sur gent, or mounting-day strata; and the Devonian, Sculents, or climbing-day rocks ! The distinction between sun- rising, mounting, and climbing, is not very perceptible as applied to rocks, but the idea is poetical ! Should another stratum of rocks, inter- mediate beticeen these, ever be discovered, their proper appellation would be m cannel-coal were erected, the most, prominent of which was from the coal of Breckenridge county, in Kentucky, and the coals of Coal river, and the Kanawha in Virginia. The oil thus obtained from coal served to furnish the dis- tinguishing name for all the liquids of that character now in the market, while the true coal oil itself has disappeared. So soon as it was ascertained that the oil obtained from coal was identical, or nearly so, with that found in a liquid state in saline wells, and in the natural springs abounding along the margin of the Alleghany coal measures, borings were made into the earth to obtain it. These borings, at first, were confined to the upper layers of the oil strata, and furnished only the oil which, in the course of ages, had been ejected by springs, and subsequently drained into the fissures of the overlying rocks. While the true oil- bearing strata occupy a position at and near those of the saline rocks, and generally occur from five hundred to one thousand feet below the surface of the ground, the oil and saline water, aided by the gases which are always asso- ciated with them, have driven them upwards, and difi"used them not merely over the surface of the earth, but into all the pores and fissures of the statified measures. In some instances the amount of oil thus held in the cavities of the overlying rocks, and in the seams and cracks of tlie alter- nate lamina, has been immense, and yielded extraordinary and unlooked-for results. Nevertheless, the deposit was merely superficial, and was in time exhausted. The ex- haustion of particular wells intimidated others from similar enterprises, while, in the mean time, the oil itself became so abundant as to overstock the market. For several years its value at the wells was less than one dollar per barrel, COAL OIL, WHISKEY, AND BRANDY. 14S and scarcely seemed to pay the cost of transportation. But the extraordinary cheapness and abundance of the substance stimulated inquiry into its character and quali- ties, and uses were soon created for it which suddenly enlarged the field of consumption, and greatly enhanced its value. The first use to which it was applied was for light ; but it required a long time to develop its qualities. The usual prejudice with which every new and untried ex- periment is assailed by the public, had to be overcome and lived down. Lamps to properly burn it had to be in- vented ; dangers which attended its combustion had to be corrected ; and every precaution taken in its preparation to prove its value, its safety, and its convenience. When the prejudice of the people was thus finally conquered, the oil found its way into every household in the land, and the demand for it rapidly increased. In the meanwhile, certain qualities of the oil were found to be adapted for lubricating machinery, either alone or by combination with other oils. Its cheapness, compared with mineral oils, was so great, that an extraordinary demand was created for this purpose — the railways and machinists all over the country becom- ing the principal consumers. At the same time, it was found that turpentine could bo distilled from it — that, in fact, the oil contained the same elements as were formerly distilled from the vegetable resins of the long-leaved pines of the Carolinas and Georgia ; and no sooner was this fact ascertained than it found its way into many new departments of art and manufactures, and became an article of export to France, England, and other portions of Europe. Its uses are now almost innumerable. Con- taining the bases which we extract from vegetation — be- cause it is itself derived from vegetation — it would be difficult to predict what it is not capable of being applied to. The writer of these pages, in a lecture which he delivered on the subject some five years ago, and which 10 Hi THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. was subsequently publisued in a pamphlet, predicted that it would ultimately be used as the base for alcoholic or spirituous liquors. "We thus find," if I may be permitted to quote from the pamphlet which is now before me, "we thus find in our coals and oils the ingredients that we have for ages been accustomed to look for in vegetation, in animals, and in fish. We can obtain from them the means to warm our houses, the gases to illuminate them, the oils and tallow to lubricate machinery, the turpentine and other spirits to supply the demands of the arts ; and no doubt we can, and will distil from them very good brandy, excellent camphene-gin, and old, oily, unctuous, Monongahela wkiskey /" It is perhaps needless to assure the reader that, when making this prediction nearly six years ago, it seemed too preposterous and absurd to give it the dignity of serious language. While I ventured to throw it out as a playful suggestion, I nevertheless had solid grounds to believe in its ultimate realization. A parallel case was in a prediction which I made, after the war broke out, and the supplies of pitch, resin, tar, and turpentine, which came formerly from certain of the South- ern States, were suddenly cut off by the blockade, would all be obtained by extracting them from our coals and petroleums. But, singular as the fact may appear, brandy is now actually distilled, and that, too, on a somewhat extensive scale, from the coal oils of Pennsylvania I And why not ? Do they not furnish the alcoholic base of spirituous liquors ? What, then, is to prevent their con- version into liquors of any desired quality ? Whiskey and brandy obtain oil by age — but in this case they can be made to obtain age by oil ! But perhaps a more important use reserved for coal oil in the future is its introduction as a fuel. The day may, indeed, be not far distant, when it will be economically used for heating houses, for driving locomotives and steam- COAL OIL FOR FUEL. 145 Bhips, if not for smelting iron. And why not ? Oil con- stitutes the inflammable principle of coal, as well as of vegetation. Coal and vegetation are alike associated with more or less earthy matter, which is precipitated as a slag or ashes during combustion. The ashes contribute nothing to the heat which the fuel creates, but are rather an incum- brance. Why not, then, employ the inflammable material direct ? To do this with economic advantage, it would seem to require only a mode of combustion adapted to the object ; for it is plain that a fire-hearth that will burn coal and wood would not answer to burn coal oil or the tarry bitumen containing coal oil. Experiments recently made in United States war steamers, under direction of the Navy Department, have demonstrated the practicability of using these oils as a fuel ; but as yet there appears to be no economical advantage, owing to the high price of the article. So soon, however, as we learn how to burn it, the cost saved in transportation over coal, and the proba- ble greater convenience of using it, will ultimately intro- duce it into fields of usefulness not now contemplated in our philosophy. The almost universal use to which the illuminating prop- erties of petroleum are now applied, with the constantly increasing demand for lubricating running machinery, has suddenly awakened new interest in the subject, and led to the investment of capital, under the stimulus of speculation, to a most stupendous extent. While I write this, it is the all-absorbing subject of conversation. Nearly every man you encounter has his pockets stuffed with oil stocks, with leases of oil lands, or with the bonds involving the fee simple. All the machine shops are busy making pumps and boring apparatus. The railway cars are filled with travellers, hurrying forth and back from the land overflow- ing with oil and saline water. The hotels of our large cities and towns buzz with oil speculators, like a hive 146 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. of busy bees. The newspapers are full of prospectuses for oil companies. Prominent merchants — dignified judges and senators — railway presidents — learned lawyers, doc- tors, preachers — all are anointed with it, and shine and glisten with it, like Moses when he returned from the Mount. Oil has burst forth as a great speculative flame, and it now rules the "court, the camp, and the field." And why is this ? Because we have found out that it is no temporary or ephemeral thing. When the first super- ficial borings were made, and some of the wells failed, although a certain few knew better, the great mass of our people thought the quantity was exhausted, or at least ex- haustible. Many believed, and still believe, that it is eliminated from the veins of coal — that it is secreted and confined to the caverns of the upper rocks in close prox- imity to the coal, and that permanent supplies cannot be looked for. This theory has been partially dispelled by the deeper borings which have been made during the last few years. It is now well ascertained that there are two, and perhaps more, distinct seams of the oil, running along the western slope of the Alleghany, with all the regularity of the upper coal veins. But in boring, the same contingencies of suc- cess prevail as in mining coal. The veins of oil, like those of coal, have their faults. They abound in rocky, and slaty, and aluminous barriers, which cut off and intercept the liquid seam. If the augur happens to pass through one of these, little or no oil can be obtained. If the same augur, however, should go down fifteen or twenty feet in either direction from the first well, it would avoid the fault, and tap the oil. This is our daily experience in mines, and especially in coal mines ; and this fact explains the reason, otherwise unaccountable, that of two wells of equal or nearly equal depth, one will obtain more oil than the other, or one will obtain oil in quantity, while the other yields FAULTS IN OIL VEINS. 147 none at all. This singular fact has happened time and again, and is likely to happen so long as we are ignorant of the measures beneath. But the deep borings of the salt wells of the Ohio, and the numerous streams emptying into it, prove that the strata of oil extends all along the slope of the Alleghanies, and extend, in many -places, far beneath the overlying group of rocks which cover the adjacent States of New York, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and many others. Oil exists in more or less abun- dance in all these States ; it only requires deeper shafts to obtain it. To establish this fact, we have now only to recur to a consideration of the circumstances under which it was formed. The reader will bear in mind that the chain of mountains which constitutes the Alleghany, is nearly one thousand miles long and more than one hundred miles wide. During the early Devonian era, this entire mountain system was submerged — it consisted of several distinct basins or lakes, not particularly dissimilar to those of Huron, Erie, or Superior. I have already described the leading charac- teristics of these basins or estuacies of the sea, and wish merely to recall my observations here, so as to enable the reader to understand the modus operandi of the formation of the beds of oil. The adjacent prairies I have pre- viously described as resembling the St. Clair flats — flats that were impenetrable with rank and luxuriant vegetation. The resinous secretions of the coal plants were strewn into the earth, and drained into these lakes, which, up to this time, were filled with the saline waters, and the concomi- tant infusoria and mollusca of the sea. The petroleum collected into these lakes, formed a thick tarry crust on the surface, and sank down to the bottom beneath an in- undation or overflow of sedimentary water. The over- flows were sudden, and the vegetable oils were buried and 148 THE THIRD BAY — GEOLOGICAL. confined amid the rubbish of the forests and the sand and mud v/hich they held in suspension. When the waters drained off, another crop of vegetation furnished supplies for another stratum of liquid bitumen, and again it was sub- merged, and a strata of sand and mud and debris deposited over it. Now these rocks were all porous; but over them, after the waters became more clear, was deposited a thick seam of plastic clay, having in it a large content of kaolin, or decomposed felspar. This seam of clay Is from ten to forty feet thick, and is so compact that neither water nor oil can penetrate it. It overlies the oil ; it shuts it down ; it imprisons it in the earth ; it can only escape along the margins of the clay seam, or where it has been fractured or worn away. The decomposition of the oil by a sublimation which is always going on in the bowels of the earth, forces the oil and water to seek crevices, for escape. They are accordingly driven toward the central axis of the Alleghany, where they have again been driven into the upper measures, which have a gradual receding pitch from the centre. After the oil had been thus imprisoned, the process of accumulating alternate layers of sandstone, slate, and mud, and the vegetable material of the forests, continued for long intervals, in the manner previously described — but with this important dif- ference : as the earth and the vegetation attained a more reciprocal action, or equilibrium to each other, the vege- table material contained less liquid oil, and parted with more of its volatile gases while exposed to the atmosphere on the surface of the lake. We notice that on the pitch lake of Trinidad, as also on that of Texas, the oil is evapo- rated by long exposure, although oil springs are constantly emptying into these lakes. Now the veins which made the coal were exposed to exactly similar influence. There was not so much evaporation, because the atmosphere was not then adapted to its absorption ; but there was abun- COAL OIL VEGETATION. 149 dant time to allow the mass to solidify, which was not the case with the previous veins of oil. TJiey were imprisoned suddenly, while the veins of coal were accumulated slowly. There was also a very material difference in the vegetation itself. The lirst was richer in liquid oils — the latter fur- nished secretions more resinous in their character, and better adapted to coalesce and solidify under the pressure of sedimentary waters. That there was a very consider- able variation or alternation in the character of the vegeta- tion is very certain, and the variation was governed then, as it is now, by a positive law of nature. We know that a law of alternation of crops exists in our forests now — that as pine trees disappear, a crop of oaks, or chestnuts, or hickories, succeeds, and vice versa. This fact has not escaped the experience and observation of man, and we have a right to assume that the law which exists now was in full force then. It is probable, therefore, that if a crop of calamites prevailed for a certain interval, a crop of Lepidodendria or Sigellaria succeeded, and that such crops varied in their relative contents of oil, as the existing pine trees vary in their relative richness in resinous secretions — the yellow pine exceeding the white pine, and the white pine in turn exceeding that of the spruce, or the hemlock, but all alike belonging to the great family of coniferous trees. During liie coal period several hundred of such trees flourislied — perhaps in all not less than four or five hundred distinct species. 1 mentioned before that I had collected some seven hundred and fifty fossil specimens of this vegetation, all of which arc now in the Academy of Natural Sciences, in Pliiludelphia, where they may be seen, under the regulations of that institution, by those curious to learn something of the paleontology of the coal measures. The phenomena attending the upheaval of the Alleghany mountains have already been discussed. It will suffice here to say, that when the coal and coal oil basins arose, 1^0 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. the measures on the western slope were comparatively un- disturbed. They became indurated— but the content of oil and coal was not transformed into anthracite, as on the eastern slope, where the greatest amount of heat prevailed. The eastern slope was traversed by trap dykes and volcanic action, metamorphosing the rock, and heaving up ranges of rocks belonging to the previous Silurian era. But to the west, the upheaval was gentle, and was attended with but few instances of contortion. The coal oil measures were thus brought within a few hundred feet of the surface, with the coal measures reposing still nearer the surface, but with a gradual increasing dip towards the north, where, after forming a basin, they again arise, allowing the gases to escape in Western Canada, and in Western New York and Ohio ; and thus forming a true but extensive anti-clinal axis is of both coal oil and coal. But that there was an alternation of the resinous vegeta- tion, is established in the fact of the difference in the veins of coal oil and the coal themselves. We know that some veins of coal are richer in oils thj^n other veins in the same basins. Nor was this alternation in the vegetation uni- versal at any one time. The variation appears to have been local, as indeed it is now. We do not find all our forests abounding in any one particular species of tree at the same time. Different geograpliical sections furnish different shades of vegetation. And so it was during the coal and coal oil period — and hence the local differ- ences in the quality of the oils. Now, on the Kanawha, in Yirginia, on the Big Sandy, in Kentucky, and generally on the head waters of the Monongahela, we find richer and more fatty oils than we find on the Alleghany, the Clarion, or on Oil creek. And why is this ? Because the coals, themselves, are richer in oils, and because a species of vegetation flourished in these points, which secreted more COAL OIL VEGETATION. 151 oils than these of Pennsylvania. But it is nevertheless notorious, that between the layers of fat, bituminous coals, which exist in those regions are other veins which are comparatively worthless — veins not only full of bituminous siiales, and iron pyrites, but extremely lean in the car- buretted hydrogen, which constitutes the true value of mineral coal. But while we have these lean veins, we have also others that surpass even the ordinary bituminous veins in richness of oils — veins that, to all intents and pur- poses, consist entirely of solidified coal oil or petroleum. Such a vein, eight feet thick, is found on the Kanawha. If you take a lump, and expose it to boiling water, it will dissolve into a scum, and precipitate the oil, of which it is in great part composed ; or, if you throw it on a red hot stove^he gas and oil will be immediately evolved. It will thus be perceived that there is the same difference between these coals and oils, in their constituent elements, that there is between yellow pine and white pine wood — be- tween white pine and chestnut or hickory. They include coals that are lean and barely inflammable, and coals that are fatty, oily, and full of the gases by which we light our houses. Conceding, then, that the difference in the qualities of the oil and coal proceeds from the difference in the vegeta- tion from which they are derived, we find a positive chem- ical identity in their origin. And while there is an intimate relation between the coals and the various resinous oils, they occur, as we have already shown, in nearly every quarter of the globe, in one form or another. They sel- dom are in direct proximity to anthracite, and this for reasons which are sufficiently manifest. The great family of mineral combustibles comprehends naphtha, petroleum, elastic bitumen, mineral caoutchouc, compact bitumen, as- phaltum, mineral pitch, bituminous candidum, mineral oil, 152 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. and the Seneca oil of New York — many of which, in liquid form, are now obtained in enormous abundance in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, from the lower coal measures along the western slope of the Alle- ghanies. There are, at this time, perhaps not less than three hundred wells in operation, and more than that num- ber under way. If we can suppose five hundred to be productive during the present year, each averaging twenty barrels per day, (which is extremely moderate), the gross aggregate would be about 3,640,000 barrels per year, which, at twenty dollars per barrel, on the average, would yield $12,800,000 in money. We conceive this to be a really low estimate. We believe the actual result will far exceed it; but even if it should only approximate this result, it will be seen that it exceeds the entire value of the wheat crop of the several States mentioned — that it exceeds the entire coal and iron product; and that, as an article of export, it surpasses all our other staples com- bined — including cotton and tobacco. It might be worth while to inquire, however, how long we will be called on to furnish supplies for foreign nations, when we know that, the same oil exists in abundance in China, the East Indies, in Sweden, in Norway, in Russia, in South America, Cali- fornia, and Mexico, and in nearly all the West India Islands. There is a time, but how far distant every one may estimate for himself, when coal oil will be everywhere produced and consumed, as coal now is, and its value as an article of commercial traffic will be restricted. Any one may have a well of his own, as the farmers in the West now have coal mines for their own domestic use. The value, as a commercial staple, will be regulated by the cost of transportation and the cost of barrelling and refining it. While we have a family of solidified and liquid com- OIL SPRINGS OF THE ALLEGHANIES. 153 bustibles, it is easy to pass from their varieties, by gentle gradations, to a corresponding assemblage of the true coals — as the coal-asphalt of New Brunswick, the cannel- coal of Kanawha and Breckenridge, the fat or oily bitu- tninoas coal of the Monougahela, the tar coal of North Carolina and Virginia, the semi-anthracite coal of Broad Top and Cumberland, the free-burning anthracite of Tre- vorton and Lyken's Yalley, the medium anthracite of Pottsville, the more compact anthracite of Tamaqua, and the hard, stony anthracite of the Lehigh. These all he- long to one great family of combudibles, and, of course, have a common vegetable origin. The anthracites may be regarded as the patriarchs — the venerable heads of the family group ; while the bituminous stand intermediate between them and the more immature or youthful offspring of the ancient forests. But the question now suggests itself as to the physical circumstances^ — local, chemical, and mechanical — under which these vegetable resins were converted into so many different mineral substances. It appears from the investi- gations of the celebrated Baron von Liebeg, and other eminent chemists, that wood, and every kind of vegetable matter, when buried in the earth, exposed to moisture, and partially or entirely excluded from the air, decom- poses slowly, and evolves carbonic acid gas, thus parting with a portion of its original oxygen. By this means, it becomes gradually converted into lignite or wood-coal, which contains a larger proportion of hydrogen than wood does. A continuance of decomposition changes lliis lignite into common or bituminous coal, chiefly by the dis- charge of carburetted hydrogen, or the gas by which we illuminate our streets and houses. According to Bischoff, the inflammabk gases which are' alwa5's escaping from mineral coal, and are so often the cause of fatal accidents in mines, invariably contain carbonic acid, carburetted by- 154 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. drogen, nitrogen, and defiant gas. The disengagement of all these, it has been inferred, gradually transforms bitu- minous into coke or anthracite coal. The accuracy of the chemical changes here enumerated has never been questioned ; they are universally recog- nized as strictly true. It was, indeed, owing to the de- composition of the wood, and the fermentation or heat thereby produced, under circumstances of moisture and pressure, that the resinous properties of the coed forests were eliminated. Yet the authority of Liebeg and other distinguished chemists, is always referred to, as in the foregoing paragraph, to prove the conversion of the solid wood of trees into coal. Even Sir Charles Lyell, in his ''Elements of Geology," leads us to such an inference. It strikes me that chemistry can sanction no such conclu- sion ; and the paragraph above, if it means any thing, means quite the reverse of what Mr. Lyell and his nu- merous professional satellites have inferred'. Liebeg says that the "partial decomposition of the wood, exposed to moisture and fermentation, converts it into wood-coal or lignite." Yery well. What, then, is wood-coal or lig- nite ? It is wood in the state of decomposition, expelling or precipitating its resinous and oily juices into the form of bitumen. It is wood undergoing combustion, or parting with its pyroligneous oils. Combustion is of various kinds and degrees. When you throw a billet of wood on the fire, its resinous juices, in the form of gas, are con- sumed, while the woody structure is converted into char- coal. A cdntinuance of combustion, reduces the charcoal to ashes, and the ashes show that the woody fibre was composed of earth; viz., iron, lime, silex, clay, magnesia, etc. Another kind of combustion is that which we see in the open air. It is slow, and occurs without any visible heat, except the insensible oxygen of the atmosphere. A ORIGIN OF COAL EXPLAINED. 155 fallen tree will slowly decompose — its gases are volatilized and mingle with the air, while the woody fibre crumbles away, and mingles with the earth — its ashes or mould being precisely similar to the ashes of wood exposed to a flame. Now, combustion is always the same in its ulti- mate results ; when it occurs under the ground, it is by fermentation, and the gases, being unable to escape, form compounds, which compounds are coo,l ; and this coal increases in purity with the extinction of the woody fibre. In lignite, this woody fibre still exists ; but in pure coal it does not ; — hence the ashes of lignite contain more than four times the quantity of earthy material as the ashes of pure coal. But in consequence of its partial combustion, as Liebeg observes, lignite contains more hydrogen than the original wood. The reason is, that the juices in forming into solids, are first decomposed, and thus part with their water. The lignite mined in the immediate vicinity of Giessen, in Germany (the very spot from which the great chemist wrote his Letters) contains from forty- five to fifty per cent, of hydrogen as it comes from the bowels of the earth. The heat generated in the mine by the decomposition of the lignite, when exposed to the air, is so intense that the miners are compelled to disrobe when they enter their breasts. It is this decomposition (or combustion) that discharges the carburetted hydrogen gas to which the Professor alludes, and which finally termi- nates in the extinction of the wood — leaving behind pure bitumous coal, derived from the previously eliminated resins. The fermentation produced in the vegetable detritus of the forests was sometimes so great and intense, that it amounted to absolute combustion, but combustion without flame, as in the case of charcoal pits. This is proved from the abundance of mineral charcoal found in the coal measures. This charcoal, however, is not always charred 156 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. wood, but not unfrequently is charred resin, or bituminous coke. Now, to bave produced such coke, the escape of illuminating gas was essential, and we can suppose that the atmosphere of the coal period was at times suffused with these gases, which, in consequence of its humidity and density, would precipitate them upon the earth in the form of smoky soot or lamp-black. The city of Pittsburg affords an idea how bituminous smoke can thus evolve lamp-black. When the atmosphere is heavy, that city is involved in the sulphurous fumes, dense vapors, and float- ing soot of its manufacturing estabUshments, and the houses are blackened with it, and the streets incrusted with it. During the coal period, the dense black smoke, sometimes overspreading the forests, would precipitate soot in the form of black carbonaceous snow, and this, mingling with the waters and liquid oils, would be borne off to the coal lakes as a black, viscous, and tarry ink. The entire lakes would, in time, be resolved into lakes of oleaginous tar ; which would finally settle down, like the pitch of Trinidad, into a solid and compact body. But, it may be remarked, the coal, after all, is derived from the vegetation. And so, indeed, it is. But the geologists would have us infer that it was derived directly from the wood, without the interposition of resin or bitu- men ; that, in fact, the wood was not decomposed, but only changed from one condition to another. It is against this empirical theory that I object, for there is no sanction for it in all the laws of chemistry. It is a matter of as- tonishment to me that the decomposition of the wood, and its final expulsion in carburetted hydrogen (or, rather, its new chemical combination, for I do not think it was ex- pelled, except under the circumstances already men- tioned), should so long have escaped observation in treating the chemical phenomena of the coal. For this reason, among several others, woody fibre cannot be de- ORIGIN OF COAL EXPLAINED. 151 tected in the coal — the microscopists to the contrary not- withstanding. And had the fact been investigated on independent premises, — had Buckland, Brongniart, Bow- man, Lyell, Hitchcock, Rogers, or any one of the host of geologists who have remarked and freely speculated upon the absence of such trees in the solid coal, investigated for themselves, instead of adopting the ill-digested surmises of each other, there never could have been any disagree- ment or difficulty in reconciling all the phenomena of its origin and deposition. It was mainly through their mis- apprehension, extensively promulgated in their writings, that the idea of alternate elevation and depression of the land, of earthquakes and floods, periodical submergence of the forests, and their direct conversion into bituminous, and thence by other earthquakes, into anthracite coal, has been so long and so generally entertained ; and this, too, in the face of the fact (which they never have been able to explain), that, wherever trees, and limbs, or leaves were found in the solid coal, they were invariably con- verted into non-combustible earths. There is, unfortu- nately, too great a willingness, among the professors of the Natural Sciences, for one writer to tacitly adopt or quote or give currency to the visions of another. The books are full of theories which have to be changed or modified with every progressive step ; and these theories are transferred from one book to another, with occasional emendations and additions. One-half of the geologists whose names are mentioned with respect, and who receive credit for scientific acumen, are really but mere tinkers and peddlers in the small facts which the experience of practical miners and workers in the rocks has disclosed. And such, too, rank with the great men of the earth — be- neath whose severe and awful frown, even our Bible must be read with stealth, and its sacred truths believed in with mental reservations or overshadowing clouds of dark sus- 158 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. picion. The world, indeed, is governed too much bj its so-called "great men." Popular opinion is too often based upon the flimsy shams of science ; professional reputation is too often created by the " dummies" of Bob Sawyers and Ben Aliens (late Nockemorfs) ! When plain, sober, practical men once obtain a hearing in the earth, it will grow wiser and better, and the number of empirical quacks will be diminished. Lignite occurs in a formation more recent than that of the coal measures, and, on strict geological principles, ought not to be considered in this place. I may remark, however, that it generally occurs in small and shallow basins — little lakes, into which were deposited the vege- table resins of Tertiary forests, and the solid trunks and branches of trees. The liquid oils penetrated the pores of the wood as they yielded to decomposition ; and in time the whole mass of vegetable material, by overlying pressure, settled down into a compact deposit of impure bitumen. The lignite has therefore some resemblance to coal. When relieved of its large content of water (which sometimes amounts to one-half its weight), seventy pounds evolve as much heat as fifty pounds of anthracite. The ashes it leaves behind vary from twelve to seventeen per cent., while that of pure anthracite rarely exceeds four per cent. These ashes are composed of quartz, clay, iron, lime, and mere traces of some other primary sub- stances. Now, the ashes of wood, consist almost entirely ot potash, and hence we are entitled to infer that, with the increase of bitumen, the wood disappears, and that, even in lignite, such is the preponderance of the bituminous principle, that very little wood, properly so-called, is left behind. And as showing how far the decomposition of the wood has proceeded, it may be observed that the ashes of the lignite contain exactly the same ingredients as the surrounding shales and slates that overlay the coal ORIGIN OF COAL EXPLAINED. 159 beds. The same remark applies to all coals ; and I may here mention again, that the remains of the ancient coal forests — that is, the decomposed trunks of trees, grasses, and weeds — constitute the rich vegetable mould of the western prairies. The black soil, often from six to ten feet deep, which comprises the extraordinary fertility of those regions, is the result of the dissolution of the stu- pendous and wide-spread forests of the coal era. The indurated shales that accompany the veins of coal are somewhat similar ; but they have passed through different chemical changes, and their original character has been considerably modified. But wherever a fossil tree or branch is found, the solid trunk — the woody tissue of the interior — is invariably represented by such shale, while the outside is as uniformly surrounded by a thin coating of coal. These facts are curious, but they are plain and overwhelming : they are not isolated cases, selected to establish an empirical law ; but they are universal, unde- viating, and irresistible. When a tree decomposes in the forest, we see it gradually crumble into dust ; and in time, no one could separate it from the earth of which it forms a part. It was so with the coal vegetation, with this difference : that before entij^e decomposition ensued, pres- sure and fermentation occurred, the result of which was that the resinous juices of the tree were squeezed out, and while the heat converted Ihem into a thin crust of coal, it resolved the woody tissue into the silex, alumina, and iron of which it was primarily composed. It is not unusnal to see the limbs of trees thus changed into quartz, sand- stone, limestone, slate, or iron pyrites ; but no human being has ever seen them converted into pure coal. Amber is a species of hgnite ; and it is not only valu- able in medicine, chemistry, and the arts, but is highly prized as a beautiful ornament in jewelry. While it was yet soft, and exuding from the tree in the form of a gum, 11 160 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. amber formed a complete trap for the forest insects, and held them firmly in its sticky clasp. As the gum received successive additions, these insects became buried in the substance. The subsequent hardening and transparency of the mineral exhibits their fossils very beautifully, aa also the form of leaves and flowers collected in a similar manner. The stone is very valuable in some countries, especially in the East Indies ; but gems are by no means common. Nodules, varying in size from a chestnut to a pine-apple, are often found in the lignite ; but their degree of transparency and beauty is irregular. Lignite can only be converted into coal by separating the woody tissue froi:) the resinous matter that fills its pores. As the wootly tissue is volatilized by decomposi- tion, the fermentation operates upon the remaining resins, and converts them into bituminous coal. This process can only be accomplished by heat, or very slowly and partially by the fermentation caused by overlying pressure. But it may be assumed that, so long as the lignite remains unaffected by heat, the chemical changes will be so slow as never materially to affect it, since the tar and water, and the oils permeating the woody structure, act as a preservative. It is known that railway sleepers are im- pregnated with oil of tar, and other bituminous substances, to prevent their decay ; and this process is copied from nature in the preservation of lignite. The amount of resinous liquid injected into railway sleepers, by means of hydrostatic pumps, averages d^hout teM pounds per cubic foot. The sleepers thus prepared are, in many respects, similar to lignite ; and were the process of injection con- tinued as the wood itself decomposes, there would ultimately be nothing left in the sleepers but compact vegetable renin. If this resin were now exposed to slow heat, in an air-tight retort, the result would be bituminous coal. If the heat were continued, so as to char and ORIGIN OF GOAL EXPLAINED. IGI partially consume the volatile gases, the result would be anthracite coal. Here, then, we have the whole process of the chemical transformations which the different vegetable substances embedded in the earth undergo. Were the pitch lake of Trinidad, or the chapapote of Cuba, or the asphalt of N'ew Brunswick, subjected to slow heat, under the pressure of superimposed rocks, they would be flattened down into a thin seam ; and the im- prisonment of their gases (not their escape) would result in a combination which would be bituminous coal. In- creased heat would consume or decompose the inflammable gases, and the next result would be anthracite. The heat again increased, would transform the anthracite into unctuous plumbago — increasing the weight and compact- ness, in every case, in proportion to the decrease of bulk. Before concluding my observations on the coal forma- tion, I will notice a phenomenon which Prof. Rogers claims to have originally pointed out in explanation of the gradual transition of bituminous into anthracite coal. His remarks have been copied and tacitly indorsed by Lyell and others ; and while they are certainly more plausible than his numerous theories generally are, they cannot stand the test of critical examination. " It is in- variably found," says Mr. Rogers, "that the coal of the Alleghany is most bituminous toward its western termi- nus, where the veins are level and unbroken, and that it becomes progressively debituminized as we travel south- eastward toward the more bent and disturbed rocks. Thus, on the Ohio, the proportion of hydrogen, oxygen, and other volatile matters, ranges from forty to fifty per cent. Eastward of this line, on the Monongahela, it still approaches forty per cent, where the strata begin to ex- perience some gentle flexures. On entering the Alleghany Mountains, where the distinct anticlinal axes begin to show themselves, but before the dislocations are consider- 162 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. able, the volatile matter is generally in the proportion of eighteen or twenty per cent. At length, when we arrive at some insulated coal fields, associated with the boldest flexures o*f the Appalachian chain, where the strata have been actually turned over, as at Pottsville and Summit Hill, we find the coal to contain only from six to twelve per cent of bitumen, thus becoming a genuine anthracite." It would thus appear that the bituminous or non-bitu- minous character of the coal is entirely due to the amount and nature of the disturbance which the inclosing measures have undergone. Lyell says, " the coincidence of these phenomena may be attributed, partly to the greater facility afforded for the escape of volatile matter, where the fracturing of the rocks had produced an in- definite number of cracks and crevices, and also to the heat of the gases and water penetrating these cracks, when the great movement took place which have rent and folded the Appalachian strata. It is well known that, at the present period, thermal waters and hot vapors burst out from the earth during earthquakes, and these would not fail to promote the disengagement of volatile matter from the carboniferous rocks." ]N'ow, in the anthracite basin, there are from forty to fifty difi'erent veins of coal, varying from one to thirty feet in thickness, and separated from each other by rocks from ten to one hundred yards in thickness. The disturbance which permitted the gases to escape must have occurred simuUaneGusly throughout all the measures ; if it did not so occur, then the escape of the gases must have been irregular as to time, and a material difference in the fixed contents of the coal of the lower and the upper veins would unavoidably have ensued. But if these gases escaped simultaneously from all the veins of coal, where have we any evidence of the fact ? The lower white ash veins in the southern part of the Schuylkill basin are two ORIGIN OF COAL FXPLAINED. 163 thousand feet below the surface ; — is it to be inferred that their volatile gases escaped through the pores of the rocks overlying them? If so, where is the evidence of the fact ? Do the rocks disclose any traces of such escape ? Again : In the Wilkesbarre region, the mammoth vein lies within forty feet of the surface, and often outcrops, and on the Lehigh summit, sixty feet of coal were long worked in open day. This coal was placed there by the disturb- ance which twisted and folded the measures ; — if there was any escape of gas, it would certainly have been greater in the coal thus exposed to the surface than in that two thousand feet below ; — yet there is no difference in the fixed elements of the coal. It is all anthracite alike, in all the veins, and in all the regions. But the measures at some places are not disturbed — not nearly so much as the biturr^nous measures often are ; and yet the character of the coal is invariably maintained. The theory of the escape of gas is therefore absolutely preposterous. The most probable explanation of the phenomenon is, not that the gases escaped, but that they were all retained and formed new chemical compounds, at the time or before the measures were folded. The heat that elevated the strata, with the concomitant friction and distortion, con- verted the coal into anthracite by the combustion of the volatile gases — not by their escape through the fissures and pores of the rocks. For if the coal had obtained access to the air, under the heat that was then metamor- phosing it, it would have burned into cinders wherever so exposed, and in no other way and at no other time could the hydrogen have escaped. The evidences of heat are found in the scattered fragments of charred coal, often found in the very heart of the solid coal, and somewhat abundantly in the adjacent slates. With the coal thus on fire, nothing would have checked its reduction to ashes if carburetted hydrogen had been expelled during the eleva- 164 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. tion of the measures. No : the coal was anthracite before that time, and combustion had been maintained from the beginning, the result of which was the final extinction of volatile gases, and the solidification of their resultant soot or lamp-black into mineral anthracite. A few years ago, in England, specimens of bituminous coal were subjected to microscopical examinations ; the result of which was the supposed recognition of the vege- table structure of the coal. This, although contradicting the idea of the Lyell geologists, that the woody tissue had been reduced to pulp as a necessary preliminary for its conversion into coal, was hailed as an overwhelming de- monstration of its vegetable or arborescent structure. Having examined coal under the most powerful micro- scopes in America, I may here give my opinion of the ^^alue of the test. A slice of coal has to be prepared so thin that it will be transparent. The slice is not thicker than a sheet of ordinary writing paper, and not larger than the superficies of a ten cent coin. It is almost impossible to prepare such a slice from pure bituminous or anthracite coal ; — hence the experiments that have been reported were originally made with brown coal or lignite, the woody structure of which nobody has ever questioned. Coarse and earthy bituminous coal exhibits cells similar to that of pine wood. These cells are filled up with resinous matter ; and the porous structure of the wood is maintained after the woody reticulation is obliterated. Earthy resin, therefore, has the same structure as the coal ; and its porosity only diminishes with the degree of compact- ness. The porosity of coal and resin is always after the original porosity of the wood — and the supposed woody structure is altogether due to the ifistincts of the mineral (if I may use such a word) to crystallize in that form. Sulphuret of lead and of iron always crystallize in the cubic system, and it may be assumed that every mineral ORIGIN or COAL EXll/.-NED. 165 has its peculiar crystalline form. Crystals of acetate of lead, dissolved in water, upon the introduction of metallic zinc, will accumulate upon its surface, as a thin coating, and branch out in a manner exactly resembling the branches and foliage of a tree. The crystals thus ob- tained are metallic spangles of pure lead. Even native copper, silver, and metallic antimony often assume a branching and arborescent structure. In view of the vegetable origin of coal, no one can be surprised at its cellular, fibrous, reticulated, or medullar structure, under the microscope ; but inasmuch as the trees found in the coal are usually squeezed down to the thinness of paste- board, it would be folly to look for the original structure of the trees themselves I And since we know that all coal was soft, and a glutinous liquid, as a necessary pre- liminary to its chemical transformation, it is idle to main- tain that the arborescent structure it reveals is in reality that of trees. * * In drawing the affairs of the Third Day to a close, I may perhaps add a few words, for the sake of affording completeness to its principal phenomena, rather than from any pertinency which they may bear to the general subject. We have alluded to the escape of carbonic acid and other gases as the cause of explosions in coal mines. Such explosions are similar to those of powder, except that they are generally more violent and destructive. The atmosphere is converted into a cloud of fire, and every thing is dashed to atoms that falls within its grasp. The fiery tem- pest seizes the timbers of the mine, the rubbish, and fragments of coal, and dashes them against the side-rocks: — the men, if they elude the blast, have their ears, mouths, and nostrils filled with sand and mud, and sus- tain more or less bodily injury from the mere atmospheric concussion. They often avoid the fire by falling down on their faces, and letting the terriGe demon ride over them. But, unless the ventilating currents in the mine are very strong, the choke damp immediately ensues, which is even more formidable in its effects. The atmospheric air being destroyed by the explosion, for a time there is left nothing to breathe but poisonous mephitic vapor — hence death by suffocation often follows. This is thy work, fell Tyrant! — this the miner's common lot. lu danger *£ darkling den he tuila, and dies lamented not! 166 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. To revert, in conclusion, to the antiquity of the earth, which was briefly considered among the phenomena of the First Day : No one can fail to perceive, in the alter- nation of so many distinct seams of coal and earthy strata, the utter impossibility of the creation having occurred simultaneously with the first effort of the Almighty voli- tion. It will be observed, on the contrary, that Moses, in assigning six distinct and separate epochs, and giving to each their respective features, was perfectly correct, and that his narrative is entirely corroborated by all the known laws and facts of Science, and practical experience and observation. The work of the great coal era occupied The army hath its pensioners — the sons of ocean rest When battle's crimson flag is furled, on bounty's downy breast — But who regards the mining slave, that for his country's wealth Resigns his sleep, his pleasures, home, freedom, and his health ? From the glad skies and fragrant fields he cheerfully descends. And eats his bread in stenchy caves, where his existence ends ! In England, on one occasion, out of two hundred men iu the mine during an explosion, one hundred and ninety-six were instantly killed. In France, on a Monday morning, when the miners, one after the other, were descending the shaft, the first fell dead in a paroxysm of asphyxia. The next one, attempting to aid him, came within the stratum of carbonic acid, and also fell dead. The third, fourth, and fifth shared the same fate, in the effort to extend aid; and there is no telling where it would have stopped, had not the sixth man turned round, and forced the others to return up the ladder. The number of victims to these dreadful casu- alties in England, some years ago, caused the government to institute measures for the better security of life in the coal districts; for although the Davy lamp, which was then introduced, enables one to penetrate the fiery mixture with impunity, and to point oat its presence wherever it exists in dangerous combination, it cannot be conveniently or economi- cally used for the practical purposes of mining. The lamp is surrounded by thin wire gauze, like the delicate net-work of a bolting-cloth, and the discovery that the noxious gases did not penetrate through it, so as to produce explosions, constitutes its great merit and beauty. In this re- spect, it is one of the greatest achievements of modern science on record. The lamp is called after its distinguished inventor, Sir Humphrey Davy. FOSSIL TREES IN COAL. 16 Y many successive ages — ages coextensive in duration with the stupendous magnitude of the vrork itself. The universal distribution of coal over the surface of the earth, in cold as well as in warm climates (but more particularly in cold ones !), points to the universal climate that must have prevailed during that era as one of the necessities of the growth of the vegetation. But, as already intimated, the climate was affected more by the radiated heat of the interior earth, than by the solar rays. This is manifest from the fact that volcanic eruptions con- tinued, at intervals, until the close of the Tertiary; and their effects are exhibited everywhere in dykes and the ^upheaval of vast mountain chains: The Creator in- variably placed coal in all those situations where the cli- mate now demands it. Dr. Kane brought with him specimens obtained in the frozen regions of the Arctic circle, where the vegetation that at all resembles that of the coal period is now dwarfed and stunted The same species in tropical regions, however, attains a prolific de- velopment — thus leaving us to infer that, during the coal period, the climate was everywhere warm, humid, and similar to our vernal seasons. So thoroughly was the whole Paleozoic atmosphere adapted to vegetation — so completely and exclusively carboniferous in its qualities, that it was, in fact, totally unfit for the support of the higher sorts of animal nature, and we can find no traces of any other creatures in it than those belonging to the class of Radiata and Mollusca, the two lowest divisions of animal life, with a few obscure and singular creatures partakhig of the nature of fish and reptiles, but far beneath both in physical organization. Agreeably, therefore, to the Mosaic revelation, to geo- logical evidence, and to all rational, practical, and philo- sophical deduction, we are bound to recognize this great period (from the Metamorphic to the Carboniferous) as 168 THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. the age of Vegetation — an age beginning with vegetation, and closing with it, and occupying, for the time being, the whole surface of the earth ; — and having thus fulfilled, in every respect, the grand purposes primarily contemplated in the divine scheme, a series of new and somewhat differ- ent phenomena were now to be developed. Moses, there- fore, in devoting the Third Day exclusively to vegetation, was essentially correct, although, for thousands of years, the world was ignorant of the fact that what were re- garded as black stones, were in reality the fossilized re- mains of vast primitive forests ! The discovery of this fact was reserved for modern Geology — a science still in its infancy, and wholly unknown to the earlier races of mankind. And the simple fact that Moses pointed it out, in the true order of geological position, shows conclusively that he was endowed with an intelligence amounting to absolute inspiration ! I will again conclude with a quotation from Milton, who briefly recounts the phenomena of the Third Day in classic measure — well worthy of the angel Raphael, who is supposed to be enlightening the mind of Adam in the p vsteries of the earth and of his own creation ; The earth was formed, but, in the womb as yet Of waters embryon immature involved, Appeared not : over all the face of earth Main ocean flowed, not idle, but with warm Prolific humor soft'ning all her globe Fermented the great mother to conceive, Satiate with genial moisture, when God said, Be gathered now, ye waters under heaven, Into one place, and let dry land appear. Immediately the mountains huge appear Emergent and their broad bare backs upheave Into the clouds, their tops ascend the sky. So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low Down sunk a hollow bottom, broad and deep, MILTON'S THIRD DAY. 169 Capacious bed of waters : thither they Hasted with glad precipitance, uprolled As drops on dust conglohing from the dry ; Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct. For haste; such flight the great command imprest On the swift floods : as armies at the call Of trumpet (for of armies thou hast heard), Troop to their standard, so the wat'ry throng, Wave rolling after wave, where way they found : If steep, with torrent rapture, if through plain, Soft-ebbing : nor withstood them rock or hill, But they, or under ground, or circuit wide. With serpent error wand'ring, found their way. And on the washy ooze deep channels wore, Easy, ere God had bid the ground be dry. All but within those banks, where rivers now Stream, and perpetual draw their hurried train. The dry land Earth, and the great receptacle Of congregated waters he called Seas ; And saw that it was good, and said. Let the earth Put forth the verdant grass, herb yielding seed. And fruit tree yielding fruit after her kind ; Whose seed is in herself upon the earth. He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorned. Brought forth the tender grass, whose verdure clad Her universal face with pleasant green ; Then herbs of every leaf, that sudden flowered Opening their various colors, and made gay Her bosom smelling sweet; and these scarce blown, Forth flourished thick the clustering vine, forth crept The swelling gourd, up stood the corny reed Embattled in her field ; and the humble shrub. And bush with frizzled hair implicit : last Rose, as in dance, the stately trees, and spread Their branches hung with copious fruit, or gemmed Their blossoms : with high woods the hills were crowned With tufts the valleys and each fountain side With borders long the rivers ; that earth now Seemed like to heaven, a seat where gods might dwell, Or wander with delight, and love to haunt Her sacred shades : though God had yet not rained Upon the earth, and man to till the ground ItO THE THIRD DAY — GEOLOGICAL. None was; but from the earth a dewy mist "Went up, and watered all the ground, and each Plant of the field ; which, ere it was in the earth, God made, and every herb, before it grew On the green stem : God saw that it was good, So ev'n and morn recorded the Third Day. — Milton. THE FOURTH DAY— ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years : 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth ; and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights : the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. There is no portion of the Old Testament which has created more difficulty in the reconciliation of Revelation and physical Cosmogony, than the lines here quoted; and yet I venture to say there is no portion of the holy record the integrity of which is more readily susceptible of vin- dication. Moses addresses himself to the people of all climes, and nations, and tongues ; and while his language has all the simplicity to commend it to the meanest intel- lect, it has the extraordinary peculiarity of embodying the most wonderful scientific phenomena. While his words and facts are distinctly comprehended by the weak and lowly, they defy the closest scrutiny of the learned. He is plain to the plain ; but doubly fortified against the wise. To the one, he presents the fixed and unalterable quality of numerals ; to the other, he occupies the loftiest heights of natural philosophy, and seemingly anticipates all the assaults of human speculation, reason, and experience. We have already remarked, that during the coal period, the atmosphere was highly charged with carbonic acid. (iti) 172 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. The interior heat of the earth was still felt upon the sur- face ; and its radiation had the effect of generating mois- ture and mists from the shallow shores of seas and lakes. The whole surface of the land may be described as some- what similar to the coasts of Newfoundland. The sea- shore for twenty, thirty, and fifty miles from the land, is very shallow, but precipitately falls into the basin of the ocean. The shallowness of the water generates mists and fogs, wli'cli often extend several hundred miles into the ocean, or over the nearest land. The steamers crossing the Atlantic are frequently surrounded by these fogs for two or three days at a time ; and, notwithstanding the usual precautions, the most terrible accidents and loss of human life in the records of nautical experience, have re- sulted from them. They are sometimes so dense, that the most brilliant light cannot be perceived at a distance of thirty or forty yards. The vapor radiated from the surface of the earth may not have been as dense as these fogs, but its geographical dif- fusion was considerably greater. By far the largest portion of the surface of the earth was still occupied by water, and land occurred, forthe most part, in vast islands or marshy plains and peninsulas. The atmosphere was consequently warm, humid, and not unlike that which encircles a volcanic crater previous to an eruption — it was full of carbonic acid. We often experience something like it immediately before a summer thunder shower. The air gradually becomes sultry, and the sky is murky and strewn with dark clouds. During the spring, such weather often continues several weeks without interruption ; and while it awakens, and greatly promotes the growth of vegetation, the effect on the animal spirits is in the highest degree depressing. If such weather continued for years, instead of days and weeks, it would render vegetation very nearly as prolific as that of the coal period, and perhaps materially change ATMOSPHERE OP THE COAL PERIOD. ]*73 its character; but it would at the same time prove dele- terious to animal life, if it did not ultimately extinguish many air-breathing species. During the carboniferous era, although the light of the sun may have prevailed to some extent on the surface of the earth, and had regularly and gradually increased in force over the previous periods, yet it had not thoroughly penetrated or dispelled the zone of vapor vrhich then hung over it. Its light must have been subdued, mellow, and bronze-like. Had it shone with full brilliance and intensity, vegetation could not have attained so prolific a development — its leaves and succulent stems would have prematurely withered and decomposed, and the juictri of the forests been evaporated. But the earth was, in fact, a vast hot-house, surrounded by a zone of carbonic acid, which the feeble rays of the sun in some measure rendered luminous ; but which it was necessary completely to dispel, before the atmosphere could be made transparent. This was finally accomplished mainly by the prolific vege- tation itself, which, in absorbing the carbonic acid, and transferring it in fixed carbon to the bottom of the coal lakes, removed the principal obstruction. But after the deposition of the innumerable layers of coal and lime- stone, a general and tiniversal expansion of the "dry land" again occurred, and continued with force only diminished at particular localities, throughout the succeeding Sec- ondary and Tertiary formations. Thousands of volcanoes were at this time in active operation in South America, Asia, and Africa ; and they were constantly enlarging the base and increasing the elevation of mountains, while raising up new ones out of the sea or on the level plains. In the United States there were but few volcanic erup- tions, but the expansion, vibration., and upward movement of the crust, produced the series of great wave-like flexures which distinguish the Alleghany mountains. The work 114 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. of elevating this vast chain or system was, in all proba- bility, gradual ; and the up-lifting or expansive movement must have commenced soon after the coal which they con- tain was deposited. Similar movements were begun at the same time, in various other quarters of tiie earth, where coal had been thus formed. The main Alleghany, or central axis, was the first to emerge ; and its rising necessarily produced vibrations in the soft matter of the crust, on either side. When a submerged log is raised, or while emerging from the water, a wave-like movement is produced on the surface on both sides, which gradually diminishes with the distance from the disturbing object. It was thus with these and other mountains ; while we find them lying parallel to each other, they gradually di- minish in altitude from the central axis, which may be distinguished by its uninterrupted continuity, or by its not being cut down by the great chasms or gaps which characterize all the sui)ordinate ones. As the central axis arose, the waters of the lakes and sea rolled away with violence ; but were, in a measure, again arrested by the emergence of the secondaries, and thus confined, for a time, in the intervening valleys which they helped to originate. Mountain after mountain thus arose, upon a plane gradually sloping from the central or primary axis. The retrogression of the sea occupied successively the valleys thus formed, and deposited, during its brief sojourn, the beds of new red sandstone and fossiliferous limestones which we find in them in various places, and which, of course, lie in unconformable order to, but not over the coal strata. The new red was derived from the beds of the old red sandstone, which, in the anthracite regions, was deposited by fresh water ; but its subsequent attrition in the sea, rendered the new red layers a marine deposit, and they consequently exhibit sparingly the remains of marine life. The mountains were finally drained by the sea, in its ATMOSPHERE OF THE COAL PERIOD. HS gradual withdrawal in a direction toward the southwestern terminus ; but the valleys were for a long period afterward occupied by great fresh-water lakes. These finally found vent through the gaps of the mountains, and then pursued the natural slope of the Alleghany plane to the present basin of the sea. The continuance of elevation filled these valleys with the water permeating the strata of the moun- tains, and these constitute the sources of all the rivers and lakes now flowing from them. And it is worthy of notice that, from the highest peak of the Alleghany, in a spot not over two square miles in area, one may drink from the crystal waters gushing up from springs which are discharged respectively into the Gulf of the St. Law- rence, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Chesapeake bay. The waters thus emerging from the Alleghany mountain, in Penn- sylvania, mingle with the waters of nearly every State in the Union, and finally with those of every nation on the earth. Now, while the climate of the coal and of the preceding periods was very nearly universal all over the land, the elevation of the mountains, from time to time, and the consequent disturbance of the waters of the sea, produced a very material refrigeration and diversity of atmospheric temperature. The currents of air and water, reciprocally generated by mountains and intervening valleys, as well as by surface drainage, soon changed it into many varieties, varying from the icy coldness of the frigid zone to the melting heat of the torrid. The atmosphere thus purified, was not long in revealing, in all their glory and beauty, those heavenly lamps, the light of which separates forever the day from the night, and prepared the earth for the still higher creative scenes that were to ensue. God said, '* Let there be light in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." Although, so far as animal life was concerned, there could 12 176 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. then have been no practical use for signs, or seasons, or days, we have the best grounds to infer that they did not and could not previously have existed in their present form. The climate was a perpetual tropical spring — vegetation was bursting forth at all times, and was only checked by its own excessive gravity to proceed further. The obscurity of the sun and moon and stars rendered it a perpetual day, or a day combining the features of night and day ; and there was, consequently, no regular astro- nomical movement by which "signs, seasons, days, or years," could have been determined. It was, in short, an embryonic condition immediately preceding the regular operation of the law of gravitation, of vital force, and organic life ; for although we had light in the first day, as an element of the nebulosity of the earth, and primarily of all the other planets ; — yet, in this case, we require the lights in the firmament of heaven expressly " to rule over the earth," and to be "for signs and seasons." God, therefore, "made two great lights — the greater light to rule over the day, and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also." Now, it is not to be supposed (as it almost always is supposed) that the lights here spoken of were made for the first time — that is, created. The lights were now "made to inile over the day and night," and God had set them previously in the firmament to afford such light to the earth. The action, in some measure, is expressed in the present tense ; — but the true meaning is unquestion- ably retrospective upon the previous days The natural and logical inference then is, (for no one can doubt but that Moses fully comprehended all the phenomena upon which his scenes are based), that the light of the sun, moon, and stars had not yet penetrated through the vapors surround- ing the earth, and could therefore have exercised but little astronomical influence ; and it was to permanently estab- MOSES AND THE ASTRONOMERS. H*? lish that influence, and to rule over the earth, TiAt their light finally predominated. In support of this proposi- tion, it is sufficient to know three great facts : first, that in the earlier eras volcanic eruptions were constantly oc- curring, the hot steam and vapor of which were enormous and uninterrupted ; second, that upon the partial subsi- dence of volcanoes, a prolific vegetation was nourished, which never could have withstood the scorching rays of the sun, in addition to the radiated heat of the earth ; and third, that no land animals are found in any of these strata, and that they could, under no circumstances, have breathed the mephitic atmosphere that then prevailed. And it is a fact of no ordinary significance, as betray- ing the solid and enduring basis upon which the holy record is founded, that while Moses makes the sun and moon rule over the earth, the system of Hipparchus and Ptolemy, which prevailed in Greece and throughout the world for nearly fourteen centuries, and was as firmly and universally established as any religious dogma, made the earth rule over them ! It is true that different and more correct views had previously been entertained, not only by the earlier Grecian philosophers, but by the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and the Chinese. But Ptolemy, in the second century after Christ, was the first astronomer who wrote and promulgated a complete system ; and the theory upon which it was based, was in direct contradiction to that indicated by Moses. Regarding the earth as the centre of the universe, the Ptolemaists found great difficulty in accounting for the irregularities of the planets in their supposed revolutions around it. They sought to over- come this barrier by supposing an individual, holding a light, and describing a waltzing movement around a room; — to a spectator in the centre, the light would ap- pear only alternately. Thus it was ingeniously assumed that the centres only of the planets revolved regularly ITS THE FOURTH DAY— ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. around the earth, while their diurnal movements produced the singular gyrations for which they could not otherwise account. These absurd theories were overthrown, early in the sixteenth century, by the celebrated Nicholas Copernicus, who again placed the sun in the centre of the universe, and resolved a great many complicated phe- nomena through the discovery of the movements of the earth, and how far those movements affected our observa- tions of other sidereal bodies. Fnder his theories and mathematical deductions. Astronomy assumed a precision which it had never known before ; and the result was, that it soon became invaluable for " signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." Although the discoveries of Copernicus did not directly lead to the subsequent bril- liant achievements of the seventeenth century, his funda- mental yiews served to indicate to "theoretical astronomy paths which could not fail to lead to sure results, and to the solution "of problems which of necessity demanded and led to a greater degree of perfection in the analytic cal- culus."* An opinion has prevailed that Copernicus was intimidated in the expression of his theories by the fear of priestly persecution ; but Humboldt dispels this im- pression, and observes " that the founder of our present system of the universe (for to him incontestably belong the most important parts of it, and the grandest features of the design,) was almost more distinguished, if possible, by the intrepidity and confidence with which he expressed his opinions, than for the knowledge to which they owed their origin." In describing, in his dedication to Pope Paul III., the origin of his work (a work only printed at his death, 1543, and which he merely saw and touched on his dying bed), he does not scruple to term the opinion generally expressed among theologians, of the immobility * Humboldt's Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 305. PTOLEMY, COPERNICUS, AND BRAHE. l^y and central position of the earth, " an absurd acroama," and to attack the stupidity of those who adhere to so erroneous a doctrine. " If ever," he writes, " any empty- headed babblers, ignorant of all mathematical science, should take upon themselves to pronounce judgment on his work through an intentional distortion of any passage in the Holy Scriptures, he should despise so presumptuous an attack." In order to show that, deeply penetrated with the truth of his own deductions, he had no cause to fear the judgment that might be passed upon him, he turned his prayers from a remote corner of the earth to the head of the Church, begging that he would " protect him from the assaults of calumny, since the Church itself would derive advantage from his investigations on the length of the year and the movements of the moon.''^ As- trology and improvements in the calendar long procured protection for astronomy from the secular and ecclesi- astical powers, as chemistry and botany were long es- teemed as purely subservient auxiliaries to the science of medicine.* Notwithstanding the light which the great mind of Co- pernicus had thrown upon the mechanism of the universe, most astronomers still adhered to the main features of the Ptolemaic theory, and persisted in regarding the earth as the common centre, around which all the other planets, including the sun, revolved. At the head of these, and at the head of astronomical science, stood Tycho Brahe, whose investiga'tions, for more than a quarter of a century, were munificently supported by the king of Denmark. Toward the close of the sixteenth century, when the doctrines' of Copernicus had almost been forgotten, Brahe received at his observatory on the Island of Huen, an en- thusiastic young German, named Kepler. He had pre- * Humboldt's Cosmos, vol ii. p. 307. 180 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAIi. viously elaborated an ingenious but fallacious hypothesis on the cosmogony and morphology of worlds, which excited the admiration of his future instructor, as betray- ing the depth, elasticity, and clearness of his mind. Up to this time, it was not only generally thought that the earth was the centre of the planetary universe, but it was also held, contrary to the exemplifications of Copernicus, that their revolutions around their primaries described true circles and a uniform movement. Copernicus had so far modified this hypothesis as to suppose that the earth, in revolving around the sun, gradually moved outside and then as gradually inside of the circle which its revolution described. This may be familiarly illustrated thus : Place an orange on the top of a hoop, and another on the bottom, both on the outside; then place two other oranges on each side of the hoop, but inside of the rim. The hoop thus divided into four equal parts by the oranges, repre- sents a true circle ; but the oranges, it will be observed, are alternately outside and inside of the rim — consequently, in revolving around the hoop, they will be in the track of a circle, but in point of fact, they describe an ellipse. This was a very important and interesting invention, and, although founded in error, had the effect of unlocking the door to subsequent research. The long-continued inves- tigations of Tycho Brahe, on the orbit of Mars, attracted the attention of Kepler, and the data accumulated by the former, led him to the conception that the varying motions of that planet could be explained on no other hypothesis than that of its revolving around the sun in the form of an ellipse — the sun itself being not in the centre, but in one of the two foci of such ellipse. This proposition assumed, the irregularity of its velocity had yet to be determined. After an amount of labor which few persons are capable of appreciating, Kepler accom- plished the task by demonstrating that the quantity of THE ASTRONOMICAL KEY POUND. 181 space between the radiating vectors of a planet, and the sun around which it moves, is always in proportion to its velocity. If a wagon-wheel were elongated or compressed at the sides, so as to describe an ellipse instead of a circle, this proposition might be illustrated thus: The hub, or radiating focus, would be placed on a line drawn through the elongated centre, about one-fourth of its diameter either to the right or the left of the true centre. From this focus or hub, we would extend the several spokes, (the radius vectors of the astronomers), and in proportion as their length increased, they would be drawn closer together at the tire, or circumference line. While the space between the short spokes would thus be wide, that between the long spokes would be proportionally narrow, and the actual quantity of space or superficial area re- mains the same in all. Now, it was ascertained that the velocity of planets, in their movements around their primaries, varied in exact proportion to the radius vectors constituting their orbitual lines. When their distance from the focus increased, their velocity was reduced; when they approached 7iear, it was accelerated. This law was subsequently extended by the assumption, Jlrst, that all the planets moved by similar laws, and were com- bined as one apparatus ; and second, that the differences in their revolving movements depended on their distance from the sun. Those propositions of Kepler subsequently formed the basis for the discovery of the law of universal gravitation. In the mean time, however, new light had been shed on astronomy by the discovery of the telescope. The merit of this discovery has been claimed by several individuals, all natives of Holland; but priority seems to belong to a spectacle-maker named Hans Lippershey, or to another spectacle-maker named Metius, both of whom, in the year 1608, offered to sell them to the government. The telescope, however, for several years after its inven- 182 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. tion, was only applied to distant terrestrial objects. In 1609, while in Venice, Galileo first heard of the instru- ment, and from the description given, he conjectured at once what were its essential features, and produced one for his own use at Padua. By its aid, (though it magni- fied but seven diameters), he was the first man on the earth to peer into the physical mysteries and configuration of the heavenly bodies. He discovered the satellites of Jupiter, the varied phase§ of Yenus, a multitude of stars in the Milky Way, invisible to the naked eye, and all the mountains, craters, and valleys of the Moon. The tran- sition from natural to telescopic vision, which charac- terizes the first ten years of the seventeenth century (from Brahe and Kepler, to Galileo) was more important to astronomy than the year 1492, in respect to our knowledge of terrestrial space — (geography). " It not only infinitely extended our insight into creation,'^ saj^s the learned Baron von Humboldt,* " but also, besides enriching the sphere of human ideas, raised mathematical science to a pre- viously unattained splendor, by the exposition of new and complicated problems. Thus the increased power of the organs of perception reacts on the world of thought, to the strengthening of intellectual force, and the ennoblement of humanity. To the telescope alone we owe the discovery, in less than two and a half centuries, of thirteen new planets, of four satellite systems (the four moons of Jupi- ter, eight satellites of Saturn, four, perhaps six of Uranus, and one of Neptune), of the sun's spots and faculae, the phases of Yenus, the form and height of the lunar moun- tains, the wintery polar zones of Mars, the belts of Jupiter and Saturn, the rings of the latter, the interior planetary comets of short periods of revolution, together with many other phenomena which otherwise escape the naked eye, * Cosmos, vol. iii, p. 70. DISCOVERY OF THE TELESCOPE. 183 While our own solar system, which so long seemed limited to six planets and one moon, has been enriched, in the space of two hundred and forty years, with the discoveries to which Ave have alluded, our knowledge regarding suc- cessive strata of the region of the j&xed stars, has, unex- pectedly, been still more increased. Thousands of nebulae, stellar swarms, and double stars, have been observed. The changing position of the double stars which revolve round one common centre of gravity has proved, like the proper motion of all fixed stars, that forces of gravitation are operating in these distant regions of space, as in our own limited mutually-disturbed planetary spheres. Since Moria. and Gascoigne (not indeed till twenty -five or thirty years after the invention of the telescope) combined op- tical arrangements with measuring instruments, we have been enabled to obtain more accurate observations of the change of position of the stars. By this means we are enabled to calculate with the greatest precision every change in the position of the planetary bodies, the ellipses of aberration of the .fixed stars and their parallaxes, and to measure the relative distances of the double stars, even when amounting to only a few tenths of a seconds-arc. The astronomical knowledge of the solar system has gradually extended to that of a system of the universe." This expansion has kept pace with the increased develop- ment of the telescope itself, which, from the instrument used by Galileo, has attained a space-penetrating power, in that of Lord Rosse, several thousand times exceeding the original grasp. The Rosse' instrument has an aper- ture six feet in diameter, and a tube fifty-three feet in length. It is suspended between two towers ; and many nebulae and other objects, previously out of range of the telescope, have been resolved under its gigantic eve. The visual and sensuous domain of man has thus literallv and absolutely been extended into the heavens, and his 184 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. own ideas of law, order, and harmony, derive fresh vigor from an understanding of those which govern all the worlds of space. The discoveries which Galileo made by means of the telescope necessarily placed him, for some time, at the head of astronomical science, which, under the laws of Kepler, now began at once to assume a new aspect. But under his telescopic observations, Galileo also adduced several very important philosophical laws, which still further accelerated the progress of our knowledge of the planetary universe. He laid down, as a fixed law, that every body receiving an impulse to move in space, would move forever in a perfectly straight line, provided it were not interrupted or disturbed by any other force. This law, in connection with that previously evolved by Kepler, viz., that all planets invariably moved in elliptic curves, and that their radius vectors pass over equal areas in equal times, led the illustrious Xewton to the investiga- tion of the cause of motion, and the reason why the planets, in their orbitual revolutions, departed from a straight line. Up to this point it was conceded, on the basis of Kepler's laws, that the sun attracted the planets to it, and that its attractive powers varied with the distance: or, as it is technically expressed, the sun attracts or de- flects the planets b}^ a force which decreases as the squares of the distance increase. The square of a number is that number multiplied by itself, consequently the square of 2 is 4, that of 3 is 9, and of 4 — 16 ; if the sun, therefore, is twice as far off from a planet at one time as it is at another, its power of attraction is four times less, or vice versa. The quantity of matter of the sun being considerably greater than that of all the other planets combined, and being the centre of the system to which they belong, and from which they all primarily emanated, they have an in- herent and constant disposition to return home. Their KEPLER, GALILEO, AND NEWTON. 185 natural movement, therefore, would be in a straight line toward the centre of the sun, precisely as a ball in the air will fall toward the centre of the earth; but before they reach the sun, they encounter streams of opposing force (if I may use the word) resulting from his own motions on /lis axis, into which the planets are borne, and then, like a cork in a whirlpool, are whirled around his circumfer- ence. These solar currents or zones occur at various distances from the sun, and may be compared (for illus- tration) to the successive rinds of an onion, with vast intermediate spaces between them. It is in these zones that planets revolve. Every planet describes a movement in such a zone, around the primary orbs ; but while their natural impulse is always to fall to the centre, they are constantly prevented and thrown off by the swift revolu- tion of the central and parent body. The sun, therefore, alternately attracts and repels the planets ; and it is this that not only makes them revolve around him, but also compels them to revolve constantly on their*own axes — the periodic times of such revolution increasing with their distance from the sun. The principle of universal gravitation, it is said, was first suggested to the mind of Newton by the observation of falling bodies. When he saw an apple in his orchard, falling to the ground, he was instructively led to reflect on the cause of such a phenomenon. Other eyes had wit- nessed the same thing, times without number. Other eyes observe it now, every day ; — but what of that ? Men have eyes, and yet cannot always see ; — have ears, but do not always hear. For many thousand years, people had eaten fruits, and observed them fall, ripe and luscious, into the lap of Autumn ; and yet it required many thou- sand years, and many millions of human beings, before one could be found sufficiently .god -like to fathom so familiar a mystery, and to place it on the broad basis of 186 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. Universal Law. Newton not only demonstrated that all bodies, suspended in space, evince a constant tendency to fall to the centre of the earth; but that all the planets were in like manner attracted to the great luminous centre of the system. Wljile the amount of such attraction varies with the distance, and with individual planetary circumstances, the universality of its operation is manifest in all nature and to all process of reason. The sun and the earth both attract the moon ; but while the latter is compelled to revolve around the earth in consequence of its nearer proximity, the other is compelled to drag her along in her annual journeys around the sun. It is thus with all the other planets that have satellites or moons. They are, as it were, servants of the superior body, and perform certain functions assigned them by the sun. The moon of our earth, besides furnishing light during the night, exercises a potential influence on the tides, the " seasons, and for signs. " Her services are absolutely indis- pensable ; aftd it is not too much to infer, that "were any accident or casuality to occur, by which our lunar influence would be materially impaired or destroyed, the earth would again relapse into that half-chaotic aspect which characterized it during the earlier Silurian :and Meta- morphic periods. The principle of universal gravitation thus extends throughout all nature, and to every atom ; and is perhaps the parent of galvanic attraction and chemical affinity, since it always evinces a disposition to return into Unity — to become One — to nestle in the bosom o^God! " The immortal author of the Fhilosophice Naturalis Principia llathematica,^^ observes the no less immortal Alexander von Humboldt, in his introduction to the third volume of Cosmos; ''Newton succeeded in embracing the whole uranological portion of the Cosmos in the casual connection of its phenomena, by the assumption of one LAW OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION. 181 all-controlling, fundamental, moving force. He first ap- plied physical astronomy to solve a great problem in mechanics, and elevated it to the rank of a mathematical science. The quantity of matter in every celestial body gives the amount of its attracting force ; a force which acts in an inverse ratio to the square of the distance, and determines the amount of the disturbances, which not only the planets, but all the bodies in celestial space, ex- ercise on each other. But the Newtonian theory of gravi- tation, so worthy of our admiration from its simplicity and generality, is not limited in its cosmical application to the uranological sphere, but comprises also telluric phenomena, in directions not yet fully investigated ; it affords the clew to the periodic movements in the ocean and the atmosphere, and solves the problems of capillarity. of endosmosis, and of many chemical, electro-magnetic, and organic processes. Newton even distinguished the attraction of masses, as manifested in the motion of cos- mical bodies and in the phenomena of the tides, from molecular attraction, which acts at infinitely small dis- tances and in the closest contact." " Bodies," says Newton himself, "act one upon another by the attraction of gravity, magnetism, and electricity ; and it is not improbable that there may be more attractive powers than these. How these attractions may be per- formed, I do not here consider. What I call attraction may be performed by impulse, or by some other means unknown to me. I use that word here to signify only in general any force by which bodies tend toward one another, whatsoever be the cause."* The seventeenth century, beginning with the telescope, was essentially the age of modern astrononomical, mathe- matjcal, and philosophical discovery. Such names as * Principia Phil. Nat., p. 351. 188 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, Huygens, Newton, and Leibnitz, stand forth like marble statues, or like the brilliant stars of the firmament in a dark and cloudy night. The laws which govern the fall of bodies were understood for the first time. The rotundity of the earth — to believe which had lately been a high crime against the church (or rather, against the snapping, barking curs that, in all ages, have guarded its portals, and prevented " miserable sinners" from entering I) — had now been established. " The pressure of the atmosphere — the propagation of light, and its refraction and polarization were investigated. Mathematical physics were created, and based on a firm foundation. The invention of the infinitesimal calculus characterizes the close of the century ; and, strengthened by its aid, human understanding has been enabled, during the succeeding century and a half, successfully to venture on the solution of the problems presented by the pertur- bations of the heavenly bodies ; by the polarization and interference of the waves of light ; by the rS-diation of heat; by electro-magnetic re-entering currents; by vi- brating chords and surfaces ; by the capillary attraction of narrow tubes, and by many other natural phenomena."* In addition to the discoveries of astronomy, geology has established the antiquity of the earth, and vastly ex- tended our knowledge of its history and formation, and the cosmic al laws which govern it. But the introduction of the light and heat of the sun, for the first time and in full effulgence, not only produced the most important changes on the dry land, but also in the atmosphere and in the waters of the sea. The ocean, it is known, is traversed by many well-defined and pow- erful currents, varying in temperature, in geographical direction, and in volume, precisely as the great rivers and * Cosmos, vol. ii., p. 303. THE CURRENTS OP THE OCA AN. 189 lakes which traverse the interior dry land. The Gulf Stream is one of the most stupendous and marvelous features of the globe. In its physical aspect and rela- tions to the terrestrial economy, Lieut. Maury has happily compared it to a vast steam heater, such as are now used for warming houses during the winter. The heating-fur- nace is the torrid zone ; the great boiling caldrons are the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea ; while the Gulf Stream itself, traveling through the waters of the ocean with accelerated speed, and hemmed in on both sides by walls of cold water, constitutes the great heat- conducting pipe. The heat of the torrid zone is thus borne off and diffused en route to the grand Banks of New- foundland, and thence, by the trade winds, to the opposite shores of Europe, and finally to the polar regions, where the cold waters and vapors are again returned to the caldron to take the plade of the out-going hot waters ; they are thus again heated, and then again sent through the conducting-pipe. Not only is the climate of the ocean thus diversified, so as to adapt it for the countless creatures that inhabit its "dark unfathomed caves," but the drainage of the land upon which they feed, and from which many of them elaborate their tiny and sculptured shells, is thus distributed and diffused ; at the same time that the vapors are caught up by the winds, borne over the earth, mingled with the atmosphere, and thus made to moderate the rigor of the climate in the torrid, the tem- perate, and the frigid zones, " The quantity of heat daily carried off by the Gulf Stream from these regions, and discharged over the Atlantic, is sufiicient to raise moun- tains of iron from zero to the melting point, and to keep in flow from them a molten stream of metal greater in volume than the waters daily discharged from the Missis- sippi river. Who, therefore, can calculate the benign influ- ence of this wonderful current upon the climate of the 190 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. south ? In the pursuit of this subject, the mind is led from nature up to the Great Architect of nature; and what mind will the study of this subject not fill with profita- ble emotions ? Unchanged and unchanging alone, of all created things, the ocean is the great emblem of its ever- lasting Creator. 'He treadeth upon the waves of the sea,' is seen in the wonders of the deep. Yea, 'He calleth for its waters, and pouroth them out upon the face of the earth.'"* It was generally supposed, until Prof. Maurj proved the contrary, that the Gulf Stream was caused by the influx of waters from the Mississippi and other rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, and backing up into the Carib- bean sea. The altitude thus attained, it was thought, was sufficient to produce the current, as a river descending an inclined plane ; but the true solution of the origin, as sug- gested by Maury, must be sought in the atmosphere — for the Gulf Stream, in volume, is greater than a thousand Mississippi rivers combined, and the supplies from suqh sources would be wholly inadequate. The atmosphere, aided by the sun, exerts a power inconceivably great ; and in lifting water from the earth, transporting it from one place to another, and letting it down again, performs the functions of a great steam engine. " The south seas, in all their vast intertropical extent, are the boiler for it, and the northern hemisphere is its condenser. What is the horse-power of the Niagara, falling a few steps, in com- parison with the horse-power that is required to lift up as high as the clouds and then let down again, all the water that is discharged into the sea, not only by the Mississippi or the Amazon, but by all the other rivers in the world." In speaking of the currents of the Pacific Ocean, page 167,* Prof. Maury remarks : " The better to appreciate the ope- ration of such agencies in producing currents in the sea, * Physical Geography of the Sea, M. F. Maury, LL.D., U. S. N. THE GULP STREAM. 191 let US im-agine a district two hundred and fifty-five square miles in extent, to be set apart, in the midst of the Pacific ocean, as the scene of operations for one day. We must now conceive a machine capable of pumping up, in the twenty-four hours, all the water to the depth of one mile in this district. The machine must not only pump up and bear off this immense quantity of v,^ater, but it must dis- charge it again into the sea, on the same day, but at some other place. Now here is a force for creating currents that is equivalent in its results to the effects that would be produced by bailing up, in twenty-four hours, two hun- dred and fifty-five cubic miles of water from one part of the Pacific ocean, and emptying it out again upon another part. The currents that would be created by such an operation would overwhelm navigation and desolate the sea ; and, happily for the human race, the great atmos- pherical machine which actually does perform, every day, on the average, all this lifting up, transporting, and letting down of water upon the face of the grand ocean, does not confine itself to an area of two hundred and fifty-five square miles, but to an area three hundred thousand times as great ; yet, nevertheless, the same quantity of water is kept in motion, and the currents, in the aggregate, trans- port as much water to restore the equilibrium as they would have do were all the disturbance to take place upon our hypothetical area of one mile deep over the space of two hundred and fifty-five square miles. Now, when we come to recollect that evaporation is hfting up, that the winds are transporting, and that the clouds are letting down, every day, actually such a body of water, we are reminded that it is done by little and little at a place, and by hair's breadths at a time, not by parallelopipedons one mile thick — that the evaporation, is most rapid and the rains most copious, not always at the same place, but now here, now there." 13 192 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. But the currents of the sea, as well as the varying tem- perature of aqueous belts of climate, are also powerfully influenced by the influx of fresh water from inland lakes and rivers. The water thus drained into the ocean, as the common sewer of the dry land, is of course charged with every variety of mineral, vegetable, and animal mat- ter. These substances, being held in suspension and so- lution, constitute the food of the fauna and flora of the sea, as well as affording the material from which many of them build their sculptured houses, and elaborate their weapons of warfare. These creatures, moreover, are as much dependent on the laws of climate, and the arbitrary failure of supplies of food, as are those of terra firma. But after the solid substances are extracted from the fresh water ; after they have been absorbed by millions of polyps and molluscan animals, and secreted in vast coral reefs or beds of shells and sponges, the water becomes a thin lixiviate or ordinary sea-water. The thin water, by the law of gravitation, will be displaced by the heavier water, and as the latter sinks, the other is lifted up by the atmosphere to be returned to the land in genial dews and rains. By this process, not only is the solid contents, formerly held in suspension or solution by the water, left behind, but also the salt of the sea with which it afterward becomes united. The water raised from the ocean by the clouds is neither salt water nor sedimentary — it is thin and attenuated rain-water, and, by the process it has un- dergone in the ocean, is again well adapted for dissolving the particles of earth, and of nourishing and invigorating vegetation, and once more emptying its loads of food for the animals of the ocean ! The constant displacement of water in the ocean, as Prof. Maury has shown, is one of the primary causes which give motion to its waters ; but, in addition to the mere displacement, the movement is accelerated by the temporary changes going on in the CURRENTS OP THE ATMOSPHERE. 193 density and specific gravity of the waters— 'for as the atmosphere abstracts only the water, and leaves the sedi- ment and the salt behind, it follows that the weight of the waters, for the time being, is increased ; while their den- sity would form a natural wall to inclose streams of water of less gravity, less density, and warmer temperature. Thus, reciprocal and corresponding currents are main- tained in the sea and in the air, the disarrangement of which would involve the lives of all the inhabitants of both elements. The least confusion but in one, and not all That system only, but the whole must fall. Well has Prof. Maury shown, in his admirable investi- gations of the physical wonders of the sea and air, that the "wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north ; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneih again according to his circuits." The same may be said of the sea ; whose waters whirl about continually, but invariably return again according to their circuits. If, indeed, the proportions, density, and gravity of earth, sea, and air were not fixed upon a basis of recip- rocal and harmonious action, why should we be told that the Creator " measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and comprehended the dust in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance." Now, in taking a retrospective glance at the Third Day, during which the coal was produced as its most prominent feature, who would venture to assert that the complicated and nicely-adjusted laws of aqueous and atmospheric currents, here indicated, were then in full force ? If, indeed, they were in force during the Third Day, why not also in the Second, or even the First, when 194 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. all was comparative unshaped nebulosity or chaos ? On the Second Day, there was no land exposed whatever. All was yet under the sea. On the Third Day, the land had indeed emerged, but it was yet miry and swampy. There were no mountains, and consequently there could have been no such rivers as the Mississippi, the St. Law- rence, the Amazon, or the Nile. There were rivers and broad lakes ; but they were rather arms of the sea than great inland streams two or three thousand miles in length. There were rivers and lakes — but they were rather ponds resulting from the drainage of the marshes and swamps of the land, than rivers deriving their sup- plies from the fountains in the bowels and snow-capped peaks of lofty mountains. There were rivers, I repeat ; — but they were rivers left behind to carve out their passage to the sea as the land itself arose ; they were not rivers dependent on rain-clouds and subterraneous caverns for their supplies. The exposed land then did not comprise one-twentieth part of the land now elevated above the ocean. But that no such system of air and ocean currents pre- vailed during the Third Day, is overwhelmingly manifest in the fact that a climate prevailed which was almost uni- form all over the face of the earth. The coal basins then produced are now found in every portion of the globe, in the hottest as well as in the coldest and most temperate zones. Coal exists everywhere, in irregular patches ; and how could it have been thus diffused if the climate had been diversified by currents of air and ocean, as we now find it ? The plants which produced the coal required heat — where could they now find it in the frigid zone ? Would the Stigmaria, the Calamite, the Sigillaria, Lepi- dodendria, and the arborescent Fern grow in unsurpassed luxuriance on the icy slopes or the towering glaciers of CLIMATE OF THE THIRD DAY CHANGED. 195 the North pole ? Are these cold and inhospitable regions the habitats of vegetation ? Yet, coal is found there ! If, then, the climate were nearly uniform during the coal period, it follows that no such currents of air and ocean as give equilibrium to our present terrestrial econ- omy could then have existed ; and as it is indisputable that these currents originate and perform their functions through the instrumentality of the nun, we are bound to conclude that, up to that time, the sun had not yet cast his rays upon the earth in the manner that he now does ; but that the atmosphere itself was humid and vapory, and that it only attained its transparency and diversity of temperature after the sun had dispelled the mists of the marshy plains, and set in motion the currents of the sea and air. And, in the absence of the sun, how could a system of storms and rains, and of land drainage and ocean currents, be maintained ? And where was the ne- cessity for it, when the land, expelling heat itself, was constantly giving rise to fogs, which fed the vegetation with moisture ? There was no rain, because there was yet no necessity for it ; — there was no direct action of the sun, because the radiated heat of the earth sufficed. Thus vegetation grew, as under the stimulus of a prolonged spring; until finally, toward the close of the Third Day, the Devonian mountains arose — the vapors were dispelled — fresh or sedimentary waters poured into the ocean — continental rivers began to flow, and, as a consequence, the sun illumined the atmosphere, and the present phe- nomena were set in motion ! This movement was aided by volcanic action occurring during the day we are now considering. The whole aspect and qualities of the pre- vious era were changed — the climate was at once refrige- rated by the elevation of the mountains containing the coal, such as the Alleghanies ; and it was then, for the first time, that the rays of the sun pierced the murky 196 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. atmosphere, and awakened new life in the sea, air, and land ! That Moses, in introducing the sun, moon, and stars on the Fourth Day, contemplated a radical change of the climate, so as to inaugurate the scenes that were to follow in the subsequent days, is apparent from the fact that, in the Fifth Day, immediately succeeding, he orders the seas to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life, including whales, and birds that might fly in the air. The atmosphere and circumstances of the earth, during the Third Day, were wholly unfavorable to the existence of winged animals, or to air-breathers of any kind ; while, in the absence of belts of climate in the sea, it was utterly impossible for animals such as now fill its waters to exist to any considerable extent. The few specimens of animals afforded by the Silurian and Devonian rocks sufficiently indicate the fact that no great currents traversed the seas of those epochs, and that, to produce them abundantly and in diversified species and genera, it was absolutely requisite to create currents of hot and cold water, shallow and deep basins, and drainage of animal, vegetable, and mineral debris from the land. The climate, therefore, had to be changed; and this change was originated by the elevation of the coal basins, and the immediate appear- ance of the sun's beams. There are few persons on the earth that may be said to be wholly insensible to its beauties, or the familiar work- ing of its physical laws, as exemplified in everyday life. Poets are filled with emotion on beholding a rocky preci- pice or a frowning mountain pass ; they dwell with ecstasy over a landscape, and point out secret beauties in every tree, shrub, or flower ; they apostrophize teeming valleys, with their sloping banks of green verdure, and their streams glistening through vistas of bending foliage like Bheets of burnished silver. Travelers write books descrip- WONDERS OF AIR AND SEA. 19 1 live of their joui'Deyings, in which the familiar and char- acteristic scenery of the earth is depicted in every possible style and form. The varied zones of climate and physical configuration, aided by the operations of man, constantly open to view new scenes, and present the earth in new aspects. The subject, therefore, is sufficiently compre- hensive and exhaustless ; — yet, while so much has been written and painted of the earth, is it not singular that so little has been said, and that, consequently, so little is known, of the sea and air ? Look down into the depths of the ocean ; — look at its wondrous caverns, its huge mountains, its high rocky steeples, its vast plateaux of coral reefs, its forests of coral trees, pendant with silicious and calcareous jewels ! Behold its swarms of animals — its minute polyps and its enormous whales ! Observe its rivers and currents, moving in every direction, but in un- disturbed harmony with each other ! Observe the shades of human character impressed upon its fishes, its crustaceous, and its sauroid creatures; — see how they are armed for battle — how the weak elude the strong — how the strong prey upon the weak I Observe their social habits, their domestic instincts, their mechanical pursuits ! Then con- sider the magnitude and mechanism of the ocean itself I The mind becomes bewildered and overpowered with a contemplation of the vast field. It is, as it were, looking down upon a neiu world — that which we inhabit, were it exposed to our view for the first time, could hardly excite emotions more profound or reverential. We turn tongue- tied from the view, to silently adore ! It has been computed that the salts of the sea, were they precipitated, and spread over the northern half of our continent, would make a stratum one mile thick! "What force," asks Lieut. Maury, " could move such a mass of matter on the dry land ? Yet the machinery of the ocean, of which it forms a part, is so wisely, marvelously, and 19^ THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. wonderfully compensated, that the most gentle breeze that plays on its bosom, the tiniest insect that secretes solid matter for its sea-shell, is capable of putting it instantly in motion I" Yet the contrivances of man, with all the steam-engines of the earth, could hardly move a stratum a foot thick, if exposed on a heap, during a thousand years ! Nor is the atmosphere less interesting, though still less of it is popularly known. It has a system of interior, local, and general currents precisely similar to that of the sea. It is at once the source and protection of life — with- out it, no organized beings could exist. We cannot see, though we constantly /eeZ its presence. It presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface of our bodies, or from seventy to one hundred tons in all, — yet we cannot realize a sense of its weight. " Softer than the softest down — more impalpable than the finest gossamer — it leaves the cobweb undisturbed, and scarcely stirs the lightest flower that feeds on the dew it supplies ; yet it bears the fleets of nations on its wings around the world, and crushes the most refractory sub- stances with its weight. It is sufficient, when in motion, to level the most stately forests and stable buildings with the earth — to raise the waters of the ocean into ridges like mountains, and dash the strongest ships to pieces like toys. It warms and cools by turns the earth and the living creatures that inhabit it. It draws up vapors from the sea and land, and again throws them down in rain or dew. It bends the rays of the sun from their paths, to give us the twilight of evening and of dawn ; it disperses and refracts their various tints, to beautify the approach and the retreat of the orb of day. But for it, sunshine would burst on us and fail us at once, and at once remove us from midnight darkness to the blaze of the noon. " While so little is known of the wonders of the air and SCIENCE OF THE BIBLE. 199 sea, it is a matter of astonisliment to find that, whenever the Bible has occasion to allude to either element, it does so loith a perfect knowledge of all their laws and charac- tfristics. Things that our wise men have been for ages attempting to solve, are here frequently alluded to as facts understood, and hence the unceasing laudation of all God's works in the holy volume. "But where shall wisdom be found," exclaims the perfect man of Uz, " and where is the place of understanding? The depth saith. It is not in me ; and the sea saith. It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. Whence, then, Cometh wisdom ? Destruction and Death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God under- standeth the way "thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof; for he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven, to make the iveight of the winds ; and he weigheth the waters by a measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder ; then did he see it, and declare it ; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out." " When the pump-maker came to ask Galileo to explain how it was that his pump would not lift water higher than thirty-two feet, the philosopher thought, but was afraid to say, it was owing to the ^weight of the winds;' and although the fact that the air has weight is here distinctly announced, philosophers never recognized the fact until within, comparatively, a recent period, and then it was proclaimed as a great discovery /"* It has required more than five thousand years of hard study and patient investigation of the wisest men of different nations and periods, to elaborate the great truths • Lieut. Maury — Physical Geography of the Sea. 200 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. of jN'ature which we have thus glanced at ; and yet every one of them is plainly anticipated in the prophetic vision of Moses. Geology was then utterly unknown as a science ; was utterly unknown even to the philosophic Greeks; was utterly unknown until man became a practi- cal miner, and learned (by a simple contrivance) to raise water out of the pits he made in the earth, as he penetrated into its bowels. Astronomy had not been arranged even into an imperfect system until the time of Ptolemy. The fragmentary conjectures of previous ages had no solid basis for support ; while the premises of Ptolemy having been founded in absolute error, of course all his conclu- sions were necessarily fallacious. And yet we see Moses, in the earliest epoch of 'inankind, without geological ex- perience or telescopic aid, unfolding the whole scheme and process of creation, from stage to stage. His descrip- tion stands the test of time. All the schemes of the wise men of old, fade away like the fantastic visions of a dream; but Moses looms up unchanged and unchangeable ; and every new discovery only adds lustre to the brightness and beauty of his narrative. Every thought embodies a philosophical laio — ever}'^ word carries with it a volume of signiJBcant meaning, the key to which is found in the rocks, and the elements, and the creatures constituting the earth itself. In vain has reasoning man set up his subtle barriers against it — in vain all his dark innuendos, his pseudo-logic, and his nicely-wrought theories ! If they do not lead him back subdued and repentant and wiser to the fountain of all truth, they sink into the earth with his forgotten bones ; while the holy record, deriving new strength with every new discovery, and every progressive step in intelligence, still goes on " conquering and to conquer." ''Beware," says the eloquent Paul to the Colossians, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, THE BIBLE AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 201 after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. " In the 6th chapter of his second letter to Timothy, he exclaims : " Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science, falsely so called — which some professing, have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee." Again, in his second epistle to his brethren at Corinth, he ex- claims with an eloquence which nothing less than the spirit of heaven could inspire : " Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect ; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought : But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory ; which none of the princes of this world knew : for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God ! For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God! Now, we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God ; and which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth : comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natu- ral man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." While the Bible was not written to promulgate a sj^stem of science, it is, in fact, the only book ever written that can stand the tests of scientific truths. The Yeda, the 202 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. Shaster, and the Koran, can stand no such tests, but tEe Bible can ; and even where it seems most beset with difficulty and mystery, those passages, by modern investi- gation, shine with brilliant light. " If, indeed," says Dr. Gumming, in an address before the London Bible Society, "if the Bible had been written by mere human hands, they might have indicated, here and there, something like a system of science. It speaks of flowers and trees, from the hyssop on the wall, to the cedar of Lebanon ; but there is not a hint of a system of botany. It speaks of stars, and sun, and moon ; but not a hint of a system of astronomy." And so, too, it may be added, it speaks of nearly every animal on the earth ; but not a hint of a system of zoology. The investigator of Natural History is thus unimpeded in his work ; but when the Bible does make a statement of fact, which involves the truths of science, it invariably turns out that the Bible is correct, and that the science was false. There are many examples of this, some of which have already been adverted to, while others remain to be noticed hereafter. Job, for ex- ample, speaks of himself as standing on the circle of the earth ; while Isaiah speaks of the circle of the sea. It is a singular fact that the rotundity of the earth had not been established until the time of Newton ; and that, in conse- quence of his inability to understand, or rather to measure its true form, he was unable to promulgate his discovery of the law of universal gravitation, which was withheld seven years longer from the world in consequence of his inability to satisfactorily demonstrate it, owing to this very cause. Even the Church of Rome, notwithstanding these expressions of the Bible, had long made it heresy for any one to believe "that the surface of the earth was other than a flat plain, or that the stars were not really riveted to the ethereal vault — hence the origin of the term ''fixed stars." "Hast thou an arm like God, or canst SCIENCE or THE BIBLE. ^03 thou thunder with a voice like him ? Gird up thy loins and declare ! Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loosen the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring forth Maggaroth in his season, or bind Arcturus with his stars ?" These words of Job were long a mystery. What are the sweet influences of the Pleiades ? Astro- nomy tells us that the stars, the sun, the moon, and the earth, with their leading satellites, constitute one group which revolves round another central sun, and thai central sun is but one of the mysterious Pleiades. The Bible thus indicates what astronomers, with the aid of the telescope, have only lately realized — that there are other systems of worlds planted in space, besides our own, and that these revolve around central suns still greater and grander than our own. Nothing short of an inspired conception of the Almighty Creator and his works, could have enabled the promulgators of his divine word to deal in cosmical truths like these — truths so far beyond the ordinary range of the human understanding. The profound and erudite Alexander von Humboldt, in describing the literature of the Hebrews, and especially their poetry and descriptions of Nature, remarks of the 104th Psalm, that it almost represents, of itself, "the image of the whole cosmos.''^ " Who co^erest thyself with light as with a garment : who stretch est out the heavens like a curtain : who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters : who maketh the clouds his chariot : who walketh upon the wings of the wind : who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever ! He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field : the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man : that he may bring forth fruit 204 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. out of the earth : and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthen eth man's heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap ; the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted ; where the birds make their nests : as for the stork, the fir trees are her houses." " The great and wide sea" is then described, " wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships : there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein." "The picture of the heavenly bodies," says Humboldt, "renders this picture complete. 'He appointed the moon for sea- sons : the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night ; wherein all the beasts of the forests do creep forth. The youug lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labor unto the evening.'" " We are astonished to find," says the venerable Hum- boldt, " in a lyrical poem of such a limited compass, the whole unwerse — the heavens and the earth — sketched in a few hold touches! The calm and toilsome labor of man, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, when his daily work is done, is here contrasted with the moving life of the elements of nature. In the 3Tth chap- ter of Job, the meteorological processes which take place in the atmosphere, the formation and solution of vapor, according to the changing direction of the wind, the play of its colors, the generation of hail and of the rolling thunder, are described with individualizing accuracy; and many questions are propounded which we, in the present state of our physical knowledge, may indeed be able to express under more scientific definitions, but scarcely to answer satisfactorily. " " The book of Job," observes Hum- boldt, "is alike picturesque in the delineation of individual SCIENCE OF THE BIBLE. 205 phenomena, and artistically skillful in didactic arrangement of the whole work." " The Lord walketh on the heights of the waters, on the ridges of the waves towering high beneath the force of the wind." The morning red has colored the margins of the earth, and variously formed the covering of the clouds, as the hand, of man moulds the yielding clay. The habits of animals are described, as those of the wild ass, the horse, the buffalo, the rhinoceros, the crocodile, the eagle, and the ostrich. We see " the pure ether spread, during the scorching heat of the south wind, as a melted mirror over the parched desert." " Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb ? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: a,nd here shall thy proud waves be stayed !" It would not be difficult to construe, in these words, the phe- nomena of the origin of the world on the basis of the nebular hypothesis. Again, in the tith Psalm, " The waters saw thee, God, the waters saw thee : they were afraid : the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water : the skies sent out a sound : thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens ; the lightnings lightened the world : the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou didst divide the sea in thy strength : thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood : thou didst dry up mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night also is thine : thou hast prepared the light and the sun," etc., etc. I might multiply quotations, ad infinitum, for nearly the entire book of Job, whicJi is of equal if not greater anti- quity than that of Moses, together with a large portion of the Psalms, are each full of instructive and impi'essive 206 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. meaning in relation to the physical phenomena of the earth. No one can read these beautiful portions of the Bible without being impressed with the accuracy of their descriptions, and the spirit of fervid sublimity which dis- tinguishes them as poems. In concluding my observations on this day, it is, per- haps, hardly necessary to remind the reader that, inasmuch as the light of the sun had only been introduced for the first time, during the fourth day, and was especially in- tended to mark the days and seasons, as well as to rule over them — no days, properly so understood, could have existed, or been contemplated by Moses, in the previous epochs. This proposition is so self-evident, that no candid mind can, for a moment, question it. Although Moses is constantly speaking of days, it is clear that he always contemplates lengthened periods of time, as we have already surmised in the earlier pages of this volume ; for nothing is more certain than that the days of the coal and metamorphic periods (if they could exist at all as a di- urnal measure of time) were wholly dissimilar to those which occurred afterward, and which occur now. This conclusion is made perfectly overwhelming in the second chapter of Genesis, where Moses observes (in allusion to this period) that " the Lord Grod had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground ; but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Is not this wonderful ? Does it not confirm, in the most remarkable manner, the peculiar phenomena of the coal period — but above all, its singular climate ? If such were its general aspects, we at once perceive the propriety of speciall}^ introducing the light of the sun on the fourth day. It is spoken of before, among the phenomena of the first day, and therefore already existed ; but its light was now required to ride over the days and seasons ; and this was fully accomplished Milton's fourth play. 207 after the absorption of the carbonic acid and the elevation of the mountains. The atmosphere soon became more diversified, as well as beautifully clear and transparent, so that, on the following day, or era, the birds were enabled to spread their pinions in the "open firmament of heaven." The earth was thus again prepared for the still nobler, and grander scenes that were to follow : Again the Almighty spake : Let there be lights High in the expanse of heaven to divide The day from nigl^; and let them be for signs, For seasons, and for days, and circling years ; And let them be for lights, as I ordain Their office in the firmament of heaven To give light on the earth ; and it was so. And God made two great lights, great for their use To man, the greater to have rule by da,j, The less by night, altern : and made the stars, And set them in the firmament of heaven, To illuminate the earth, and rule the day In their vicissitude, and rule the night. And light from darkness to divide. God saw. Surveying his great work, that it was good : For of celestial bodies first the sun, A mighty sphere, he framed, unlightsome first. Though of ethereal mould : then formed the moon Globose, and every magnitude of stars. And sowed with stars the heaven thick as a field. Of light by far the greater part he took, Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed In the sun's orb, made porous to receive And drink the liquid light, firm to retain Her gathered beams, great palace now of light. Hither, as to a fountain, other stars E,epairing, in their golden urns draw light. And hence the morning planet gilds her horns. By tincture or reflection they augment Their small peculiar, though from human sight So far remote, with diminution seen. First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, Regent of day, and all the horizon round Invested with bright rays, jocund to run 14 THE FOURTH DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. His longitude through heaven's high road : the gray Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced, Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the moon, But opposite in leveled west was set His mirror, with full face borrowing her light From him, for other light she needed none In that aspect : and still that distance keeps Till night, then in the east her turn she shines, Revolved on heaven's great axle, and her reign' With thousand lesser lights dividual holds. With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared Spangling the hemisphere: then first adorned With their bright luminaries, that set and rose. Glad evening and glad morn crowned the Fourth Day.— Milton. THE FIFTH DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every liv- ing creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind ; and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the Fifth Day. Zoologists classify animal species into four grand divi- sions, named respectively the Badiaia, the Mollusca, the Articulata, and the Vertehrata. The first division (Badi- aia) is divided into five subordinate groups, consisting of Spongiaria, Polypifera, Infusoria^ Foramenifera, and Echinodermata. These are the lowest and most minute species of animals in existence, and they are frequently only perceptible by means of the microscope. They exist in lakes and seas limited to a certain depth, beyond which the pressure of the water is perhaps too great for their delicate anatomy. The difference between some of them and vegetable structure is so slight as to render it difficult to establish a line of demarkation. The second division {Mollusca) comprises a soft and pulpy animal, most gen- erally covered by a calcareous shell. This division in- cludes a great variety of subordinate species, among which may be mentioned the Brachiopoda, the ConcMfera, the Gasteropoda, the Cephalopoda, and the Tentaculifera. These are numerously represented in the Silurian strata (209) 210 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. by' the beautiful fossil shells of the Ammonite, the Nautilus^ etc. The third division (Articulata) comprehends six subordinate groups, the leading peculiarities of which, as a whole, are their jointed and ring-like structure. Of the subordinate types, the Annelida are worms; the Cir- rhipoda a shell-worm, generally found adhering to the shells of other animals ; the Crustacea are represented in part by the crabs and lobsters of our seas, though they also comprehend many other types essentially different in structure, among which may be mentioned the sculptured shells of the Trilobites, the fossils of which are often coiled like serpents ; while the Arachnida include spiders, scorpions, and the several varieties of insects, butterflies, bees, grasshoppers, and beetles. The fourth and last great division ( Vertebraia) includes all animals that have internal, articulated skeletons, and is divided into four leading groups — Fishes, Birds, Reptiles, and Mam- mifera. Nearly all those comprised in the three divisions first named, flourished during the Paleozoic and the Secondary eras, and, with some changes or alternations of genera and species, many of them reappeared in the subsequent Tertiary and modern formations. Of the Yertebrata, the only animals that did not appear before the Tertiary, were those of the Mammifera, though these were represented in the seas by the class of Cetacea, comprising whales, dolphins, and seals. Inasmuch as all these animals have contributed largely to the changes wrought upon the earth, a brief description of them is essential ; but this must necessarily be general rather than particular, and comprehend classes instead of individuals and species. Most of those belonging to the first division being micro- scopic animals, little or nothing is known of them except through the labors of original investigators. All we know of them, therefore, or of most of them, is embraced in ZOOLOGY. 211 methodical and technical language, and to adopt this in a work addressed to the popular mind, would be injudicious and foreign to its purpose. Having already derived aid from the valuable work of the late Dr. Richardson, en- titled an " Introduction to Geology," (by far the best compendium of that science with which we are acquainted,) I shall compile mainly from it the information necessary to conduct the reader over this important branch of the subject — a subject which, under the name of Conchology, comprises in itself a vast and exhaustless field in the il- limitable domain of Natural Science. '' The Spongiaria," he observes, " are among the lowest forms of animal life. They are composed of a horny frame-work, invested with a simple gelatinous tissue, and furnished with vibratile cilia, for causing currents of water to flow through their porous structure; the horny net-work is consolidated with silicious or calcareous spiculse. The Spongiaria remain rooted to rocks at the bottom of the sea, or hang like liv- ing stalactites from the vaulted arches of submarine caves ; or their delicate vegetable forms droop in endless variety from the shelving edges of rocks exposed to the washing of the surge. They are reproduced by small gemmae, covered with cilia, which are free organisms during the first period of their existence. We form three orders of this class : the first have silicious spiculae, the second calcareous spiculae, and the third have a horny nei-ivork without either. Fossil sponges are found in most strata, either entire or decomposed into spiculae. . . Like the bodies of recent Spongiaria, the silicious fossils contain Infusoria in the interior, which may be detected by the microscope." The spiculae of fresh-water sponges are found in great profusion in lacustrine Tertiary beds, along with the shields of fossil Infusoria. Many of the moss agates are of spongious origin, and present some of the 212 THE FIFTH DAT — GEOLOGICAL. most beautiful gems that come under the eye of the lapidist. ''The skeleton of the Folypifera assumes a vast variety of forms, being horny or calcareous, globular or branched, solid or tubular, stellate, porous, or retiform. The gel- atinous organized substance of the animal is inclosed in ramified tubular sheaths, or expanded over the surface of the calcareous skeleton which it incloses and secretes. The mouth of the polyp is surrounded with numerous filaments, which, in the highest groups, are furnished with vibratile cilia. Each polyp, or digestive sac, contributes a moiety to the nourishment of the compound body with which it is originally united. This physiological relation occasions remarkable associations ; hence the stupendous results obtained from their operations in the seas of inter- tropical regions, by which the life of the individual is combined with the life of the whole, and the nutriment prepared by each organism is made to contribute to the nourishment of the community, as in the red coral." The calcareous skeletons of some Anthozoa are very abundant, and attain a great magnitude in the Pacific, where they contribute largely to the formation of islands and conti- nents. Dr. Darwin, in his work on Coral Reefs, has shown that the zoophytic productions may be classified into three groups — Atolls, Barrier-reefs, and Fringing- reefs ; that the vital operations of the animal are limited within a range of thirty fathoms, and that beyond that depth they cannot live ; while the forms which the reefs assume depend upon the elevation or subsidence of the ocean's bed, on which the foundations of the zoophytic structure are laid. Coral-reefs stretch along the shores of !N'ew Caledonia to the length of four hundred miles, while they extend on the northeast coast of Australia for up- ward of a thousand miles. Hundreds of islands in the THE MICROSCOPIC WCRLD. ^13 Pacific are made up almost exclusively of their calcareous remains. The class of Polypifera is divided into two orders, the Bryozoa and the Anthozoa. The first comprises five or six famihes, and the other more than a dozen, separated into two sub-orders. It is unnecessary here even to men- tion the names of these subordinate groups, because the distinctions between them are extremely delicate, and diffi- cult of specific identity, while it is by no means essential to a proper understanding of the animals as a class. The Bryozoan order is the most highly organized coral of the class, and the fact that it existed during the Silurian era, disproves the idea of a progressive development even in the first and lowest forms of animal life ever created. The class of Infusoria are so called because they origi- nate and abound in infusions of decomposed vegetation in ponds, lakes, rivers, and seas. They are the animalculae of vegetable juices, and are so inestimably minute, that they can often be detected only by the highest powers of the microscope. But, small as they are, they comprise many distinct genera, and many hundreds of species. Some of them are inclosed in silicious shells, marked with longitudinal, transverse, or oblique lines, or adorned with various other forms of minute sculpturing. Many of them, especially of the families BaciUai'idoe and Feridinidce, are found in a fossil state in the Tertiary beds of Europe and America. Prof. Ehrenberg, of Germany, who has devoted par- ticular attention to this branch of microscopic investiga- tion, has ascertained that twenty-four thousand of these organisms, placed together, would not measure one inch in length. In some infusions, indeed, the creatures are so small, that ten thousand can swim in such a space ; hence a cubic inch would contain more organized animal- culae than there are human beings on the surface of the 214 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. earth I The substance known as Tripoli is composed wholly of the silicious shields of these animals. And Ehrenberg has estimated that a cubic line of this polishing stone contains, in round numbers, the remains of no less than 23,000,000 of individuals. But, as there are in a cubic inch 1,'728 lines, therefore there would be in a cubic inch of Tripoli, as sold at the shops, no less than 39,144,000,000 of the fossil armor of the extinct animal- c'ulae I "This overpowering force of numbers," says the late Alexander von Humboldt, in speaking of the propa- gation of the light of luminous cosmical bodies, " is as clearly manifested in the smallest organisms of animal life as in the Milky "W-^v of these self-luminous suns which we call fixed stars. What masses of Polythalamise are inclosed, according to Ehrenberg, in one thin stratum of chalk I This eminent investigator of nature asserts that one cubic inch of the Bilin polishing slate, which consti- tutes a sort of mountain cap forty feet in height, contains forty-one thousand millions of the microscopic Galionella distans; while the same volume contains more than one billion seven hundred and fifty thousand millions of dis- tinct individuals of Galionella ferruginea. Such estimates remind us of the treatise, named Arenarius, of Archimedes — of sand-grains which might fill the universe of space ! If the starry heavens, by incalculable numbers, magni- tude, space, duration, and length of periods, impress man with the conviction of his own insignificance, his physical w^eakness, and the ephemeral nature of his existence ; he is, on the other hand, cheered and invigorated by the con- sciousness of having been enabled, by the application and development of intellect, to investigate very many im- portant points in reference to the laws of Nature and the sidereal arrangement of the Universe." In Lapland and Finland there are beds of fossil fauna, which the natives mix with flour, and eat. The micro- MIC3R0SC0PIC ANIMALS. 215 scope shows that this farina, which occurs a« a commi- nuted powder, consists of the shields of infusoria. Their fossils are also found in opals and semi-opals, stones which often rank next to the diamond in value, and, in the play of colors, fully equal it in beauty. The Foramenifera are microscopic animals of a simple, gelatinous, fleshy substance, without appreciable organiza- tion, which secrete a delicate, calcareous, and .many-cham- bered shell, of extreme beauty, into the cells of which the body of the animal retires. The animal, by peculiar expansions and retractile movements, is enabled to crawl and swim. They are alike wonderful for the simplicity of their organization, and the variety and delicate sstmc- ture of their shells. Plancus collected 6,000 shells from an ounce of sand, on the shores of the Adriatic, and D'Orbigny found 3,840,000 in the same quantity of sand on the shores of the Antilles. Saldami collected from less than an ounce and a half of rock, from the hills of Casciana, in Tuscany, 10,454 fossil shells of Foramenifera. Several of the species are so minute, that 500 weigh only one grain, and others, still more minute, would require double that number to make the same weight. Yet, so abundant are their remains, that they often form banks that blockade navigable channels, obstruct gulfs of' the sea, or fill up harbors, and, aided by the polyps, form ex- tensive islands in tropical seas, or along continents, hundreds of miles in length. Their shells occur in great abundance in the Tertiary strata, while about twenty species are found in the ooHte, and two hundred and fifty in the chalk. But they are still more numerous in the modern era — D'Orbigny, the celebrated French Concholo- gist, having identified over nine hundred species now living in our seas. "The Echinodermata,''^ says Dr. Richardson, ''forms the true type of the radiata division, and is composed of 216 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. animals, fixed and free, with a highly- organized integu- ment, for the most part armed with movable spines. In the rayed families, the organs of locomotion are disposed around a central axis (and are hence often called sea- stars). In the spherical forms, they are ranged in rows like the lines of longitude on a terrestrial globe, and the mouth and the arms are situate at the opposite poles. Each element of the body is in general repeated five times. Thus, the sea-lily has five primary arms ; the sea-star, five rays ; and the sea-urchin, five pairs of per- forated and five pairs of imperforated plates in its shell. The external surface of the skeleton supports a series of movable spines, and the perforated portion gives passage to thousands of tubular feet for gliding over the bed of the shallow shores they inhabit. The three higher orders of this class, are free, ambulatory animals, while the crenoids are generally fixed by a calcareous stem, like the polyps. The higher forms also possess visual organs — a feature in which all the other radiata are deficient. The Echinoder- mata have a distinct system of vessels for the circulation of the blood, and some of them a tree-like organ for respi- ration. The class comprises four orders — HoJothurida, Echinida, Aster ida, and Grinoida. Such, in brief, are the varied and minute aqueous crea- tures whose delicate secretions have, in the course of ages, wrought the most stupendous and wonderful changes upon the earth. Inhabiting the more shallow bottoms of the sea, their vegetable instincts have covered it with magnificent coral orchards, that sparkle in the water like the ice-spangled foliage of winter, and elaborating, as it were, pebbled fruits of agates, opals, and emeralds. While thousands of millions of them, as we have seen, could occupy a cubic inch of water, and then not feel any thing like the ambition "for enlarging the area of freedom" which has ever distinguished filibustering man, they have WORKS OP MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS. 217 yet reared up monuments of their untiring industry and combined power, far greater and more enduring than the pyramids of Egypt, or the marble temples of Greece and Rome — temples which, in fact, are often erected with rocks composed of their fossil remains. Their islands stretched, and even now extend hundreds of miles amid the watery fields of ocean, and their peninsulas have brought whole continents into friendly union. Such are the creatures — the unseen workers which the great Creator employs to carry out his architectural designs. The Mollusca, which form the second great division of animal life, are generally distinguished for a body inar- ticulate, soft, and pulpy, and usually inclosed in a cal- careous shell. The primary division of the class is based on the development of the nervous system, and on the presence or absence of the ganglia that represent the brain. The first form the Encephalous, and the second the Acephalous orders. The encephalous possess organs of sense, and their blood circulates in a system of arteries and veins, aided by the contraction of a two-chambered heart. The terrestrial, and most of the lacustrine species, breathe by an air-sac or lung ; and all the marine, and most of the lacustrine species, have branchiae for respira- tion. Their shells are composed of a cellular, albuminous membrane, indurated by carbonate of lime, and secreted by a portion of the tegumentary system or mantle. The shell is generally external, and presents a great variety of forms. Sometimes it is internal, and appears like a rudi- mentary bone. They are for the most part marine animals ; but many inhabit fresh-water lakes, and a few live on the land. The character of the shells varies with their habitat — those of the marine species are large and heavy, while in the others they are usually light and deli- cate. The Acephalous are all aquatic, and embrace three sub-classes : the Tunicata have no shell, but are inclosed 218 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. in an elastic muscular sac, with two openings ; some are solitary, others social, and organically united in groups like polyps. The Brachiopoda are inclosed in a bivalve shell. They have two long spiral arms, developed from the sides of the mouth, and fixed to an internal frame work. The Conchifera have also a bivalve shell, and respire by laminated branches attached to the mantle; Most of them have a fleshy foot for locomotion. The Encephalous class are divided into sub-classes ac- cording to the modifications of their organs of locomo- tion. The Gasteropoda are generally inclosed in a uni- valve shell. They creep by means of muscular discs, situated under the body. The Pteropoda swim by two wing-like membranes, situated at the sides of the neck. When they have a shell, it is thin, fragile, and univalve. The Cephalopoda have their locomotive organs arranged round the head, in the form of eight or more arms, with or without sucking discs. Some have internal bones, as the Lepia and Laligo. Others have an external many- chambered shell. The classes of MoUusca, thus enumerated, embrace to- gether many hundred species, some of which, from their rela- tion to the ancient earth, deserve special consideration. Of the Brachiopoda, the species Terehiatula were very numer- ous and constituted nearly one-fourth of the Mollusca of the primary eras. The calceola, chonetes, leptoena, producius, etc., are found only in the paleozoic rocks. The Conchi- fera embrace nearly a thousand species, many of which are found in the most ancient rocks, and although their generic forms have slightly varied during the long periods which have elapsed, nothing is observed in their history to justify the supposition that there is any process of de- velopment from lower to higher forms. Yery remarkable changes, however, have taken place in species at difl'erent periods. Of nearly a thousand species obtained from the MOLLUSCAN ANIMALS. 219 Tertiary, more than a seventh part of them were found to be identical with living species of the same or of distant latitudes. While, in the same genera, the number of species found in the Tertiary, often exceeds that of the species now known in a living state. It appears that there has been a constant oscillation in the number of species in each genus in the Tertiary, as compared with the modern epoch ; but there has been no gradual perfec- tioning of the same.* The remains of the Gasteropoda are important to the geologist, as affording unequivocal evidence of thefluviatile, lacustrine, and marine conditions under which strata were formed. " The species of gasteropoda," says Prof. Grant, " are much less abundant in the ancient grauwacke (Silu- rian) limestones than those of bivalved mollusc a ; only about seventy species of the former having been yet iden- tified in the strata of that epoch, and a quarter of these belong to the extinct genus euomphalus, which ceases with the carboniferous rocks. Most of the species, however, observed in these ancient grauwacke formations, are re- fen*ed to existing genera, as turritella, of which about ten species occur ; turbo, six species ; buccinum, patella, del- phinula, five each ; nerita, pileopsis, trochus, and phasia- nella, three species each." The Pteropoda, it has already been remarked, swim by muscular membranous expansions of the mantle, which project from the sides of the head. Their body is naked, or sometimes protected by a delicate shell. They are small animals that float on the surface of the ocean far away from shore. In the North Seas, the clio and li- ruacia swarm in such abundance that they are said to constitute the food of the whale. The clio is provided with a singularly complex apparatus, which has recently * Bichardeon's Introduction to Geology, p. 237. 229 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. been described by Eschricht of Copenliagen. The head is furnished with six retractile appendages, which have a reddish tint, from the number of distinct red spots distri- buted over the surface, amounting in each to about three thousand. When viewed with a microscope, each speck is seen to be the orifice of a sheath which contains about twenty pedunculated sucking discs, that are capable of protrusion for the prehension of prey; so that the head of the clio borealis is armed with three hundred and sixty thousand microscopic suckers — an instrument which, for complexity, is quite unique in the animal series. The Cephalopida have a thick, soft, fleshy body, some- times protected by a shell, and sometimes naked. The mantle is a musculo-membranous sheath, inclosing the digestive, respiratory, circulating, and generative organs. The head is distinct from the trunk ; is of large size, and round form. It contains the organs of the five senses, and those for mastication and deglutition. It is surrounded by a circle of fleshy processes, or feet, from whence the name of the class is derived. The eyes are two in number, of large size, and highly organized. The mouth is armed with a pair of vertical, horny or calcareous jaws, resem- bling the bill of a parrot, and inclose a fleshy tongue. The class comprises two orders, the principal one being the Tentaculifera, of which the Nautilus Pompilius is the type. They have large extended univalve shells, sym- metrical in form, and divided internally into a series of chambers, the last being very capacious, for lodging the body of the animal. A tube passes through all the cham- bers, and opens into a muscular sac surrounding the breast. This apparatus is intended to facilitate the ascent and de- scent of the animal in water, by determining an increase or diminution in the specific gravity of the shell — the reservoir and siphon can be distended with water, thereby augmenting the weight of the shell, or emptied by the ANIMALS OP THE ANCIENT SEAS. 221 contraction of its muscular walls, and thus enabling the animal to float. The weight of the sea- water is the ballast by which they thus ascend or descend. Their eyes are more simple than those of the Acetahuliferce, which com- pose the other class of the order. The Tentaculifera comprise three families — the Nau- tilidse, the Clymenidae, and the Ammonitidae. The first have the siphon in the middle of the septa, a spiral or straight shell, and a septa simple or sinuous. The family contains but one living genus, known as the nautilus. This has a spiral shell, rolled on the same plane, and volu- tions at all ages contiguous, apparent, or concealed. It contains more than one hundred and twelve species, which made their first appearance in the Devonian rocks, and attained their highest development during the coal period. After appearing in all the subsequent eras, but two living species now remain. The Clymenidoe have the siphon in the internal part of the septa ; and the shell is spiral, arched or straight. The genera melia, cameroceras,phragmoceras, and clymenia are extinct, and belong to the paleozoic era. These shells are very beautiful. The Ammonitidce have the siphon at the external dorsal part of the septa ; and the shell is spiral or straight, arched or bent in various forms. The genera oncoceras, cyrtoceras, gyoceras, cryp- toceras, and stenoceras are all found in the paleozoic era. Goniatites are Devonian and carboniferous, and ceratites are triassic forms. The G. Ammonites form a regular spiral, rolled on the same plane, with the turns contiguous. Five hundred and thirty species of this genus have been identified. They comprise some of the most ornate and magnificent shells of the ocean. In each of the eighteen geological stages in which ammonites are found, certain groups of specific forms are found to characterize the dif- ferent beds. The ten-armed Cephalopods, with internal shells, com- 222 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. prise the families of SpicuUdce, LoligidcBj Tenthidce, and Belemnitidoe. The first have an internal calcareous shell, with a series of air-chambers, traversed by a siphon. It includes living and fossil genera. The second family have an internal horny plate of a feather-like form, but no air- chambers. Fossils are found in the oolite. The third have an internal blade, like an arrow, also without air- chambers. Fossils of these genera occur in the oolite. The Belemnites have an internal horny skeleton, and a testaceous shell, formed of air-chambers, piled on each other in a straight line, and traversed by a lateral and marginal siphon. The genera are all extinct. They occur in the oolite and chalk, and distinguish the strata by their specific forms. The Tentaculifera were among the first animal forms that appeared on the earth, being found in the Silurian rocks. There were twenty-two genera in the Paleozoic period ; seven in the triassic ; the same number in the oolite ; fourteen in the cretaceous, and but one genus in the modern seas. The Acetabulifera appeared in the oolite with twelve genera, and in the Tertiary with four ; five, however, still survive.* The annexed table, originally compiled by the great French conchologist, Alcide d'Orbigny, presents the num- ber of species of Radiata and Mollusca belonging to each geological or stratigraphical stage of the earth. It exhibits at a glance the whole extent and distribution of their fossil remains, and of their specialty to particular eras. The species now living are omitted, but they are for the most part indicated in the Pliocene, the last stage of the Tertiary. * The authors cited in the foregoing compilation, besides Dr. Richard- son, are Pictet's Paleontologie, Magazine of Natural History, Mantell's Isle of Wight, Pictorial Atlas, Natural History of Crinoida, the British Annual, Prof. Gray, Dr. Wright, D'Orbigny, Owen, etc., etc. ANIMALS OP THE ANCIENT SEAS. 223 TABLE EXHIBITING THE DISTRIBUTION OP FOSSIL MOL- LUSCA AND RADIATA IN EACH FORMATION. GEOLOGICAL STAGES OR SUB-ERAS. Pliocene Miocene Eocene Nummulite Upper Chalk Lower Chalk Upper Greensand. Gault Lower Greensand and Wealden, Portland Beds , Kimmeridge Clay Coral Rag Oxford Clay Kelloway Rock Bath Oolite Inferior Oolite , Upper Lias , Middle Lias Lower Lias Red Marls Muschelkalk of Germans .... Magnesian Limestone , CarWbiferous or Coal Devonian, or Old Red, etc Upper Silurian Lower Silurian Total 14.947 HI 444 162 606 2903 160 3063 1478 199 167^7 662 132 694 1208 624 1232 218 148 366 627 183 810 307 52 359 656 124 781 69 2 61 184 16 200 403 235 638 499 230 729 253 26 278 407 125 632 608 94 602 273 14 287 270 13 283 163 12 175 619 114 733 104 3 107 82 9 91 887 161 1048 1054 146 1200 356 61 418 375 52 427 14.947 3,000 17,947 The Mollusca iiiliabiting the seas and lakes of the mod- ern era, are perhaps no less numerous and varied than they were in previous eras. Indeed, it will be seen by the table already presented, that they attained their great- est development in the ancient earth during the Tertiary period ; while the table below, compiled from the re- searches of Baron Cuvier and other distinguished natural- ists, will sufficiently indicate that there has been no diminution of species, whatever depreciation, if any, may have occurred in individual numbers. It will also ex- 15 224 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. hibit, in a very remarkable degree, that instead of the ancient forms having passed into a higher grade of ani- mals, they are still maintained in their original and un- deviating moulds ; which, indeed, nothing short of direct and specific creation could change: TABLE EXHIBITING THE SPECIES OF LIVING MOLLUSCA. MULTIVALVES, OR SHELLS WITH MANY VALVES. Genera — classic terms. Genera — common names. JVb. species. Chiton Coat-of-mail 28 Lepas Acorn shell 32 Pholas Stone-piercer 12 BIVALVES, OR SHELLS WITH TWO VALVES. Oenera — classic terms. Genera — common numes. No. species, Mya Truucate, trough-shell, or gaper 26 Solen Razor-sheath, or knife-handle 23 Tellina Tellen 94 Cardium Cockle, or heart-shell 52 Mactra Kneading-trough 27 Donax Wedge-shell....' 19 Venus Venus 153 Spondylus Thorny oyster, or artichoke head 4 Chama Clamps, or clams 25 Area Ark 43 Ostrea Oyster and scallop ..36 Anomia Antique lamp ,51 Mytilus Mussel , 64 Pirnea « Fin-shell, or sea wing 18 UNIVALVES, SINGLE VALVE WITH REGULAR SPIRE. Genera — classic terms. Genera — common names. No. species. Argonauta Paper sailor 5 Nautilus Pearly sailor 31 Conus Cone 83 Cyproea Cowry ; 120 Bulla Dipper, or bubble 52 Voluta Volute, or wreath 144 Buccinum Whelk. 200 Strombus Winged, or claw shell 53 Murex Trumpet, or rock shell 182 Trochus Top-shell 33 Trubo Wreath, gig, or top-shell 151 Helix Snail or spiral 267 Nerita , Nerit, or hoof-shell 76 Haliotis Sea-ear, or ear-shell 19 Tpt3,l genera 31 Total species 2,106 ANIMALS OP THE ANCIENT SEAS. 225 It will thus be observed that the species of Mollusean animals are quite as numerous in the present geological era as they were in any of those of previous formations. They were only surpassed by the Miocene stage of the Tertiary, which, however, contained many allied with species still living. This overwhelming fact ought to be sufficient to put the seal of condemnation upon all theories contemplating a gradual change and development of or- ganic speciesi, from a lower to a higher type, or from a higher to a lower type. The third primary division of animal life comprises the Articulata — animals that, in the absence of a true skele- ton, have their bodies surrounded by movable rings, or by coats of horny or calcareous enamel. They range higher in the scale of organization than the Molluscans, but neither are furnished with the skeleton of the Vertebrata. They are divided into six classes — the Annelida, Cir- rhipoda, Crustacea, Arachnida, 3Iyriopoda, and Insecta. All of these, again, comprise numerous sub-classes, fami- lies, and species. The Annelides are worms with red blood, and have a soft, elongated, and articulated body, divided in folds and segments. Some of them form tubes to live in, either of calcareous matter exuded from their own body, or from foreign substances ; to which tubes, however, they are not attached. None of this family have feet; but the greater number have setoe, or bundles of stiff movable hairs, which supply their place. They are generally her- maphrodite ; and their food consists of insects and vege- tables. Nearly all live in the water, or bury themselves in holes in mud or sand. The sea lumhrici, or worms, though forming a numerous and diversified family, yet require no particular notice. The lumhrici terrestres, or common earth-worms, so well known, are the only ani- mals of this class which do not enter the water. They 226 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. are destitute of eyes, attain to about a foot in length, and their body is divided bj a hundred or more rings. They pierce the earth with ease. At least twenty species are known. It may be here remarked that the earth-worm is a great assistant and friend to the farmer and gardener. Living near the surface, their perforations aerify the soil, and allow the passage of water to the roots of vegetation. Their secretions also contribute to the chemical changes which occur in the processes of vegetation, and furnish to the young roots the very nourishment they require. De- spised and trodden upon by man, the Creator seems to have intended them as a secret auxiliary in the economy of the earth, by aid of which it is clothed with flowers, fruits, and herbs. Yet many a fool, unable to comprehend the wisdom and goodness of Providence, would shrug his shoulders in affected disgust at these slimy burrowers, and wonder why they were suffered to crawl upon the earth ! The wonder, indeed, is that they themselves should be allowed to feast and revel upon the labors of God's humble workers ! The Annelides embrace two orders, the first character- ized by naked bodies, as the Nerites, and the other by a calcareous or membranous tube or sheath. To these be- long the Serpula of the Devonian and oolitic rocks, the Terehella, and the Spinorhis and Siliquaria of the Ter- tiary. The common leech, so extensively employed in medicine, belongs to the former order. It is furnished with a three-fold and triangular jaw, with two ranges of very fine teeth, which act like a cupping-glass. The blood with which the animal will gorge itself does not go into, the stomach, but into distinct vessels, hence a single meal will suffice its appetite for more than a year ! The Ci7^rhipoda are marine animals, and are usually found attached to rocks. It is inclosed in a multivalve shell, and was formerlv ranked with Molhi scans. There FOSSIL SHELL- ANIMALS. 22 T are two families, and several varieties are found in the Tertiary and oolite rocks. The species Balanus, Acastra, Gorunola, etc., belong to one family ; while Anatifa, Pol- licipes, and Aptychus are characteristic of another. The Crustacea comprises a large, varied, and numerous filass, which is arranged into eight orders. The skeleton is in the form of an external crust, exuded from the ves- sels of the skin, and hardened with carbonate and phos- phate of lime. At certain periods this crust is thrown off, to permit the growth of a new one. The crabs and lobsters are true types of the class ; but it comprehends all animals with articulated feet, a heart for circulation, and branchias for respiration. Their feet comprise at least six, and their eyes three in number — ^^the latter oc- curring as simple lenses, or comprising a number of com- pound lenses. The order Isopoda is represented by the common wood- louse, which have been found fossil in amber ; but a large number of marine and terrestrial genera occur in the wealden and Tertiary beds of Europe. The order De- copoda comprises the prawns, shrimps, and craw-fish now living ; and other families are represented by the lobsters and crabs. Of the prawn family, more than a dozen genera occur in the upper lias ; while of the lobster, or Asiacidce group, some ten or more are found in a fossil state. All these animals are still so numerous and uni- versally diffused over the earth, that no description of them is required. The order Gyproida are microscopic creatures, inclosed in bivalve shells, united by a hinge on the back. They can close the valve entirely, and protrude the feet at pleasure. There are five fossil genera known, some of which existed during the Silurian era, while certain species still survive in our seas. The remains of Cypris 228 THE FIFTH DAY— GEOLOGICAL. were extremely abundant in the fresh- water strata of the wealden. " The order Trilobites,^^ says Dr. Richardson, '' had the carapace composed of several rings, divided into three lobes by two lateral depressions. The number of thoracic segments varies from five to twenty. The lateral lobes of the anterior segment support the eyes, which are pro- minent and compressed, and are often preserved in the fossils in a high state of perfection. Their feet were membranous. Many of them had the power of rolling themselves into a ball. They all belonged to the paleozoic era. They lived in numerous families and presented an immense association of individuals, but were much re- stricted in the number of genera and species. They are arranged into six families — the Asaphidce, GalymenidcB, Sarperidoe, Olenidce, Odontopleuridce, and Ogygidce. The two first named could roll themselves into a ball, a feature which usually distinguishes their fossils from those of the others. " The Arachnida, or spiders, comprise a numerous class. Koch and Berenat have described one hundred and twenty- three species, belonging to fifty genera, of which thirteen are extinct, while none are identical with those still living. There are but few fossil specimens in the older rocks ; but the presence of Cyclopthalmus, a genus of the scorpion, in the carboniferous stage of Bohemia, proves that the class was represented in the fauna of the primary epoch, and supplies another link to the chain of evidence that the flora of the coal resembled that now growing in tropical regions. Fossil spiders are also found in the amber of Prussia. The web which the common spider constructs, shows it to be alike cunning, cruel, ingenious, and persevering. Their first effort is to throw out a cable, stretching from one object or abutment to another. After this they pro- FOSSIL WORMS AND INSECTS. 229 ceed to form a series of radiating spokes, whicli they afterwards strengthen and join together by means of trans- verse lines, which increase in width and length from the centre, where the animal takes up his position, and watches for his prey. As soon as a fly runs against it, his wings and sticky limbs become fastened in the fabric, and he flutters in vain to escape. In the mean time, his victim is scarcely secured, before the spider with great swiftness pounces upon it, and bears it off to his central station, where it is leisurely devoured. The exterior body of the spider is furnished with a reel, upon which his delicate yarn is spun as rapidly as it is woven. His limbs serve the purpose of a measure when constructing his net, which is always built according to the most exact geo- metrical proportions. The spider "knows no such word as fail." No matter how often its webs may be destroyed, he will rebuild them with renewed energy — sometimes rolling up and cleaning old material to be again employed in new enterprises. The Myriapoda are represented by centipedes, which have a body composed of twenty-four feet. The scorpion of Europe belongs to the order, and attains a very high development in Asia, where it is called a land lobster. They conceal themselves under stones and old walls, and are distinguished for their fatal assaults upon each other. Extinct genera have been found in the same rocks with the spiders. The class Insecia embraces an almost innumerable variety of genera and species, which it would require vol- umes adequately to describe. The distinguishing genuine features are indicated in the annexed table, to which we shall add some brief descriptions, principally collated from Bucknell's Natural History, an English work of two vol- umes, which has been of material service to us in the de- partment of which it treats : 230 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. CURVIER'S TWELVE ORDERS OF INSECTS. Gommon names Classical names of genera and of orders. General habits, features, and character. species. C Insects •which have more than six feet, ar- ") Millepeds, Myriopoda.K ranged on the body in a series of rings, >hundred legs, ( without wings, but uiany jaws, such as ) etc. ( Insects with six feet, the belly furnished on ") 7'hyaanoura.< the sides with false feet or appendnges > Padura, etc. ( for leaping, without wings or jaws, such rs } D •, ( Parasites, having six feet, with suckers, } r • * Parasita.< . 4. • ■ u > Lice, etc. \ but no jaws or wings, such as ) ' C Suckers with six feet, and suoker-like ') Suctoria.< mouth, but neither wings nor jaw:?, as > Fleas, etc. ( the ) r Insects having six feet, four wings, (two "^ Coleoptera.< upper case-formed, and two lower fold- > Beetles, etc. ( od,) and jaws, as the ) Orthoptera.i^'''Z^'. ^^*^ ^^^ ^^'^' ^""^ '^'^'^^^ ^^"^^ i Locusts, etc. ■'^ I and jaws, as ) * ( Insects with six feet, four wings, the two ') Cochineal in- Hemiptera.K upper of unequal consistence, a sucker, > sects, bed- ( but no jaws — some without any wings, ) bugs, etc. ,7- ^ ( Insects with six feet, four equal wings, ) t^ Neuroptera.^ and jaws .!..|^'"'^S TT ^ ( Insects with six feet, four unequal wings, ) Bees \ and jaws, ) an T 'J f ( Insects with six feet, four powdery wings, ) Butterflie pi op era. -^ a sucker, but no jaws, ) moths. D7 . . . (Insects with six feet, with two wings ) o. 1 Rh^p^ptera. j ^.^^^^^ ^.j^^ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^;^j^^^^ ^^^ ^^ .^^^» ^ | Stylops. DipteruA^'''^'^' '"'^^ f^-^ t'^ *""• '^'""^'^''""'iCxnatsAflies. ^ I wmgs, a sucker, but no. jaws, j The Diptera, embracing the various families of flies and gnats, are too well known to require further description than that contained in the foregoing table. They undergo a complete metamorphosis from their larval to their ma- ture condition, and their power of reproduction is truly wonderful. The gnat deposites her eggs in water, each brood having from two to three or four hundred. The common flies are sometimes concealed in ova, while others are brought forth alive. Those found in cheese have the singular faculty of leaping to a considerable distance. The insect limestones of the lower and upper lias of Glou- on-mes. wasps, ants, itterflies THE INSECT WORLD. 231 cestershire, and those of Oxford and the wealden beds of England, and of Solenhofen in Germany, contain beautiful specimens of the wings of flies. Many are also preserved in the Tertiary rocks, and entire specimens occur in amber. Tlie order of Lepidoptera is mainly distinguished by caterpillars, or the silk-worm, one of the most important and remarkable insects in the entire class. It feeds upon the leaves of the mulberry, but many other caterpillars feed upon the leaves of oaks, and other forest trees, and sometimes destroy the foliage of vast groves and forests in a single season. The silk-worm envelops itself in minute silken threads, of a bright yellow color, in the form of a ball or cocoon, very much resembling in form a pigeon's egg. It remains inclosed in the cocoon for fif- teen days, and then eats its way out ; but in cocooneries for the production of silk, this habit is anticipated, and the animal inhabiting the cocoon is destroyed by heat. The silk of the cocoon is afterward reeled, and then woven into fabrics of every possible form. Each cocoon usually produces a thread four hundred yards in length.* Of butterflies and moths, thefe is an infinite variety, all undergoing similar transformations from birth to matu- rity. The moths are well known in consequence of their destructive effects upon cloths and furs, and which, from * Efforts were m.ade a few years ago to introduce the manufacture of silk into the United States, and it was inaugurated with an extraordinary movement in the planting of the morns multicntdis, the vegetable upon the leaves of which the caterpillar feeds. The experiment was overdone, and the speculation burst suddenly, like a bubble, involving many in heavy pecuniary losses. A few establishments, however, continued in operation, and that of Mr. Gill, in Wheeling, Va., was operated for many ■yoars with considerable success. That gentleman produced from his factory some of the finest silk goods in the American market; but we believe the enterprise, after a trial of ten or fifteen years, was finally abandoned. 232 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. their larvag, become caterpillars in fifteen days. They are provided with a loDg proboscis, coiled in a spiral form, by which they bore into the cloths, where they deposit their eggs. The lithographic limestones of Solenhofen, and the Tertiaries of France, contain fossil specimens, both of the caterpillar and the wings of the butterfly. Hymenoptera embrace bees, wasps, and ants in great variety of genera and species. Of these, the honey-bee is the most important and the most curious in its habits and organization. When a swarm quits an old hive, it is com- posed of one queen, or female bee, several hundred males, or drones, and many thousand workers, or neuters. Should there happen to be two or more queens, a mur- derous conflict ensues, the swarm remaining with the victor. In a new hive, they divide themselves into four parties — one of which rove the fields in search of mate- rials, another lay the foundation of the cells, a third polish and finish what the others have begun, and a fourth bring home food for themselves and for those laboring upon the hive. Things being thus arranged, the queen bee becomes fecundated, and then examines the cells in progress, and begins to lay eggs, depositing but one in each cell, which are of three kinds — the first and smallest are intended to produce workers, the second are for males, and the others, limited to a few very large ones, are for queen bees only. Several hundred eggs are generally laid in a single day, and which become living larvaB in four or six days. These are supplied with food by the hive-workers or nurses. When the larvae are six days old, the nurses close the cells with wax, and the entombed larvae begin to en- twine themselves with a silken sheet, and become nymphs. At the end of twelve days, they break their inclosure, and come forth perfect bees. They are now cleaned by the nurses, and then join the out-door workers. The eggs in the male cells are generally about two months later than THE INSECT WORLD. 233 those of the workers, and the royal cells are not even begun until the queen has deposited her eggs in the male cells. The young queens are consequently the last hatched, and pass through the same metamorphosis as the others. In the event of a hive being deprived of their queen by accident, the workers have the capacity of pro- ducing another. This is done in the following extraor- dinary manner : the cells are examined for the larvae of workers which are not more than three days old^ On finding such, they immediately enlarge the cells of these larvae, feeding them with female or royal jelly, until, by dint of care and labor, a female is produced which is to replace the one lost. Besides the cells for rearing their young, others are made for the storage of honey, and which is destined for their use when none can be gathered from the flow^ers. On the weather becoming cold, not only are the larvae and nymphs destroyed, but the male bees also. Having no stings, like the workers and females, they are easily massacred, or driven out of the hive, and perish by the cold. During the winter the whole hive is in a state of half-lethargy.* Fossil remains of bees, wasps, and hornets are found in the insect lime- stones of the lias, and generally in the rocks of the Ter- tiary. The common ants also live in society, like bees and wasps, the community consisting of males, females, and workers — the workers always being without wings. Their mode of life is very similar to that of bees, but their nests are constructed in the ground, or beneath the roots of trees. It consists of a central cavity, with com- municating subterranean roads or galleries. They feed on fruits, insects, or carrion, and the various classes into which their community is divided always keep distinct. * Scripture Natural History. 234 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. In proportion to size, the ant is no doubt the strongest animal upon the earth, as well as one of the most in- dustrious. The 'Beiiroptera are distinguished for the dragon-fly. These insects drop their spawn upon the surface of water, which, on sinking to the bottom, become larvae. From this state they change into nymphs, and then remain aquatic for two years or more. At length they crawl out upon adjacent twigs, and as their skin dries and shrinks, wings expand from their body, when they fly away— a new creature I There are several varieties of this insect, some of which remain many years in the water before emerging into the air. In the ephemera, the transition from the aqueous nymph to the winged insect is instantaneous after reaching the surface. The Ternietes or white ants of India and Africa, which are regarded as a serious evil in warm climates, have con- siderable resemblance to the European species, but they attain a much superior growth. They erect nests on the surface of the ground, which sometimes attain a height of ten or twelve feet., The nests are very tall, but slen- der, and terminate in rounded or conical peaks. They are perforated with galleries, in which the community, divided into various classes, reside — the king and queen having a central apartment to themselves. Their social government resembles that of man to a greater extent than that of the bee. The ant-hill is guarded by sentinels or soldiers, who appear to be specially created for that purpose, giving the alarm to the communities within on the approach of danger. They undergo metamorphoses similar to the other Neuroptera, but it is rather more in- complete. They surpass the bees and the beavers in mechanical art, and fully equal them in industry. In migrating, they observe all the military precision of sol- diers in battalion. THE INSECT WORLD. 235 The order Hemiptera embraces bed-bugs, garden-bugs, plant-lice, cochineals, water-bugs, etc., etc. Some of these have the extraordinary faculty of fecundating their issue to the fourth and fifth generations. Orthoptera are principally represented by grasshoppers and locusts, of which there are many genera and species. Locusts are a great scourge to vegetation, and formed one of the plagues visited upon ancient Egypt. In some countries, however, the natives esteem them as a rare delicacy. Locusts are rare in America, but are supposed to make a visit in great number about every seventeenth year. Grasshoppers, however, which belong to the Locust family, are abundant, and are sometimes no less destructive to the crops of the fanner. They deposit their eggs in the ground in the fall of the year, and lying dor- mant during the winter, the warmth of the sun brings forth a wingless insect in the spring, which, in the course of twenty days, expels its outer skin, and then appears with wings. The common cricket is a member of the family. The Farasita include fleas, lice, and vermin of every description. The Coleoptera are made up mainly of beetles, as the May-bug, Hercules beetle of South America, the Glow- worm that, on summer evenings, lights up the way-side, the Undertaker beetle, etc., etc. — the latter so-called, be- cause it buries the bodies of other insects and worms. These animals were represented at the close of the paleo- zoic period, and their fossils occur in the carboniferous rocks. Indeed, nearly all the orders thus enumerated have their fossil remains strewn in the various strata, in greater or less abundance, from that early era., to the present time ; but there has been a constant variation of species in par- ticular eras, as the genera now living are, in a great 236 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. measure, different from previous geological stages, and yet present specimens that appertained to each. Such is a brief and necessarily cursory survey of that portion of the animal kingdom, comprising its more min- ute creatures — creatures which, often unseen, yet fill the seas, the earth, and the air. The three great divisions of the Radiata, Mollusca, and Articulata comprise many thousand species, and many of their principal genera present more living creatures than those of the vertebrata, including man, combined ! Now, notwithstanding the low origin and humble nature of its animals, and the comparatively few specimens out- side of the Radiata and Mollusca, which it affords, many geologists, indeed nearly all of them, give more promi- nence as well as ]priority of existence to the aqueous fauna of the Paleozoic period, than to its wonderful and prolific flora. In other words, the Mollusca, Radiata, and Fish of the Silurian and Devonian eras, are recog- nized as overshadowing the vegetation of the coal period! And it is also claimed that animal life preceded vegetable life, and that, therefore, the Bible is again incorrect. I have already remarked that such an arrangement is alto- gether unjustifiable, besides being in conflict with Reve- lation, and the obvious course of nature. It may be granted, as our table will show, that during the Devonian and carboniferous eras, there was a considerable develop- ment of the lower orders of animal life, including speci- mens of Sauroid fishes. All these flourished to some extent, as will be seen by the table, during the Silurian period, but it was utterly impossible that they could have existed in the previous metamorphic seas, when these Avere periodically, if not constantly disturbed and heated by the transition of the rocks. It is true the whole ex- panse of waters may not have been heated at the same time. The effect may have been more local than general; VEGETABLE PRECEDING ANIMAL LIFE. 237 but in either case its duration was constant. The heat, however, was always operating in the shallow places — always tending to elevate the bottom of lakes and marine basins ; and those are the very places where animal life could alone exist — the pressure of the water, in mid ocean, forbidding its existence there. We have, then, a limit — a positive barrier of heat and boiling water, beyond which it is impossible that animal life could have existed, either on the land or in the sea. This limit, too, may be found to extend farther into the Silurian rocks than is now gene- rally conceded. In fact, the fossil specimens thus far found in the lower strata of those rocks are so few and obscure, that it would be prudent not to place too much reliance upon them. Some specimens may yet prove to be no more ancient than the great Cobhara stone dis- covered by Mr. Pickwick. Of Kadiata, we may observe that there are thus far one hundred and twelve species in all the Silurian strata, and only nine in the Magnesian limestone above ; while in the intermediate Carboniferous and Devonian strata there are over three hundred species. The proportion of Mollusca is still more varied — there being nearly two thousand species in the last-mentioned periods, while those before and after have less than eight hundred. And notwithstanding that creatures half fish and half saurian flourished somewhat plentifully during portions of all these eras, it does not lessen the signifi- cance of the fact that animal existence, as a whole, was mainly represented by the Radiata and the Mollusca — the two lowest divisions in tlie scale. But that animal life of a strictly terrestrial and of an infinitely higher order exists in the juices of vegetation, at the present time, is a fact which nobody will be likely to controvert. Every woodman has observed, on splitting open the solid trunks of trees, the cut-worms and bugs which inhabit their centre. The worms inhabiting^ the 238 THE riFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. cores of apples, pears, peaches, and other fruits, doubtless, enter from the outside ; but they are always hatched in the juices they feed upon. Those found in the interior of walnuts, chestnuts, and similar nuts, must originate there, and in fact constitute a portion of their oily sub- stance, as maggots do that of cheese. Certain kinds of trees generate worms and bugs peculiar to them ; and they are often so plentifully diffused as to utterly destroy the timber which they ravage. Hemlock breeds bed-bugs ; while oak, chestnut and hickory abound in cut-worms, borers, and crawling ants, which operate internally and externally, and appear to be inseparable from them. Other trees attract, if they do not generate caterpillars, which, feasting upon their - leaves, multiply to such an extent, that they exhaust the vitality of large numbers in a single season. This may be seen particularly in trees of dense foliage, selected to ornament private grounds. Weevils and grasshoppers originate in the crops of the farmer, and so destructive are their depredations that the product of entire plantations not unfrequently falls a sacrifice to their unappeasable appetites ! In like manner, certain species of borers attack the timbering of vessels, especially the submerged portion, and it often happens that they are utterly ruined by their perforations. During the Crimean w^ar, over one hundred and twenty vessels were sunk by order of the Russians in the harbor of Se- bastopol. After the war terminated, arrangements were made for raising these vessels ; but it was found that this marine teredo had, in the mean time, so completely per- forated the solid timbering, that many of them were worthless, and unfit for use. The timbers were, in some instances, bored in such a manner as to resemble the cel- lular structure of a sponge. The existence of worms in timber, and in the body of fruits and nuts, can perhaps only be accounted for on the supposition that their larvae VEGETABLE PRECEDING ANIMAL LIFE. 239 or spawn, in the form of minute microscopic infusions, exists primarily in the water which the plants themselves absorb in their pores and cavities, and where they are sub- sequently developed. But whether the origin of the parasitic, microscopic, and coral animals be due to or associated with the primitive vegetation or not, is a matter of no particular conse- quence in reference to the priority of the one over the other — since we have the most conclusive evidence of the existence of vegetation during the metamorphic period, when, by reason of sub-marine heat, it was utterly im- possible that aquatic life could have existed. The coal and graphite of Rhode Island, of Scandinavia, of Cuba, and of portions of France and Germany sufficiently demon- strate the relation which the ancient forests bore to the rocks of that period. It will be vain and absurd to sug- gest that all these are merely altered Silurians or Devo- nians. They are true metamorphic rocks, occurring in their proper positions, and exhibiting all the external evi- dence of rocks belonging to that group. Nor do I stand alone in this opinion. Several geologists of distinction have intimated similar views, but have not expressed them with the boldness which the circumstances warrant. It is, however, time to vindicate the truth of the Mosaic record ; and when a fact has significance beyond and apart from geological inquiry, it should not be tampered with in half-suppressed doubts and misgivings. It is either a fact or it is not — it is either true or false. If it is a fact in geology that vegetation preceded animal life, both in the lualer and the dry land, it deserves to be known. I say it is a fact ; a^id I have thus given my reasons. I say it is also a fact — overwhelming and palpable — that vegetation distinguished the whole Paleozoic period, &nd far surpassed in extent and universality the animal crea- tures that flourished in its seas. These two great truths 16 240 THE FIFTH DAT — GEOLOGICAL. once admitted in Geology, there is no longer any serious embarrassment to its reconciliation with the simple narra- tive of Revelation. And it was with the conviction of the perfect harmony between them, when properly under- stood, that I have bestowed so much time and space to the investigation which the subject involves. Although the intervening fourth day was characterized by violent and extensive volcanic action, by the elevation of vast systems of mountains, and by the change of sea into land, it was yet not a geological but more properly an astronomical period, as Moses himself has indicated. Geologists generally, in speculating on the revealed Cos- mogony, appear to overlook this great fact. They treat all days in the light of geological phenomena, and thus construe plain facts into the most unwarrantable infer- ences and assumptions. Some writers make the geologic days as short as those of Jupiter or Saturn. The Silu- rian and Devonian ; the Carboniferous ; the Saliferous ; the Oolitic ; the Cretaceous ; the Tertiary ; the Quarter- nary, or Historic period ; all these are sometimes erected into Mosaic days, notwithstanding that the rocks and fossils of some of them do not occur in certain portions of the earth, and nowhere in regular superimposed order/ The Astronomical days, in the mean time, are unaccounted for ! JSTow, these are the kind of writers whose skill in technical nomenclature enables them to conceal their stupidity, and to impose on the confiding world, under the name of science, the most shameless trash which the pro- lific invention of dabsters in tautology can indite. The Secondary formation which we are now considering, comprehends a large number of layers of rock, classed into inferior systems, but under so many different names and local variations, that it is no easy matter to define their specific features. It, however, begins with the new red sandstone strata ; and although some geologists, under THE NEW RED SANDSTONE. 241 the name of Permian, assign two of its principal groups to the Paleozoic period, from the seeming identity of their fossils, yet others, with^ equal propriety, group them all together, and style them collectively the new red sand- stone, Triassic or SalilPerous systems. The latter name is bestowed in consequence of the numerous deposits of rock-salt and brine springs found in these rocks; but they will perhaps be better understood by most persons in the United States by the appellation of new red sandstone, in contradistinction to the old red sandstone, over the up- tilted beds of which they often occur unconformably, or in a horizontal position — thus pointing out a difference in their ages, and indicating the disturbance which over- turned the old red before the new red was deposited. Including the Permian rocks, the new red sandstone system comprises : 1. red sandstone ; 2. magnesian lime- stone, (including calcareous conglomerate marble, of which large deposits extend across Pennsylvania, Mary- land, and Xew Jersey ;) 3. Variegated sandstone ; 4. Mus- chelkalk, seldom found in these measures outside of Germany ; and 5. variegated marls. These rocks are generally of marine origin, and their usefulness to man, in supplying vast quantities of salt, which is absolutely in- dispensable to human life, and in domestic economy, cannot be over-estimated. It is not, however, an accom- paniment of our American sandstones ; on the contrary, all the salt mines with which we are acquainted are in older rocks. Those of Rochester, in New York, are in Silurian strata ; while on the western slope of the Alle- ghany, along the Kiskiminetas, the Ohio, and Kanawha, in Virginia, salt is very abundant under the coal measures. In the last mentioned region, the salt-borings have in several places also tapped reservoirs of illuminating gas and liquid oil. This gas is collected on the surface, and applied to the evaporation of the salt of the brine. The 242 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. new red sandstone of the Alleghany is derived mainly from the disintegration of the old red sandstone, underly- ing the coal. When the mountains were elevated, the salt was not transferred to the new rocks, as it probably had been at other places ; but was retained where origi- nally deposited, and where it had crystallized during the heat which elevated the coal. Under these circumstances it could not be drained off to the shallow estuaries of the new red sandstone, lying principally on the eastern slope of the mountain. There was an elevated axis which pre- vented this. They were therefore formed without the salt, to which they were otherwise entitled by natural drainage. The waters of the ocean, although they were in constant proximity, could not supply the deficiency, because the lakes were not shallow enough to effect the speedy evaporation. The ocean, therefore, in surging over the sandstone shores and lakes, lost little of his salt- ness ; and comparatively few of his animal creatures — for the American sandstones are almost as poor in one as the other. But if deficient in these, they furnish inexhaustible quantities of superior and beautiful building material. Impregnated and colored with the oxyd of iron, the "brown stone" of this group has been very extensively employed, during the last twenty years, in the Atlantic cities of America. It is perfectly homogeneous in com- position, and is readily carved into the most elaborate designs of architectural ornament. In En^^land, the mag- nesian limestone or marble has furnished the material of which the new houses of Parliament are constructed. This stone, when found crystalline in structure, is one of the most imperishable in the earth ; and it is somewhat singular that, with its abundance in the vicinity of many of our populous cities, its merits in the United States Bhould have been comparatively overlooked. Gypsum THE NEW RED SANDSTONE. 243 (sulphate of lime) a species of alabaster or soft statuary marble also occurs, but sparingly, in this group. There was, upon the whole, a very considerable diminu- tion, both of animal and vegetable life, as compared with the periods preceding — but more especially of the vege- tation. The only positive increase was in sea-weeds, (fucoides) which expanded in some regions to an enor- mous extent. The terrestrial vegtation was represented by the resinous pines of the coal, but under circumstances unfavorable to the formation of that mineral, though it must not be overlooked that both anthracite and plumbago are often found in small detached seams and deposits in these rocks. All the other varieties which distinguished the coal period, as Lepidodendria, Sigillaria, Stigmaria, and the Equiseta, had wholly disappeared, and mere traces of calamites, cycadea, palms, ferns, and mosses are to be found in them. Of the Radiata there was also a great decrease ; but the Mollusca were tolerably well represented. The Articulata were represented sparingly by serpula and scorpions, trilobites and macrocus, but no annelides or insects proper. Of the vertebrata, fishes were somewhat numerous, as well as sauroid animals of a peculiar type. In 1834, an account was published in Europe of some remarkable fossil footmarks in the new red sandstone, at Hessberg, in Saxony. Accounts of these impressions have been given by Drs. Hohnbaum and Sickler, Prof. Kaup, Mons. Link, and the late Baron Humboldt. The largest track was supposed to have been made by a mar- supial animal, whose hind foot was eight inches long. This animal. Prof. Kaup named C heir other ium, from the resemblance of its track to a human hand. Some of the tracks appear to have been made by tortoises ; and M. Link, who has made out four distinct species from the tracks, suggests that some of them may have been made 244 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. by gigantic Batracians — frogs, salamanders, etc.* Mr. Owen has suggested that the tracks referred to the Cheirotherium, were made by a gigantic Batracian, or frog, whose hind feet were much larger than his fore feet. He has given an ideal sketch of the animal restored, the bones of whose head only have been discovered, and of the manner in which the tracks might have been made. Prof. Hitchcock differs Avith Mr. Owen, and thinks the tracks are those of a marsupial, whose hind legs are con- siderably longer than those in front. In 184*7, Prof. Plieninger, of Stuttgart, published a description of two fossil molar teeth, referred by him to a warm-blooded quadruped, which he obtained from a bone-breccia in Wurtemberg, occurring in the upper beds of the new red sandstone, in Germany called Keuper. These beds are 1,000 feet thick, and comprise sandstones, gypsums, and carbonaceous slate-clay. Bemains of Reptiles, called Nothosaurus and Fkytosaurus have been found in it with the fragmentary bones of Owen's Lahyrinthodon ; also detached teeth of placoid fish and of rays. Froiji the double fangs of the tooth found by Plieninger, and their unequal size, and from the number of the protuberances or cusps on the flat crowns, he inferred that it was the molar of a Mammifer, and considering it as pi»edaceous, probably insectivorous, he named the supposed animal Ilicrolestes, (a little beast of prey). Previous to this discovery of the German Professor, the most ancient of known mammalia were those of the English Stonesfield slate, a ^subdivision of the lower oolite. In the dolomitic conglomerates of England, remains of two distinct genera of reptiles have been found, called Thecodontosaurus and Palaeosaurus, the teeth of which are conical, compressed, and with finely serrated edges. These saurians, (which, Buckland, Bridgewater Treatise. FOOTPRINTS IN OLD RED SANDSTONE. 245 until tlie discovery of the Archegosaurus in the coal, were regarded as the most ancient examples of fossil reptiles,) are all distinguished by having the teeth implanted in the jaw-bone, and in distinct sockets, instead of being soldered, as in frogs, to a simple alveolar parapet. Both these families occur in the Trias of Germany. In 1844, the first skeleton of a true reptile was found in the coal measures of Munster-Appel, in Rhenish Bavaria, and described by H. von Meyer, under the name of Apateon pedestris, the animal being regarded as nearly related to the salaman- ders. In 1847, Prof. Yon Dechen found in the coal-field of Saarbi-uck, the skeletons of three distinct species of air-h7^eaihing reptiles, which were described by Prof. Goldfuss, under the generic name of Archegosaurus. They were considered by Goldfuss as saurians, but by Yon Meyer as allied to the Labyrinihodon, and therefore connected with the batracians, as well as the lizards. In 1844, the very year that Yon Meyer introduced his Apateon or salamander, Dr. King published an account of the foot-prints of a large reptile discovered by him in the coal measures near Greensburg, in Westmorland county, Pennsylvania. These footprints were examined by Prof Lyell, while on a visit to this State, in 1846. " I was at once convinced of their genuineness," says the distinguished geologist, "and declared my conviction on that point, on which doubts had been entertained both in Europe and the United States. The footmarks were first observed standing out Tn relief from the lower surface of .slabs of sandstone, resting on thin layers of fine unctuous clay. I brought away one of these masses. It displays, together with footprints, the casts of cracks of various sizes. The origin of such cracks in clay, and casts of the same, has before been explained, and referred to the dry- ing and shrinking of mud, and the subsequent pouring of sand into open crevices. Some of the cracks traverse the 246 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. footprints, and produce distortion in them, as might have been expected, for the mud must have been soft when the animal walked over it and left the impressions ; whereas, when it afterward dried up and shrank, it would be too hard to receive such indentations.* ^N'o less than twenty- three footsteps were observed by Dr. King in the same quarry before it was abandoned, the greater part of them so arranged on the surface of one stratum as to imply that they were made successively by the same animal. Every- where there was a double row of tracks, and in each row they occur in pairs, each pair consisting of a hind and fore foot, and each being at nearly equal distances from the next pair. In each parallel row, the toes turn, the one set to the right, the other to the left. In the Euro- pean Cheirotherium (before mentioned) both the hind and the fore feet have each five toes, and the size of the hind foot is about five times as large as the fore foot. In the American fossil, the posterior footprint is not even twice as large as the anterior, and the number of toes is unequal, being five in the hinder, and four in the anterior foot. The American Gheirothey^ium was evidently a broader animal, and belonged to a distinct genus from that of the triassic (new red sandstone) age in Europe. We may assume that the reptile which left these prints on the ancient sands of the coal measures, was an air-breather, because its weight would not have been sufficient under water to have made impressions so deep and distinct. The same conclusion is also borne out by the cracks of the air and the sun, so as to have dried and shrunk. " These curious discoveries of Dr. King were followed, in 1849, by the discovery of similar footprints in the old red sandstone near Pottsville, outside of the Schuylkill coal basin, by Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, who read • Sir Charles Lyell, Elements of Geology, p. 337. MR. lea's discovery OP FOOTPRINTS 247 a paper on the subject to the American Philosophical Society, in June, 1849. Mr. Lea has since published a description of the footprints in magniJScent form, illus- trated with beautifully-colored lithographs of the tracks, iu their natural size. From this description I glean the annexed particulars : "The position of the footprints was on the west side of the turnpike road, about a mile southeast of the town of Pottsville, and a few hundred feet below the Mount Carbon Hotel. The massive sandstone rocks here are of a beautiful red color and fine texture, evidently formed of sand and clay which has passed through much attrition. The color is due to a con- siderable charge of the red oxyd of iron. Minute spangles of mica are generally interspersed throughout these rocks, and assist in giving the surface of the fractures a soft and almost satin-like texture. The strata here are tilted somewhat over the perpendicular, by the upheaval of this range of mountains; but the surfaces which are exposed bear evidence of these sedimentary rocks having been deposited in a nearly horizontal position, and in a placid state of water, presenting to the animal a very slightly inclined shore, as it advanced from the waters which existed on the northern side. The impressions made at that time were upon the sands of a shore from which the waters had for a time receded, having left the shore covered with well-defined * riiyple inarlcs,' and a pro- fusion of 'raiu drop pits.' The surface of the rock exposed to view was about six feet by twelve, and across the shorter diameter were distinctly and beautifully impressed a double row of tracks, consisting of six im- pressions, duplicated by the hind foot falling into the impression of the fore foot, but a little more in advance. The specimen taken from the mass of the rock was thirty-four by twenty-one inches. The six double impressions show, in the two parallel rows, formed by the left feet on the one side, and the right feet on the other, that the animal had five toes on the fore foot, three of which toes were apparently armed with unguical appendages. The bind feet appear to have had four toes. The impres- sions of the hind feet being made nearly on the same spot as that of the fore feet, cause some obliteration and confusion, as well as variatioJi in size and form of footmarks. The best defined one is four and a half inches long and four broad — this is including the double impression. The single foot would probably measure three and a half inches long by three inches broad. The stride or step of the animal measures, from toe to toe, thir- teen inches; from outside to outside the distance is eight inches. The mark of tho tail is distinctly impressed, causing a groove-like furrow over the top of each ripple line, oblique to their direction, and generally five to 248 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. six inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide. There are four of these tail-marks or grooves on as many ripple lines, the crests of which lines are elevated about half an inch above the intermediate depressions. The tail was evidently not a thick one, and the animal must have had a distinct and perfect step, and not a half-swimming motion, as in the crocodilian?, there being no trace of the dragging of the feet. The tail must have been considerably elevated, as the alternate tail-impressions show that a vibration actually took place at every step, the four grooves not being in a direct line, but each one approaching its nearest footmark to the right or the left, alternately, and therefore never precisely on the Central line between the two rows of the footmarks. Theee facts prove that the animal which left its imprint in this ancient sandstone stood much higher on its legs than the Crocodilus or the Monitor, and probably was not so long in proportion to the size of the feet. It is well known that the alligator leaves no foot-impression in the mud, but simply a large furrow, made by the ventral and caudal proportions. The form of the foot impressions is, however, very similar to that which is received by the mould in clay of the Alligator Mississippiensis, specimens of which are in the collection of the Academy gf Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. If an opinion might be hazarded, as regards the probable size of the ani- mal, based on this meagre diagnosis, I should suppose it might reach as much as seven or eight feet in length. The water, in passing over the impressions, left lines indicating its direction. Occasionally may be seen small subglobular forms, which may possibly be the ejectamenta or coprolites of some of the animals that passed over the shores of these waters."* The footmarks of Mr. Lea were, only two years after, succeeded by a similar discovery in the upper layers of the old red sandstone of Morayshire, in Scotland. These footprints are in pairs, forming two parallel rows ; and sometimes those of the fore and hind feet nearly run into each other, as in the case of Mr. Lea's. The hind foot is one inch in diameter, and larger than the fore feet in the proportion of four to three. Two years after, viz., in 1851, the fossil skeleton of a reptile was found in the same formation and in the same district. The bones had decomposed, but the natural position of almost all of them ♦ Isaac Lea, on the Fossil Footmarks in the Red Sandstone of Potts- rille, from Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, vol x. FOSSILS, FOOTPRINTS, AND RAIN-DROPS. 249 could be seen, and nearly perfect casts of them were taken from the hollow moulds which they left. The matrix was a fine-grained, whitish sandstone, with a cement of car- bonate of lime. The skeleton exhibits the general char- acters of the Lacertians, blended with peculiarities that are Batracian. Hence Dr. Mantell infers that this rep- tile was either a fresh- water Batracian or a small. terres- trial lizard. The skeleton is about four and a half inches in length, but part of the tail is concealed in the rock. Dr. Mantell has proposed for it the generic name of Tel- erpeton (or afar-off reptile), while the specific name, JElgineuse, commemorates the principal place near which it was obtained. Similar footprints of Chelonian reptiles have been found in rocks supposed to be still older than the old red sand- stone, on the banks of the St. Lawrence, at Beauharnois, in Upper Canada, The rocks, indeed, are supposed to belong to the lower Silurian series, but sonie doubt ap- pears to exist as to their precise geological position. !N"o doubt exists, however, as to their being low^er down or older than those of the old red sandstone or Devonian system. Prof. Owen intimates that the animal which made these foot-impressions was a fresh-water tortoise, rather than a land tortoise. Supposing it to have been a tortoise, this rock is by far the oldest in which such re- mains or signs of that animal have been found. I have thus presented, somewhat at length, descriptions of the footprints and fossil bones of animals which are conceived to be anomalies in nature and in geological chronology, and in direct conflict loith the 3Iosaic revela- tion. The footprints discovered by Lea and Dr. King are supposed to have been made by a quadruped and an air- breather, — and its characteristics would consequently be ten-estrial rather than aqueous, or perhaps it combined some of the features of both. The integrity of the Bible 250 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. is thus assailed in various ways ; first, in assuming that animals of a high ovgomzoiioTi preceded vegetation ; second, that land animals existed simultaneously, if not really before, aquatic animals ; and thirdly, that the ancient climate was not such as Moses describes — for he asserts most unequivocally that there was no sun at that time, and that " the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, but that there went up a mist which watered the whole surface of the ground." The geologists, on the other hand, bring forward, with their animal footprints, casts of rain-drops, and fissures and fractures in the sand- stone, and then proceed, upon the basis thus erected, to annihilate all the law and the apostles. In connection with the footprints already described. Professor Lyell remarks : " Having alluded to the spots left by rain on the surface of carboniferous strata in the Alleghanies, on which quadrupedal footprints are seen, I may mention that similar rain-prints are conspicuous in the coal meas- ures of Cape Breton, in Nova Scotia. In such a region, if anywhere, might we expect to detect evidence of the fall of rain on a sea-beach, so repeatedly must the condi- tions of the same era have oscillated between land and sea." In 1851, Mr. Richard Brown had the kindness to send me some greenish slates from Sydney, Cape Breton, on which are imprinted very delicate impressions of rain-drops, with several worm-tracks such as usually accompany rain-marks on the recent mud of the Bay of Fundy, and other modern beaches. The casts of the rain- prints project from the under side of two layers, occurring at diiferent levels, the one a sandy shale resting on green shale, the other a sandstone presenting a similar warty or blistered surface, on which are also observable some small ridges, which stand out in relief, and afford evidence of cracks formed by the shrinkage of subjacent clay, on FOOTPRINTS IN OLD EED SANDSTONE. 251 which rain had fallen. Many of the associated sandstones are described by Mr. Brown as ripple-marked." " The great humidity of the climate of the coal period," continues Sir Charles, " had been previously inferred from the nature of its vegetation and the continuity of its for- ests for hundreds of miles ; but it is satisfactory to have at length obtained such positive proofs of showers of rain, the drops of which resembled in their average size those which now fall from the clouds. From such data we may presume that the atmosphere of the carboniferous period corresponded in density with that now investing the globe, and that different currents of air varied then as now, in temperature, so as to give rise, by their mixture, to the condensation of aqueous vapors." The cracks in the sandstones containing the foot-marks, Sir Charles refers to the effects of the sun, as previously remarked. Nearly every work on Geology which has lately come under my notice, is embellished with cuts of rain-drops ; and those of Prof. Lyell contain some four or five speci- mens. Now, these fossil footprints, rain-drops, and sun-cracks in the old red sandstone, directly impeach the veracity of divine revelation, and it will be no sufficient answer to the array and combination of evidence brought against its integrity by such men as Sir Charles Lyell, Prof. Hitchcock, Hugh Miller, Sir R. Murchison, Dr. Mantell, Kichardson, and many others, to suggest (as many writers professing to defend it, have suggested) that it is not a record of scientific fact. The Bible may be scientific, or it may not be ; but it professes to tell the truth, and that is the reason we believe in it. If geologists prove it to be false, our confidence in it must necessari]}'- be weakened; for believing, as we do, in its holy inspiration, we regard it utterly incapable of mistake or inaccuracy, no matter whether the facts embodied in its statements be based on 252 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. the truths of science or not. Truth is truth. If the geologists are correct, then the statements of Moses can- not be ; if the Bible be true, then the geologists are all deceived. Instead, therefore, of offering plausible excuses and evasions, I propse to meet these and similar contra- dictions of the Bible fairly, squarely, and boldly ; and if I do not turn the insidious daggers thus pointed at the Christian community, into the bowels of their authors, it will be because my confidence in the Bible has been mistaken, and that my faculties of practical inquiry and observation have deceived me. Now, what are these footprints described by Lea, Lyell, and King ? Of the latter I cannot speak with positive knowledge, although I have been on the spot ; but as to those of Mr. Lea, I have passed the very rocks which have yielded his specimens, almost every day for the last thirteen years. I am as familiar with those rocks as I am with the faces of the people who live in their vicinity. Before we can entertain the idea of the tracks having been made by a land, or an air-breathing animal — a quadruped capable of locomotion, it must first be shown that, during the Devonian period, the tracks occupied the position of dry land. If they really constituted dry land during that period, all the theories proposed by the class of geologists to which Mr. Lea appears to belong, are at once overturned; for, occurring as they do, half a mile from the nearest workable seam of coal, how was it possi- ble for the immense layers of sandstone, coarse conglom- erate, and arenaceous schist to have been deposited ? Are we to suppose that, after the animal had imprinted its tracks, there was an instantaneous submergence of the land for more than eight hundred miles ? or only a partial submergence of fifty or a hundred miles in length ? That the whole extent of the sandstone rocks, underlying the coal, would have to be thus submerged, if the animal were FOOTPRINTS IN OLD RED SANDSTONE. 253 an inhabitant or frequenter of the land, is perfectly over- whelming, because in no other way could the intermediate sedimentary rocks have been deposited. If, then, the soft mud upon which these tracks were imprinted, had been suddenly lowered into the water, or the water as suddenly brought over them by a tidal flood, is it not miraculous that the movement of the waves — the oscilla- tions of vast bodies of excited waters, should not have obliterated all traces of the impressions ? Why, the ordi- nary ebbing and flowing of a high tide, apart from any extraordinary, convulsive movement of the land, would alone suffice to wash out any footprints made on the soft mud of the shore ! Mr. Lea observes that the surface of slabs of sandstone immediately adjacent to those which contained the foot- marks, reveal ripple -marks, as left by the water. He infers from this that the rippled sandstones constituted an ancient shore, upon which the fossil reptiles moved. This idea is still further supported by finding other slabs, including those with the footmarks containing casts of rain-drops ; while nearly all the slabs show sun-cracks, as if the shore had been exposed to the sun and to showers of rain. Now, in the first place, I do not regard the so-called ripple-marks as such in fact ; and in the next place, if they are ripple-marks, it can be shown that they were neces- sarily formed under the water, and that, if they afterward became a temporary shore, they would have been effaced by the withdrawal of the water. Ripple-marks are fur- rows ; but those- at Mount Carbon are not. They are indentations, running in parallel roivs, and have perhaps as valid claim to be considered foot-marks as the obscure specimen obtained by Mr. Lea. These indentations are on a very hard sandstone — a homogeneous stratum six feet thick. Seams of it are unusually arenaceous. Above 254 THE FIFTH DAT — GEOLOGICAL. this stratum there are fissures filled in with soft mud ; and it is from this that the foot-marks were obtained. Ripple- marks are invariably formed in the eddies or between the projecting rocks of rivers and lakes. They are the result of obstructions to the channel of the stream, which, hold- ing comminuted mud and sand in suspension, precipitate it to the bottom wherever the movement of the waters is temporarily arrested. Water has precisely the same effect upon the soft mud and fine sand thus deposited, that the blasts of winter have upon drifted snow. Every gale that sweeps over the earth, scoops out the snow, and piles it up in irregular wave-like furrows along the fences and the way-side. "Water is thus, in many respects, similar to the atmosphere we breathe — that is, it is an aqueous body, containing currents and eddies, like the air ; all of which are caused by the irregularities of the surface over which they flow. But when, after scooping out these furrows in the bottom, the water recedes and leaves the land exposed, its withdrawal, its surging motion, gradually levels down the soft materials, and effaces all traces of the previous ripples. Therefore I say the ripple-marks, if they be such, were produced by and under the water, and, instead of affording evidence of dry land, prove ex- actly the reverse ; for an hour's exposure of such soft mud to the sun and wind would have dried it up, and obliter- ated every trace of the ripples. But, it must be borne in mind, that these ripple-marks and footprints were obtained in a deep valley, where the strata are perpendicular, and surrounded on every side by mountains towering eight hundred feet above it. If there had been a shore at any time, it would consequently have been eight hundred feet from the footprints on the summits of the mountains ! And besides, the strata, instead of being laminated in perfectly straight lines, with regard to each other, would have been wedge-shaped, or sloping; but we have no such FOOTPRINTS IN OLD RED SANDSTONE. 255 evidence. On the contrary, the lines of lamination and stratification are perfectly parallel, betraying not the slightest indication of a previous shore. So much, then, for the ripple-marks ; as to the rain-drops and sun-cracks, I will consider them presently. In the mean time, we shall assume that no dry land appeared here at any time, until after the deposition of the coal ; and if this proposi- tion be correct, it is perfectly clear that the tracks found by Mr. Lea are not those of a terrestrial air-breathing quadruped. But, supposing that the tracks were really made by an animal — (a supposition which, however, can only be enter- tained on the basis of the most extraordinary credulity), it is still impossible that it could have been an inhabitant of the land. It would have required /oo(i — unless, indeed, it was so essentially an air-breather that it could live on that element alone. If it was an inhabitant of the land, upon " what meats did it feed ?" Where was the land vegetation to have appeased its hunger ? There is not a trace of such vegetation, nor a trace of any mollusc, worm, or fish whatever. No human being has ever found any thing in that entire formation which could have sus- tained animal life ! Even fleas or worms could not have found nourishment on the land, had they existed. A few poor little specimens of alg« are found in the rocks, but they all grew and were buried in the w^ater. There were no land plants, whatever. If, therefore, any animal existed, it belonged to the water ; and if it made any foot-marks, they must have been made under the water. Had Mr. Lea combined with his telkiric researches — (which, by the way, have been of a highly valuable and interesting character in many other departments of science, especially that portion relating to the practical geology of the coal measures) — had he evinced a taste for the amuse- ment of angling, during his summer sojourn at Mount 17 256 THE rrFTH day — geological. Carbon, I venture to say that his splendid illustrations of the footprints of the Sam^opus priniosms would have been accompanied by full length portraits of the living de- j^cendants of that distinguished Devonian myth. Had he taken a rod and line, and wandered along the shaly and shady nooks of Tumbling Run, a stream which empties into the Schuylkill directly opposite the spot where he obtained the foot-tracks, he would have met two gigantic dams, erected by the Schu5dkill Navigation Company, to hold back supplies of the aqueous fluid, to make up any deficiencies which may occur, upon the line of that work, during seasons of drought. These dams are from sixty to eighty feet in ho'^^ht, and the water thus held back makes two very bror.d, deep, and beautiful artificial lakes. The water is very clear and pure, and derived from nu- merous springs that bubble up their cooling draughts in the narrow valley. If Mr. Lea had dropped a line in those waters, baited with a crawling, slimy lumhrici terrestres, (of the class Annelida, and division Articulata !) ten chances to one but that he would have drawn up a creature entirely capable of making footmarks such as he described, only on a scale somewhat diminished. He would, in short, have hauled out a living Sauropus, swim- ming in the same pond with trout and eels. Assuming the privileges of an original discoverer, I will here describe how I came to find this remarkable animal. I was rambling along the shores of the Tumb- ling Run, taking my usual morning walk (sometimes extending ten or fifteen miles around Pottsville), when I perceived that the lakes were being drained of their water, the summer drought compelling the Navigation Company to withdraw the supplies which these great reservoirs afford. The escape flume w^as therefore dry, but between the irregular stony bottom were several little shallow pools of water, in which, as I approached, there wa* ft THE SAXTROPUS MODERNIS ! 25T great floundering of young trout, as if they were afraid that my motives were not honorable. To convince them of their error, I drew up my sleeves and gathered them out of their little retreats, which the thirsty summer sun would have licked up in a/ few hours more, and carefully put them back in the lake. While engaged in this benevo- lent amusement, my attention was called to the individual in question. He was an inhabitant of the water, and shared in the accident which, but for my timely arrival, would have consigned him with his finny associates, to terra firma. He was walking around on the bottom of his hydrogenous basin, as if in search of a shelving stone or a quiet sequestered nook, in which to retire from the more active scenes of aqueous life. His pedestrian quali- ties excited my regard. I determined that he too should be saved ! But first, I desired an exhibition of his func- tions. A twig, introduced in gentle proximity to his caudal appendage, had the effect of persuading him to ac- celerate his movements, and I found that he was equally at home as a swimmer and a pedestrian. Finally, I con- verted my handkerchief into a net, and with this safely secured him. I then left for my hotel, and after a walk of fifteen minutes, reached my sanctum sanctorum, where, in a glass jar, I intended him for the post of honor among my relics of the Devonian and carboniferous rocks. To my astonishment, however, I found that atmospheric air did not agree with him; the admixture of oxygen with nitrogen did not meet his case so well as oxygen combined with hydrogen. In fact, the poor thing was dying ; and now I reproached myself for having put too much confidence in science. Having been taught by the descriptions of the Geologists to regard creatures like him as air-breathers, I took it for granted that a little nitrogen mixed with oxygen and the vapors of hydrogen, could do him no harm, especially during a mere experimental trial 258 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. of fifteen minutes. But I was deceived. The Sauropus Tumbling Bunensinens modernis died I Resquiescat in pace, and may he not become a- fossil to haunt and perplex the scientific world hereafter ! He was a beautiful animal ; — from five to six inches in length, of a dark green color, with bright golden or Ver- million specks, like those of the trout. The structure of the head was somewhat similar to that of the toad, and may therefore be denominated batracian. It very much resembled the ideal Lahyrintliodon pachygnathus of Prof. Owen, except that, unlike that supposititious animal, it enjoyed whatever luxury might appertain to a soinewhat lengthened caudal appendage. Its fore-feet were furnished with four toes, and its hind feet with five. The hind toes, like those of the Lahyrinthodon (supposed to represent the Gheirotherium,) are about tAvice as large as those in front. It bore no resemblance to salamanders, water efts, crocodiles, alligators, gechas, chamelions, tortoises, or serpents. It appears to have been a species of lizard, and answers all the requirements of that supposed to have made the footmarks. Its tail was long and sword-like, and answered a useful purpose in swimming ; while in walking, it swayed from right to left, in the manner de- scribed by Mr. Lea. In some respects, it resembled the Amblyrynchus cristatus of South America, which is said to be the only marine lizard now known. "This marine saurian," says Mr. Darwin, '' is extremely common in all the islands throughout the Archipelago. It lives exclu- sively on the rocky sea-beaches, and I never saw one even ten yards in shore. The usual length is about a yard, but there are some even four feet long. It is of a dirty black color, sluggish in its movements on the land ; but when in the water, it swims with perfect ease and quickness by a serpentine movement of its body and flattened tail, the legs during this time being motionless, and closely col- A JEALOUS "PROFESSOR." 259 lapsed on its sides." The teeth of the Tumbling "Run Sauropus modernis are like those of fish — the jaws being furnished with plates, on which are warty protuberances, such as characterize catfish and eels. Prof. Agassiz, at the meeting of the American Scientific Association, in 1851, remarked of Mr. Lea's Sauropus foot- prints, "that he did not believe they were made by an air- breathing animal; he thought they might have been made by fish of the ancient type, but he did not believe that any air-breathing animal had been found even as low down as the New Red Sandstone !" Here is the testi- mony of one of the greatest Naturalists of the age, very plainly and plumply putting an "extinguisher" on all the deductions and assumptions of Geologists as to the charac- ter of the animals which imprinted the footmarks. I will not say that the Sauropus modernis actually made the footprints of Mr. Lea, because I do not believe they were made by any animal whatever, either of the air, the land, or the water ; but I do assert that the footprints it makes exactly answer the description of those of the supposed ancient animal ! Beductio ad absurdum / Prof. H. D. Rogers, at the same session of the scientific body above referred to depreciated the footprints of Mr. Lea, by denying that they occurred in the old red sandstone. He alleges that the footprints were inside of the coal measures, and denied that there was any identity between the old red sandstone of America and that of Europe ! All this, however, seems to have been evolved in a spirit of professional jealousy. He did not like to see Mr. Lea reaping glory from a discovery which he, himself, as the official geologist of the State, should have made ; there- fore, he suggested that the footprints did not occur in the Old Red Sandstone at all. " These footprints in the red shale formation at Mount Carbon," observes the envious professor, " are of an age essentially later than that attri- 260 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. buted to them ; they occur in a geological horizon only a few hundred feet below the conglomerate which marks the beginning of the productive coal seams, in which series similar footprints, attributed to batrachian reptiles, have previously been met with in western Pennsylvania. In- stead, therefore, of constituting a record of antique rep- tilian life, earlier than any hitherto discovered by at least a whole chapter in the geological book, they carry back its age only by a single leaf " Mr. Rogers, as if to retrieve laurels that should have adorned his illustrious brow alone, proceeded to hunt up footprints for himself He searched around the old sandstones and conglomerates, and in his great Report of the State Survey (great for its enormous dimensions, as the celebrated Daniel Lambert was for his weight), he remarks that " about five hundred feet lower down in the formation, or further south, in the same lo- cality, the Geological Survey brought to light another species of footprints of much smaller dimensions ; and soon afterward two other varieties, etc., etc. He gives a very lame description of these footprints ; and adds that "considerations of economy have compelled him to omit engraving them!" This is very remarkable. Many thousands of dollars were appropriated by the State to pay for publishing his work — a work executed in Scotland, and bearing a Scottish imprint ; yet an engraving, the execution of which would certainly not have cost over ten or fifteen dollars, could not be afforded ! The engraving of " sun -cracks" on the same page, immediately below the sentence first quoted, must have cost at least twenty-five or thirty dollars, and is of no earthly significance what- ever ; yet the footprints, if they be such in fact, cannot but be regarded as of extraordinary interest, but are altogether omitted from " considerations of economy." If Mr. Rogers were sincere — if he, himself, really believed in the footprints which he says he discovered in a geo- THE PICKWICK CONTROVERSY. 261 logical zone still lower than that of Mr. Lea, a simple en- graving on wood, exhibiting the tracks, would have sufficed. Mr. Lea, with a liberality which does him infinite credit, has expended large sums to lay before the world, the dis- coveries he has made, some of which Mr. Rogers should have introduced into his Report, since they appertain to Pennsylvania; but to shirk the whole question, upon *' considerations of economy," is a reflection upon the liberality of the State which has appropriated something like a hundred thousand dollars to aid his explorations ; besides being personally uncourteous to gentlemen like Mr. Lea, who sustain their paleontological researches with the most munificent and lavish expenditure. But the truth is, that all these foot-prints are too ob- scure and unreliable to deserve any consideration for one moment. All that we know of the ante-medieval periods of Geology, are unfavorable to the existence of land animals, or animals of any kind except those occupying the lowest scale of organized life. All the speculations of geologists, based upon such frail data as these footprints afford, are precisely of a character with the great Cobham stone dis- covered by Mr. Pickwick. It will be remembered by those who have read the history of that remarkable dis- covery, what a sensation it produced, — how Mr. Pickwick, the immortal discoverer, delivered a lecture before a general meeting of the Club, in which he entered into a variety of ingenious and erudite speculations on the mean- ing of the inscription. " It appears," says Mr. Boz, (the worthy editor of the posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club,) " it appears that a skillful artist executed a faithful delineation of the curiosity, which was engraven on stone and presented to the Royal Antiquarian Society, and other learned bodies — that heart-burnings and jealousies without number were created by rival controversies which were penned upon the subject — and that Mr. Pickwick 262 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. himself wrote a pamphlet containing ninety-six pages of very small print, and twenty-seven different readings of the inscription. That three old gentlemen cut off their eldest sons with a shilling apiece for presuming to doubt the antiquity of the fragment — and that one enthusiastic individual cut himself off prematurely, in despair at being unable to fathom its meaning ! That Mr. Pickwick was elected an honorary member of seventeen native and for- eign societies, for making the discovery ; that none of the seventeen could make any thing of it, but that all the seventeen agreed it was very extraordinary ! Mr. Blotton, indeed — and the name will be doomed to the undying con- tempt of those who cultivate the Mysterious and the Sublime — Blotton, we say, with the doubt and caviling peculiar to vulgar minds, presumed to state a view of the case, as degrading as ridiculous. Mr. Blotton, with a mean desire to tarnish the lustre of the immortal name of Pickwick, actually undertook a journey to Cobham in person, and on his return observed that he had seen the man from whom the stone was purchased, — that the man presumed the stone to be ancient, but solemnly denied the antiquity of the inscription, inasmuch as he repre- sented it to have been carved by himself, in an idle mood," etc., etc. Hereupon followed a new controversy. Blotton, it will be remembered, wrote a pamphlet, giving his interpretation of the inscription, copies of which he addressed to the seventeen learned societies. The virtu- ous indignation of the seventeen learned societies being aroused, " several fresh pamphlets appeared ; the foreign learned societies corresponded with the native learned societitys, . -^ the native learned societies translated tlie pamphlets vf the foreign learned societies into English, — the foreign \oarped societies translated the pamphlets of the native Teaiacd societies into all sorts of languages : and thus commenced that celebrated Scientific Discus- RAIN-DROPS ACCOUNTED FOR. 263 sion, so well known to all men as tlie Pichwick Contro- versy /" But, before we leave tlie Footprint Controversy (which has already surpassed the great Pickwick Controversy), we must say a few words in relation to the rain-drops and the sun-cracks. These are said to occur side by side with the footmarks, but are frequently found isolated. Xow, in the face of all the learned societies and professors, I say no such thing as rain-drops exist in the Devonian rocks ! The whole thing is a mistake — an absurd and ridiculous illusion. The so-called rain -drops were produced on the slabs after the elevation of the mountains in which thd strata are imbedded. When the laminated and stratified rocks were upheaved, and set on their edges, like shingles, they gradually contracted on cooling, while the disturbances occasioned by their uplifting, fractured them internally and externally. As the seams of rock parted, the surface water of the mountains, charged with fine mud and sand, percolated through them, and gradually filled up the cre- vices and cracks. In some cases, the percolation of the water, charged with sediment, was slow, and it would trickle down the smooth sides of the slabs in drops, one after the other. The earthy material thus held in suspen- sion would be deposited, while the water itself was evaporated. In time, the surfaces of rocks thus ramified with cleaved laminae, would become coated with little warts or protuberances, of the same clayey nature as the rocks themselves. In this manner stalactites are gradually formed in caverns. Wherever the rocks are calcareous, the warts and stalactites are calcareous; wherever they are aluminous, the "rain-drops" ar& aluminous. These so-called rain-drops are being formed every day. I ob- serve them everywhere in my rambles among the rocks. Icicles in winter afford another illustration. Drop after 264 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. drop accumulates on the cornices of houses, or upon the limbs of trees. If the water contained soft, plastic mud in solution, every drop would leave behind a small amount of sediment, which, by the slow succession of drops, would finally accumulate into protuberances varying in size from a pin's head to an ordinary rifle ball. The cracks and fissures attributed to the sun were produced partly by the original disturbance which changed the po- sition of the strata ; partly by the immediate action of the elevating heat ; and afterward by the contraction of the strata in the process of cooling. These cracks were after- ward filled up by surface drainage, and when this happened to introduce different earthy materials from that composing the rocks, the cracks themselves will exhibit the fact. Many of them are filled in with quartz crystals, and these are being constantly elaborated by supplies of water cir- culating through their labyrinthine crevices and laminae. It is hardly possible to break a piece of laminated red shale or sandstone, without finding in it the traces of sur- face drainage. But a moment's reflection would satisfy any man of common sense and observation, that it would be utterly impossible for rain-drops to accumulate and be preserved on the rocks in the manner suggested by Lyell and his cotemporary geologists. If they fell upon a sandy or clayey shore, they could make no impression on the ground, for the reason that the succession of drops is too rapid, and occur in too great a profusion. The impression of one would be effaced by another ; while, after the rain had ceased, the surface of the mud would be so saturated with the rain, so perfectly liquefied, that no impression could by any possibility remain. Besides, if the sun had been hot enough to crack the ground, it would have ab- sorbed the rain-drops immediately. The whole idea is the most absurd that I have ever encountered in the entire SUN-CRACKS AND RAIN-DROPS EXPLAINED. 265 records of geology. Although, as I remarked before, all Geologists exhibit engravings of these rain-drops, no one has ventured to surmise how they were fossilized. It was sufficient for one man to say that they were rain-drops, without assigning any reason for it, and then all the others blindly adopt his opinions. The prefix of " Sir," or " Doctor," or " Professor" to a man's name, gives con- fidence to those who have no independence or capacity to think or examine for themselves ; and hence the common sense of the age is borne down with the most consummate trash, under the guise of science, that could possibly be conceived. I have in my collection many specimens of these so- called rain-drops, as obtained from different formations. I have found them in the body of the coal veins, and in- crusting the sides of their stratified benches or walls. These often occur in flattened drops, because the crack was too narrow to admit of the full expansion of the round or spherical form of the drops, w^hile the earthy matter left behind is correspondingly flattened, as a shot would be if compressed between iron plates. Those in the coal, as might readily be inferred, are composed of sulphur and iron, and present a bronze-like color. In the slates by the side of the coal veins, the rain-drops are irregular in size, varying from a pin's head to buck-shot. Like those of the coal, they also consist of sulphur and iron. Having been deposited by water which held these ingredients in solution, in trickling through the fissures of the coal, the sulphur has eaten holes in the slates, as might readily be conceived. These holes were originally filled with the sulphuret of iron (pyrites), but some of the balls have since fallen out. Now, that these balls and cavities should have been pro- duced by showers of rain, would indicate a meteorological phenomenon, even greater than the footprints — for it shows that, if they were thus formed, there was a time when 266 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. the earth rained down sulphuric acid ! The rain-drops in limestone regions, would also indicate that the atmosphere at another, or perhaps the same time, and in the same vicinity, rained down showers of carbonic acid. Yet Sir Charles Lyell, and the author of the Yestiges of Creation, both remark that such rain-drops even show the "direction in which the showers came /" It is absolutely sickening to me to dwell longer on this branch of the subject ! I blush for the credulity and stu- pidity of a world that can swallow such absurdities, when their sole object and unavoidable tendency is to under- mine, and bring into contempt, the holy word of the great Jehovah ! But, alas ! Ce monde est plein de fous! Must it ever be so — ^must it always be deceived by its philosophy — its " science falsely so-called "? Are we never to have an age of common sense, when reason and experi- ence can be heard without a resort to the subtilties of classic verbiage and labyrinthine technicality ? Disrobe Science of the unmeaning tautology that surrounds it, and what is it but the expressed idea of the laws of the Creator, ready to teach in plain English, as well as in bad Greek and Latin ? Many of its recognized votaries and expounders are the mere peddlers in words — phrase- ology ; inventors of classification ; discoverers of Cobham relics — footprints — old teeth and bones ! Let men come forward who observe, and let us hear what they have learned, not merely in books, but in the fields and among the rocks — in the mountains and in the valleys. But, for heaven's sake, let us hear no more of fossil footmarks, until the rocks favor us with the fossil bones of the animals that made 'em, so that we may at least learn — " Whether the suake that made the track, Was going south, or coming back !" We happen to have higher and older authority than the FOSSILS, FOOTPRINTS, AND RAIN-DROPS. 267 geologists to believe, as we have previously premised, that during the Devonian and coal periods, even if the land had been exposed as indicated, there was no sun to crack and parch the crust, nor yet showers of rain to leave behind the petrifaction of their fluid-drops. And in reference to aqueous animals, Moses says nothing to contradict the belief in their existence ; but on the contrary, leads us to infer that they did exist. For after the production of the coal, and the permanent establishment of the solar influence, he commands the '' waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and io fill the seas,^^ there- by leaving us free to infer that they may have previously existed, but in somewhat sparing numbers. Besides the Cheirotherium footsteps in the new red sandstone, these strata were also distinguished by a family of monsters called Ichthyosaurus, half- fish and half-reptile, which, although living in water, breathed the air, and sub- sisted mainly on the smaller animals of the seas they inhab- ited. The Plesiosaurus was equally gigantic, and perhaps even more remarkable — having had a neck twice as long as its body, the head of a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, the extremities and paddles of a whale, the ribs of a chame- leon, and the trunk of a quadruped. The Megalosaurus was a gigantic lizard, which occasionally frequented the land. The Pterodactyle was also a huge lizard, but, by means of wings, was enabled, to some extent, to fly through the air, and thus to dart down upon its prey. Tortoises, toads, and crocodiles, of great dimensions, prevailed very extensively in this era ; and it may be said of all the mon- sters that lived during this time, that while they each com- bined some of the features of fish with those of tor- toises, reptiles, whales, and birds, they yet partook of none of the distinctive characteristics of any. They were indeed, neither fish, flesh, nor fowl ; but a singular combination of all. They thus constitute a class of thems-^lves, diff'erent alike 268 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. from the preceding, and those of the subsequent eras. The whole of these strata having been deposited under water, (and generally under the sea,) and there being no remains of land animals, properly so understood, we are entitled to infer with Prof. Agassiz, that none had yet ap- peared on the earth ; unless, indeed, we regard birds as such. But all the tortoises, lizards, toads, and other reptiles that flourished at this time, were properly aqueous, although all of them may have occasionally wandered on shore, or been abandoned there through their own negligence, by means of sudden withdrawals of the tides, or similar causes. Under these circumstances, it is pro- bable that they made the best use of their pedal extremities which the novelty of their situation required ; and instead of swimming, they learned to crawl or walk. In this way we may account for some of the foot-tracks discovered in the new red sandstone, because the fossil skeletons of the animals that seem to have made them, are found in the same rocks. In the new red sandstone of Connecti- cut, the foot-tracks of birds occur in great abundance, along with these of toads, tortoises, and lizards. That they are really the tracks of birds, seems to be generally admitted. Unlike other tracks in the lower measures, they occur very extensively, and have been found in ex- traordinary abundance in no less than sixteen different places. The animals that made them, would appear to have belonged to the order Grallalores, or waders, and some of them were of gigantic size — even exceeding the racing ostrich of the desert, or the extinct denornis and apteris of New Zealand, whose fossil bones show that tliey stood from seven to twelve feet in height. These gigantic waders wandered along the shallow estuaries in search of food, or some of them may have skimmed the air, from one island to another. The. land, which was then con Stan tty rising, was no doubt always strewn with THE SECONDARY FORMATION. 2*^9 the spoils of the sea ; and this would not fail to tempt the fowls to the shore, while its mud was yet soft, but rapidly drying under the effects of the sun that, since the fourth day, had now emerged in new-made brilliance — hence the impressions of their feet on arenaceous mud that has since become indurated. It may seem strange that God should have introduced marine animals and birds at the same time, and reserved mammalia for a subsequent era. But when we reflect that, by means of birds, he caused the seeds of vegetation to be scattered over the earth, as the dry land continued to emerge, the reason is rendered sufficiently obvious. The vegetation of the coal period was not adajiitid to animals. No animal is known to feed on the foliage of pine-trees, impregnated as it is with resinous and sticky juices. But, after that period, nevj species of trees and vegetables ivere introduced, and birds were then created to scatter the seeds over the earth, so that when the higher order of animals should appear, they might find the means of sustenance. Prof. Hitchcock has devoted much attention to the investigation of the footmarks in the new red sandstone of Connecticut ; but his enthusiasm seems to have carried him a little beyond the line of the practical. He has di- vided his footmarks into some fifty species, and upon the merest assumptions of their order and genera, has pro- ceeded to assign names to the individuals who, unable to appear in person, have obligingly left behind their foot- marks "on the sands of time," Moved by what we cannot but regard as a silly-mania for mere names, the professor very properly styles his first order Sillimanium; the next, (with perhaps more truth than the name itself might imply), he calls Zi/eZ^mnus; in' a similar mood, he styles another otozoum Moodii ; while other individuals or species are named Danai; as, Baileyanus, Emmonsianus, 2tO the fifth day — GEOLOGICAL. Adamsanus, Deweyanus, etc. Thus, all these distin- guished gentlemen are complimented with anuses. It has long been suspected that professional Geologists have a Mutual Admiration Society, one of the main objects of which would seem to be the invention of nomenclature for all sorts of unknown animals, by means of which their own names may be transmitted to admiring posterity. The propriety of this scheme may be justly questioned ; for the expediency of naming animals wholly unknown, and which may in fact never have existed, except in imagination, cannot be perceived. It was a prudent ad- monition of a plain farmer to his son, never to attempt the numerical solution of Rasores in gestation until they could be resolved ab ovof or, rather in plainer English, "Never count chickens until they are hatched!" Our geologists, however, being a little more scientific, follow the instructions of the Dutch burgomeister in the play, when in pursuit of a criminal: ''First," said he to his policemen, " first, imprison him ; secondly, arrest him ; and thirdly, "be sure to catcJi him V^ But, granting the occasional expediency of temporary names to distinguish anknown and extinct animals, the propriety of borrowing those of distinguished individuals is certainly not without objection. We can readily suppose (as a friend has sug- gested), a meritorious member of the Mutual Admiration Association, with the Celtic appellation of O^Alinmy. Now, if Professor Hitchcock (who is such an adept in names) wished to compliment Professor O'Alinmy, by bestowing Ms name upon one of these bird-tracks, the species would be known as O^AU-in-my-i, and this, it is very obvious, would have a disparaging effect upon the poor birds, in the estimation of the vulgar mind ! The class of birds is well defined. Warm-blooded, they all breathe the air not only by lungs, but also by means THE SECONDARY FORMATION. 2tl of auxiliary air-sacs, as well in some measure by their very bones, the internal cavities of which are propor- tionally larger than those of other animals, and are usually filled with air instead of marrow. The class comprises seven principal order : Baptores, or birds of prey ; Inces- wres, or perchers ; Scansores, or climbers ; Basores, or Bcratchers ; Cursores, or runners ; Grallatores, or waders ; and Natatores, or swimmers. The fossil remains of birds are very scarce in the older formations, but occur in very great abundance in the Tertiary formation. The fishes comprise a very numerous and diversified class of tlie vcrbctrate animals. They are divided into four leading orders, as the Placoid, Ganoid, Ctenoid, and Cycloid, each of which branches out into a large number of families, genera, and species. The ancient fishes, as we shall presently show, were different in their organization from those now living — having been allied, in some mea- sure, to the subsequent class of reptiles. The Reptiles, like the fishes, also comprise four orders, styled respectively the Chelonians, or tortoises ; the Sau- rians, or lizards; the Ophidians, or serpents, and the Batrachians, or toads and Salamanders. Nearly all these animals (the footmarks to the contrary notwithstanding), appear to have been introduced, for the first time, in the strata of the Secondary formation — the formation which we are now discussing. They appeared, as we have shown, in the new red sandstone, but flourished more abundantly in the Oolite. And the fact is not without significance ; for as the arterial blood of all reptiles is in- variably mixed with a proportion of venous blood, the temperature of their bodies is nearly that of the surround- ing atmospheric medium. Their organic functions are thus much influenced by atmospheric changes, and when the temperature falls to 40° or 50°, it almost invariablj terminates their lives. Hence this fact has an important 13 2Y2 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL bearing on the climaterial properties of the ancient earth — nearly all the theories of which contemplate a warm, humid, and nearly a universal temperature. It has been shown, too, that the bone cells of reptiles, birds, and fish, have forms and dimensions peculiar to each; and that while changes in their general and specific forms have constantly occurred, from one era to another, none can be detected in the organization of the bones them- selves, which are peculiar to each class. The bone-cells of Mammalia, according to Mr. Quicket's investigations, average about one-two-thousandths of an inch, and if we adopt this as a standard of comparison, it is found that the bone-cells of birds will fall below, and those of reptiles will far exceed it ; while those of fishes are so entirely different from mammals, birds, and reptiles, both in shape and size, that they cannot be mistaken for either. By the aid of the microscope, we are thus enabled to show that the physiological laws relating to the structure and growth of bone have ever been the same from the first creation of vertebrate animals in the far remote period, when sau- rian fishes were introduced into the seas of the Silurian eras, down to the present hour ; that the colossal Iguano- don was provided with bone-cells formed after the same type as the tiny hzard that crosses our path ; that the bones of the gigantic Dinornis exhibit no difference in structure from those of its representive, the Apteryx ; that the bones of the Mastodon and Megatherium — those ter- restrial giants of the pre-Adamite earth — are modeled after the type which we see in our domestic quadrupeds, and in man himself Immediately above the new red sandstone there are several layers of clay, limestone, marl, and shale, of an aggregate thickness varying from six hundred to one thousand feet, which has been named in England the lAas group. It forms the base of the oolite rocks, and some- LTASSIC AND OOLITIC STRATA. 2T3 times gradually passes into them. The strata are inter- mixed, as well as separate ; but all of them are prolific in the remains and shells of marine animals, as well as of the huge reptiles already referred to. Many of the crusta- ceans are special to this group ; while an important change occurred in the structure of the fish. Those of the previous eras were somewhat allied to the saurian animals in their anatomical structure, but they now began to as- sume the distinctive features which characterize those of the present age. The change of anatomy and physiologi- cal character, while it constantly proceeds in the animal and vegetable creations of the earth, as we ascend from one geological period to another, was not regulated by a perceptible transition from species to species ; but was invariably direct and specific. The creatures, therefore, that flourished in one period were peculiar to that period ; and, if they appeared afterward, still preserved their an- cient structure. The crustaceans of the Silurians and Devonians occur to a greater or less extent in all the sub- sequent formations : but they remain unchanged to the present moment. The change, whenever it occurs, is in the introduction of new species, and the extinction of former ones, or their temporary absence in intermediate strata. The idea of progressive development, or gradual transition from a low to a higher order of animal and vegetable life, as proposed by the author of the Vestiges of Creation, and seemingly sanctioned by Mr. Darwin, in his recent work on the Origin of Species, is, therefore, erroneous and untenable. There is no such thing in the whole history of the creation. On the contrary, every period is, more or less, a specialty, and is sometimes wholly obliterated by those great convulsions which, at different times, visited every portion of the globe. It was this alternate repose and convulsion that shifted animal life from period to period, and thus produced the new 2T4 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. forms which we notice in them. Had the creatures of the earth, during these convulsions, been placed in one spot, they would have been destroyed over and over again ; but it was happily so arranged that their destruc- tion in one locality would afterward be compensated by an influx from another. It is this alternating change in, and during the great creative days, that has led the author of the Vestiges astray. He can find no animal at all re- sembling man until the sixth day. He can find no true land animal, of any kind, until that day. He can find no bird or any of the huge monsters that distinguish the fifth day, in any of those preceding. Whatever development there is in nature, is the development of creative law alone, as pointed out by Moses — the development of pro- gressive days or geological formations : — not the gradual development which traces a worm into a serpent, thence into a quadruped, and finally into man. Yet such is the disposition to receive and respect the most absurd and wildest philosophical theories, when presented under the fascinating exterior of scientific verbiage, that this work attained unprecedented popularity, and left the door wide open for visionary speculation and specious infidelity. After the Lias, we have a group which is very exten- sively developed in England, and some other portions of Europe, and there called the Jurassic or Oolite. The name of Oolite has been bestowed in conseguence of the resemblance which one of its principal limestone layers presents to the roe of a fish, or to clusters of small eggs. The group, however, comprises ten or twelve seams of different kinds of rock and earth, as sand, clay, marble, slate, and oolites of various kinds. These layers have been divided, with the usual hair-splitting nicety of Geologists, into upper, middle, and lower divisions. The whole is of marine origin, and abounds in fossils. The sea still pro- duced its rank weeds in great abundance ; but a change ANIMALS UF THE OOLITE. 275 was taking place in the vegetation of the land. Almost all the species which distinguished the coal had disap- peaied, and there was a sudden and extraordinary devc- lopuient of species allied to existing willows, poplars, sycamores, and elms, with but comparatively few ferns and resinous pines. In France, so rich are these rocks in corals and shell animals, that the celebrated D'Orbigny collected over four thousand species belonging to the fami- lies of Radiata and Mollusca. In view of their extraordi- nary variety, it would be useless to encumber our pages with particulars. The articulated animals, however, were comparatively scarce, unless w^e except those of insects, scorpions, and spiders. These were more numerous than ever before ; though it may be well to observe that some writers, and among them the author of the Vestiges of Creation, speak of them as appearing in this era for the first time. And the author of the Vestiges does not stop with the simple announcement of the fact, but, as usual, proceeds to comment and to speculate upon it. Every little incident is turned to practical account, and made to s'voll the current leading to the theory of progressive vr..' r,al development. With this view he observes: ''It is remarkable that the remains of insects are found most plentifully near the remain-! of pterodacfyles, to which un- doubtedly they served '^s prey." According to strict prin- ciples of logic, the very converse of this proposition ought to hold good. If insects served as food for the flying Saurian, they ought to be scarce wherever that animal is found ; but their occurring plentifully is prima facie evidence that his depredations could not have been se- rious. But it is unfortunate for the development hypo- thesis in this instance, that some of tiiese minute animals existed previously, and long before the pterodactyles made their appearance ! But to resume : The vertebral animals were also but 2T6 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. sparsely represented in the Oolite, except, as in the Lias, by the prevailing saurians. These, however, increased immensely, both in number and form, and constitute the leading feature of the fauna of this period, if not, indeed, of the entire Secondary Formation. The change before noticed in the structure of the fish, had now become uni- versal, or nearly so. Formerly, the vertebral column of all fish extended into the upper lobe of the tail, as it does in the shark ; but from the Lias onward, this column ter- minated into a bilobe, or into two branches of the fin (or before it reached the fin), and so continues in nearly all the species now existing. There were other minor differ- ences peculiar to species ; but the change here noticed was universal, with but a few exceptions. Geologists have indulged in a great deal of speculation in reference to certain detached bones found in the rocks belonging to this group. First, a large and curious bone from the main Oolite was produced, which the celebrated Cuvier pronounced to Be the ulna of a whale ; but which Mr. Owen, an anatomist of hardly less pretension, referred to a species of saurian animal. Second, in the Stonesfield slate of the same group of rocks, large numbers of the lower jaws of mammiferous quadrupeds have been found, belonging to three species and two genera, for which the names of Amphitherium and Phascolotherium have been adopted. Cuvier pronounced one of these specimens to belong to a small ferine mammal, the jaw of which resem- bled that of our opossum, but differing from existing genera by having a greater number of molar teeth. The first specimens found had ten such teetfh in a row ; but others, found some years after, had sixteen in a row, of which twelve were molars. The question was raised, whether this fossil belonged to a mammifer, a reptile, or a fish ; and although a great diversity of opinion existed among comparative anatomists, the geologists appear to ANIMALS OF THE OOLITE. 2Y7 ]i:^v!^ .•ottlcd tlic dispute among themselves, and estab- lished the bones as belonging to land ammals of the marsupial order of mammalia. The specimens of Phas- colotherium, with scarcely less exemption from doubt and obscurity, are also elevated to the rank of pouched ani- mals. While the geologists reason or speculate themselves toward this conclusion, they throw the ulna of the whale, previously discovered, overboard, or degrade it to the level of the reptilian species. The changes of opinion, in reference to these fossils, have been made in the face of previously-expressed views, but evidently without sufficient ground to support them. The bones are as mysterious as they were before ; com- parative anatomists are still disagreed. Yet, upon the mere supposition of a geologist that they may have belonged to a humble species of the marsupial order, other geologists, who never saw the specimens, rank them as such ; and thus, in time, by common consent, they are established, until a new discovery, or the scrutiny of an original investigator elicits their true nature. Notwithstanding the supposed marsupial and placental character of these specimens, in speculating upon the absence of land quadrupeds during tliis and the Wealden eras, Prof. Lyell says, " that the absence of the bones of whales, seals, dolphins, and other aquatic mammalia, whether in the chalk or in the oolite, is certainl}^ very re- markable." Now, considering that the aquatic animals here mentioned, are of a higher order than the marsupials of the fossils (admitting that they are such, but they may just as likely belong to reptiles or fish), and that they did not, and some of them could not, frequent the shallow lakes, estuaries, and lagoons, inhabited by the saurians, chelonians, batrachians, and similar creatures, there would seem to be nothing remarkable in the premises. On the contrary, it would be remarkable to find the skeletons of 2t8 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. whales side by side with reptiles, lizards, and fish. The whole order of Cetacean mammalia, with perhaps a few exceptions, were inhabitants of deep water, rendered necessary by their enormous proportions ; and while this ought to account for the absence of their bones in the shallow deposits of the Oolite seas, it ought also to ex- plain their absence until the appearance of the subsequent Tertiaiy rocks, upon which their skeletons were deposited, as the t7ie7i floor of the sea, or the posssible floor of its great currents, into which the ocean was divided then, as it is now ; so that in the case of whales, their carcasses would naturally be borne away into the deepest channels, and not be floated into the shallow basins along the land coasts. If, instead of whales, they had been trilobites, or fish, or lizards, their fossils would have been strewn amongst these rocks ; but being nothing less than whales and considerably larger than any other animals which the world has ever yet produced, we must look for their re- mains in the deep sea-currents which they inhabited, and these we shall have an opportunity of inspecting when we reach the Tertiary periods, or the sixth day. Above the Oolite rocks, in England, occur an interest- ing series, called the Wealden. The word is derived from woods, or wealds, and has reference to the extensive forests in the southeast of England, where the rocks were first observed. They consist of limestone, sandstone, con- glomerate, and clay, abounding in the remains of fresh- water and land animals and vegetation. As it is believed to be the only fresh-imter deposit occurring in the Se- condary Formation, it is extremely interesting as exhibit- ing the remains of creatures and vegetable life that flour- ished on the "dry land" during that period. These deposits occur in England, Scotland, and some other por- tions of Europe, but nowhere in the United States. The main deposit consists of a stratum of clay, from 150 to THE WEALDEN STRATA. 2T9 200 feet thick, having various shades of blue and brown streaks, with subordinate benches of limestone and sand ; and containing fresh-water shells, and bones of reptiles and fish. After this, another stratum occurs, from 400 to 500 feet thick, consisting of gray, white, ferruginous, and fawn-colored sands and sandstones, with fragments of lignite, and carbonized vegetation; but no animals or shells. Below are layers of friable sandstones of various shades ; and then compact, bluish-gray grit, in lenticular masses, the surface often covered with mammillary con- cretions, and the lower beds frequently passing into con- glomerates, with quartz pebbles, containing ferns and stems of trees, bones of saurian reptiles, birds, turtles, fishes, and shells of the genera Unio, Cyclas, Cyrena, and Paludina — all fresh- water. Further down is clay of a bluish-gray color, alternating with sand and shale, and containing bones and shells more sparingly, with frag- ments of ferns and stems of vegetables. Another layer of white and yellow sand and sandstone exhibits only ferns and pieces of lignite, or imperfect brown coal. A still lower stratum of sand, alternating with clay and shale, affords only ferns and lignite. Finally, a layer of shelly limestone, alternating with sandstone, shale, and marl, exhibits a few shells of the genera Cyclas and Cyrena, with specimens of lignite and carbonized wood. Among these strata (which extend 200 miles in one direc- tion, and 220 in another,) remains of forests in situ have been found in several localities. The trees had invariably been severed near the ground, leaving the summits of the stumps jagged, as if violently detached by a hurricane. Although fragments of lignite occur in the strata, no in- formation is given by the English geologists as to the conversion or non-conversion of these weald forests into coal. Vegetation, indeed, would appear to have been almost as prolific as that of the coal period ; and although 280 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. it consisted almost exclusively of ferns and palms, yet these are the varieties which, according to the geologists, furnished the great bulk of the coal of the Devonian basins ; while the manner of deposition at the mouths of great rivers and estuaries of the sea was precisely similar. Here is the same vegetation and the same circumstances in operation which they refer to the carboniferous era ; — hut where are the layers of coal? Shale, and clay, and remaiJis of vegetation, alternating with sandstones, lime- stones, and conglomerate ; — but where is the coal ? The solution of the problem is this : after the oolite, every trace of the resinous vegetation disappeared — not a sign of it is to be seen in the subsequent Cretaceous era. There were a few specimens only of Cycadeae and mono- cotyledonous palms, more of ferns and aquatic fucoides ; but absolutely not a trace of Conifera, Sigillaria, Lepido- dendrons, and Calamites. The proposition hitherto ad- vanced, therefore, that notwithstanding the extraordinary abundance of the ferns during the carboniferous era, they contributed nothing ivhatever to the coal, is fully exempli- fied here, where scarcely any thing else than ferns pre- vailed. In some of the Weald deposits, there is an alternation of marine and fresh-water strata. This alternation is continued three or four times, and is precisely similar to that of certain coal-fields. Geologists explain it in a simi- lar manner, by supposing the gradual sinking. of the strata under the sea, and their subsequent elevation into a basin to receive the detritus of the land. This subsidence and elevation is supposed to have been gradual, and the work of long periods of time ; yet it must be admitted that, like the theories proposed for the deposition of the coal, a great deal of special pleading has to be employed to make all the points of the proposition harmonize. The fishes of the Wealden are specifically different from THE CRETACEOUS OR CHALK STRATA. 281 those of the succeeding strata, and belong principally to the genera Pycuodus, Lepidotus, and Hybodus. Several species of crocodiles have been identified, as well as large numbers of turtles. The most remarkable animal, how- ever, was the Iguanodon — a monster reptile, occupying the same relation to its species, as to size, that the ele- phant does to the mammalia. Although detached bones and teeth only have been found, these serve to identify it with species existing in St. Domingo, and which are herbivorous and terrestrial. There were several other enormous and peculiar reptiles in this epoch, including some which flourished previously. Of these, the ptero- dactyle still survived; but notwithstanding its supposed depredations upon insects, these latter exhibit an extra- ordinary increase, and many new genera were introduced, evidently for the first time. We now reach the last group, in ascending order, in the great Secondary formation, namely, the Cretaceous. Geologists apply this name to it in consequence of its im- mehse strata of chalk, although in the United States these layers are wholly absent. It is, however, supposed that the chalk is here represented by cotemporary layers of ferruginous sand; but as the identity of fossils is not clear, they may yet call for some special distinction as to time or the operating circumstances of their deposition. The strata of this extensive and widelv-diflfused system are literally made up from the spoils of the ancient seas embracing coral reefs, and sponges, the shells of belcm- nites, ammonites, baculites, turrilites, and the bones of fishes, reptiles, and other animal remains, with fragments of plants and sea-weeds. The vegetation alone was inferior, and consisted almost exclusively of marine plants — those long, slender grasses which still grow along the shallow coasts, and in the stagnant rivers and lakes of the present era. There was hardly a trace of land vegetation, 282 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. except a few specimens of palms and cycadeae. Even the ferns, whose beautiful and diversified leaves were scattered in every rock from the foundation of the earth, had now temporaril}^ disappeared, or were but obscurely represented by one or two species. The microscope establishes the interesting fact of the origin of the chalk strata, wherever they occur in Europe, from the shells and secretions of marine animals. During the Oolite, and previously, the minute Radiata, with the co-operation of the higher shelled animals and crustaceans, built many islands in the midst of the ocean, some of them extending hundreds of miles, in every direction. Their instincts, as we have before observed, lead them to com- bine together in the form of trees, or incrusting or hang- ing from rocks. To do this, they are supplied with a sticky paste which they secrete in large quantities, and thereby elaborate carbonate of lime from the water which they inhabit. When the ocean became dotted with these coral reefs, new animals made their appearance, who browsed upon them like cattle in luxuriant meadows. ^ This is still done by certain fish in the coral islands of the Pacific, and in opening them their intestines are found invariably to be filled with a calcareous excrement and with milky juices. Besides the fish, there were also pecu- liar worms that bored into the porous coral, and elaborated a similar juicy excrement. The disturbing operations of these animals, aided by the friction of the waves, finally wore down the coralline islands, and impregnated the waters with fine calcareous mud. The seas, all over Europe, where these strata are found, were white and milky with the thin detritus thus held in suspension by the water; and the natural result was its transporta- tion to the adjacent shallow coasts, where it would be precipitated in the form of sticky chalk, and upon the subsequent elevation of the strata, the whole would solidify THE CRETACEOUS OR CHALK STRATA. 283 under the ordinary drainage of interior springs and rivers, as well as by means of rain and snow, in the manner of stalagmites. The same process, or the first stage of it, is still in operation in all the coralline islands of the Pacific ; and it has been found, on comparison, and under the microscope, that there is no difference between the cal-' careous mud around them and that of the ancient chalk. The accumulation of layer after layer, in this manner, was in many respects similar to the deposition of the coal strata. Many of the beds of limestone of previous forma- tions have originated in precisely the same manner ; but having afterward been subjected to heat and pressure, the stone has been changed, and the impressions of the poly- paria obliterated. Were these beds of chalk exposed to slow heat, under pressure, they would crystallize, and be con- verted into the finest granular marble. The fossils of the chalk are specifically distinct from those of the subsequent Tertiary formation. They are the finely sculptured spoils of an ocean which rivaled the Atlantic and the Pacific in extent, and which it must have required vast ages to accumulate — strewn, as they now are, over large portions of Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, as well as in Asia and Africa. In some of the layers of chalk, in Europe, there is a large admixture of flint, which often indicates the plane of stratification of the beds. These silicious nodules are the remains of animal sponges, sea urchins, and other minute creatures, whose spicular secretions were silicious instead of calcareous. Among the shells preserved in the chalk, are the Tenebratula, which has appeared in almost every previous era, but began to dwindle away upon its approach to this. The Belemnite made its appearance in the Oolite, and is remarkable for having been supplied with an ink-bag, by which, upon occasions of danger, it 284 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. was enabled to muddle the water around it, and thus pro- tect itself from attack. Among the great variety of the fossil shells, some of them were very beautiful and highly sculptured, as those of Turrelites, Ostrea, Scaphites, Hamites, etc. The Saurian animals, which flourished so extensively in previous eras, began rapidly to diminish ; while even fishes were comparatively scarce. Among the former, however, was a monster called the MoscesoAirus, which measured twenty-five feet in length, and the ana- tomical structure of which is presumed to have been inter- mediate between that of the Iguanodon and the Monitor. Crocodiles and turtles existed, but without material change from the preceding era. Bones of birds have also been found, in various places, in these strata. Included in the Cretaceous group, but below the chalk, is a deposit which always accompanies it, called the green sand. It embraces layers sometimes eight or nine hun- dred feet thick, and consists mainly of sharp silicious sand, intermixed, or sometimes interstratified with marly calcareous sand, and laminae of mica. The lower benches alternate with ferruginous sands, and beds of clay and sand, with seams of hard limestone and chert. Although the deposit is generally stratified, it is yet thoroughly in- termixed, as if the sea had been charged with the drainage of extensive rivers in addition to the silicious and calcare- ous remains of its own waters. The Cretaceous group of the United States is very ex- tensively developed along the Atlantic coast in Bhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware ; while the whole vast region of country in the southwest, which we had fre- quent occasion to refer to while discussing the coal period, as having then been under the dominion of the ocean, was redeemed during this period. The region we allude to would, of itself, form no inconsiderable ocean ; including, as it does, a large portion of Alabama, Mississippi, Ten- THE CRETACEOUS STRATA. 285 nessee, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. All this vast space belongs to the Cretaceous era, and was only redeemed from the sea toward the dawn of the sixth day. A large portion of the Mississippi and the Upper Missouri traverse the Cretaceous strata ; and it is a sin gular fact, that such is the porous nature of the soil adja- cent to those mighty rivers, that they absorb the great bulk of their surplus of water during times of extensive overflow, and return it during seasons of drought. This fact is frequently illustrated at a distance of more than thirty miles from the Mississippi — the wells dug in the earth alternately yielding and withholding supplies of water with the varying volume of the river itself ! If, by any convulsion of nature, the lower valley of the Mis- sissippi should sink but a few feet below its present level, the ocean would again invade it, and it would be- come, what it was before, a mere adjunct of the Gulf of Mexico. The Cretaceous strata of New Jersey consist principally of green sand and green marl, with seams of coralline limestone overlying, containing fossils which Prof. Lyell thinks agree, upon the whole, with those of the Upper European beds. He collected some sixty shells, of which five were idontical with the European species, while others were cretaceous in their generic forms. Fifteen out of the sixty shells were regarded by Prof. Forbes as good geographical representatives of well-known cretaceous, fossils of Europe. The Secondary Formation, comprehending the New Red Sandstone, the Lias, Oolite, Wealden, and the Cretaceous systems of rocks, occupies very extensive areas in North America, or rather that portion of it belonging to the United States, for these rocks nowhere occur to any ex- tent outside of our political confederation. This may account, in some measure, for the superior fertility and 286 THE FIFTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. variety of our soil ; nevertheless, the fact is a singular one, when we consider that, large as is our domain, it does not comprise one-sixth part of that vast and almost uninhabited portion lying to the north, and embracing the Canadas and Russian and British America. But the reason may be explained by remembering what we have before stated, viz., that nearly the whole of the North American continent was elevated during the Metamorphic and the Carboniferous eras, and that it was in all proba- bility the first, as it was incomparably the largest, tract of country ever redeemed from the primitive seas, at any one period. In South America, the Secondarj^ rocks scarcely occur at all — there being but two or three iso- lated little districts in Peru and Yenezuela in which they are represented. In proportion to the surface, the great- est development of these rocks is in Continental Europe. A large portion of that country lying between the Medi- terranean on the south,, the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf on the east, the Baltic on the northwest, and the Ural mountains, in Russia, on the east, was occupied by these seas during the period in question — there having been, here and there, little islands of the primitive rocks scattered irregularly through the great field of waters. We accordingly find the Secondary rocks in the ascend- ant in Ireland, England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Turkey, Syria, Russia, and that portion of Persia along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and north of the Euphrates. The Secondary strata are very sparingly exhibited in Asia and Africa, except that in the latter they form a zone from the Red Sea west through Tripoli and Algiers to the Atlantic coast — having the great desert of Sahara on the south, and the Mediter- ranean sea on the north. Small districts have been ascer- tained to exist in China and Japan ; but little is as yet THE ERA OF AQUEOUS LIFE. 287 known of the geological structure of either of these vast regions. Now, in the beginning of the great Secondary Forma- tion (or the Fifth Day), God commanded the " waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth, in the open firma- ment of heaven." While we are left to infer the previous existence of marine life, as before suggested, the waters are now commanded to bring forth abundantly ; — and God blessed the creatures thus produced, and ordered them still to increase and multiply, and " to Jill the waters in the seas. " Have we not just seen an absolute and literal ful- fillment of this order ? Was not sea after sea gradually filled up with the countless millions of corals, molluscans, crustaceans, fish, and enormous reptiles ? The whales which, in the cold seas of the north, attain a length of ninety feet, in the torrid climate that then prevailed, when every other creature expanded mto giant-like proportions, became absolutely too monstrous to frequent the shallow seas thus gradually being redeemed from the ocean, and it is only in the deep waters of the ensuing Tertiary that we can reasonably hope to meet their fossilized remains. But with the seas thus redeemed and laid open to our in- spection, we see the extraordinary and wonderful devel- opment of marine life ; and no one can fail to perceive in their fossil remains tlie complete and overwhelming reali- zation of the divine injunction, nor to acknowledge, with profound humility, the power and majesty of the great Creator. But not only of the seas : the atmosphere hav- ing now, for the first time, become clear, buoyant, and open, was fitted to support the winged messengers of the ait; and accordingly we early find the imprints of their feet, and then, at every successive stage, tl pir fossilized bones — thus showing that they, too, promptly responded to the creative order. During the coal period, such a com- 19 288 THE rirTii day — geological. mand would evidently have been premature ; but Moses, comprehending the true circumstances of each period, has introduced the order of creation precisely as it occurred. Thus, in response to the divine word, the seas were rippled and foamy with the living creatures that filled them ; the air was blackened with flocks of birds, of varied plumage ; while colossal fowls, to which the eagle or the racing ostrich of the desert are as pigmies, screeched discordantly along the margin of the ocean inlets, or waded shallow lakes in search of food ; enormous whales^ and fish, and minute corals, filled the seas ; crawling rep- tiles, and scaly crocodiles, and lizards, crowded the muddy marshes, and wallowed in stagnant pools ; aquatic fowls and pterodactyles sk.mmed the lakes and rivers; while soaring birds spread their pinions in the breeze ! So com- pletely and so perfectly was this command realized, that we may say with entire truth, "the dust we now tread upon was once alive." And God said, Let the waters generate Reptile with spawn abundant, living soul ; And let fowl fly above the earth, with wings Displayed on the open firmament of heaven And Grod created the great whales, and each Soul living, each that crept, which plenteously The waters generated by their kinds, And every bird of wing after his kind; And saw that it was good, and blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, multiply, and in the seas, And lakes, and running streams, the waters fill; And let the fowl be multiplied on the earth. Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals Of tish, that with their fins and shining scales, Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft Eank the mid sea; part single, or with mate, Graze the sea-weed, their pasture, and through grovoB Of coral stray, or sporting with quick glance. Show to the sun their waved coats dropt with gold; MILTON'S FIETH DAY. 289 Or in their pearly shells at ease attend Moist nutriment, or under rocks their food In jointed armor watch ; on smooth the seal And bended dolphins play ; part huge of bulk, Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait, Tempest the ocean; there Leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, on the deep Stretched like a promontory sleeps, or swims And seems a moving land, and at his gills Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea. Meanwhile the tepid eaves, and fens, and shores. Their brood as numerous hatch from the egg, that soon Bursting with kindly rupture forth discharged Their callow young ; but feathered soon and fledge, They summed their pens, and soaring the air sublime With clang despised the ground, under a cloud In prospect : there the eagle and the stork On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build : Part loosely wing the region, part more wise In common ranged in figure wedge their way, Intelligent of seasons, and set forth Their airy caravan, high over seas Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing Easing their flight; so steers the prudent crane Her annual voyage, borne on winds ; the air Floats, as they pass, fanned with unnumbered plumes. From branch to branch the smaller birds with song Solaced the woods, and spread their painted wings Till even ; nor then the solemn nightingale Ceased warbling, but all night tuned her soft lays. Others on silver lakes and rivers bathed Their downy breast; the swan, with arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows Her state with oary feet; yet soft they quit The dank, and rising on swift pennons, tower The mid aerial sky. Others on ground Walked firm; the crested cock, whose clarion sounds The silent hours, and the other, whose gay trait Adorns him, colored with the florid hue Of rainbows and starry eyes. The waters thus With fish replenished, and the air with fowl. Evening and morn solemnized the Fifth Day. — Milton. THE SIXTH DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us naake man in our image, after our likeness ; and let them have dominion over the tish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bear- ing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed : to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. The extensive formation now known as the Tertiary, not a great many years ago, was included with that of the Alhiviiim, or modern formation. The investigations of Cuvier and Brongniart, of the strata immediately sur- rounding the city of Paris, in 1810, established the fact of the existence of a series of strata, of marine, river, lake, volcanic and land origin, which, on account of the extent, variety, and character of their fossils, were enti- tled to the rank of a separate and independent forma- (290) THE TERTIARY FORMATION. 291 tion. Since that time, similar strata have been examined elsewhere in England, France, Germany, and numerous portions of Continental Europe, the fossils of which, while they exhibit a gradual transition toward those of existing species, in other respects point to an era at once independent and isolated from the past or the present. It appeared from the researches of Deshayes, in France, on the fossil shells of this interesting formation, that it naturally arranges itself into three leading groups or di- visions, as determined by their approaches to the character of existing species. Thus, the fossils of the oldest group show an average of about four per cent., as compared with the species now living on the earth ; those of the middle group exhibit about eighteen to twenty per cent. , while those of the third, or upper group, have fifty per cent. Prof. Lyell, availing himself of this Paleontolo- gical discovery, called the older strata Eocene, the middle Miocene, and the upper Pliocene; but, as if tliis were not sufficiently comprehensive, he afterward erected sev- eral sub-groups, as the upper, middle, and lower Eocene, and the newer and older Pliocene. He also introduced various other local and general names for particular strata ; so that, although the whole formation is comparatively new in geological discovery, it is already characterized by as many technical names and local sub-divisions, as that of any other. The names proposed by Lyell, how- ever, in this case, are sufficiently simple, and they have consequently been generally adopted; they indicate the gradual transition of one stage into another, until finally arriving at the post-Pliocene, diluvium, or boulder strata, we find ourselves surrounded by the physical debris of the present — by that genial Sabbath of Nature, during which the work o^ Creation ceased, and the great Author rested from his creative labor. The transition from stage to stage i^ very gradual, and sometimes 292 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. scarcely perceptible ; for beginning with an identity of but three or four per cent, of the moUuscan fossils, the last sub-group of the Tertiary contains no less than nine- ty-four per cent, of species now inhabiting the adjacent seas and lakes. A description of the Tertiary, however, in consequence of the technical names being new, and owing to the numerous subordinate groups into which Lyell and others separate it, is not only difficult, but somewhat unsatisfactory. Mr. Lyell devotes fifty-five pages of his Elements to its consideration, of which nearly one half are actually occupied in explanations of a purely technical character ; — that is, they have little bearing directly upon the elucidation of the subject as a whole. The first part of the formation was exclusively marine — a continuation, under different features, of the Cretaceous ; the middle part was also principally aqueous, TDut exhibits a strong tendency in its fossils to the fauna and flora of the present, accompanied by the introduction, for the first time, of land animals of prevailing genera and species. The latter part was distinguised by intense and wide-spread volcanic action ; the change of land into sea, and of sea into land ; by the elevation of mountain systems, the prevalence of universal cataclysms, the dif- fusion of erratic boulders, icebergs, and moraines, and finally terminated by gradually merging into the geolo- gical laws now in force. The JSTummulite rocks of the Swiss Alps, and of the Pyrenees, are the oldest members of the Tertiary group in Europe. Indeed, some geologists are disposed to rank them with the preceding Cretaceous system ; but although they are elevated nine or ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, the fossils they contain are very similar to those of the Paris and London basins. They consist of limestone, slate, marl, and sandstone of various colors and textures, and nearly all abounding in the character- TERTIARY ROCKS OF EUROPK. 293 ristic fossils of the Nummulite. From their resemblance to metallic coins, these fossils were formerly called bj the Germans deviVs money, and formed the theme of many a wonderful legend and romance. The strata often attain a thickness of several thousand feet, and besides their wide distribution in Europe, in isolated basins, they occur extensively in Asia, Africa, and America. In cer- tain portions of the Alps, where they have been disturbed and exposed to heat, they have been changed into crys- talline marble, quartz rock, and mica-schist. The Tertiary formation, as developed in different parts of England, exhibits considerable variation in lithological character. It is generally at least two thousand feet thick, without counting absent strata, some of which, but generally the upper, are always wanting. It is seldom, therefore, that the complete formation is found in one region ; if it were, the aggregate thickness would be immense. In England, it is well represented in Hamp- shire and the Isle of Wight, and the order of superposi- tion (without regard to LyelPs Miocene and Eocenes) may be stated as consisting of, 1. sands and plastic clays, the latter being extensively used in England, Germany, and Prance, in the manufacture of pottery ware ; 2. the London clay, so-called because the cities of London and Paris are b'oth erected on such a stratum, and which is also used to some extent in manufactures, especially brick ; 3. fresh-water debris, comprising river sands, calcareous marl and mud, and river shells and land plants ; 4. clay and marl with marine shells, but of different species from those of the lower London clay ; 5. upper fresh- water deposits, including white and green marls, and calcareous lime- stones, which form an almost solid aggregation of fresh- water shells, principally of Paludina concinna, Lymnea pyramidalis, and Planorbis euomphalus. The Paludina have a spiral termination, but are scarcely larger than a 294 THE SIXTH DAY — GJSOLOGICAL. grain of wheat; nevertheless they often constitute the great bulk of the solid contents of the rocks in which they are imbedded. The fossils of the London clay consist largely of Cassidaria carinati, Pieurotoma prisca, Trochus agglutinans, and Turritella edita, (also a spiral, but very long and slender.) Fragments of trees are found which, although converted into hard stone, still exhibit the per- forations of the Teredin^, a boring mollusc, nearly related to the Teredo, the pest of the Indian seas. In the Paris basin, besides the usual alternation of marine and fresh- water deposits, there occur very extensive beds of gypsum, more familiarly known as plaster of Paris. The finer portions, being alabaster, are employed in the arts of sculpture, especially for small ornaments ; while the ordinary gypsum, containing a few per cent, of carbonate, in addition to the prevailing sulphate of lime, makes an excellent plaster or stucco for houses. It is likewise valuable, in certain cases, as a fertilizer. i The vegetation of the Tertiary shows a remarkable in- crease over the preceding Cretaceous^in fact over all the groups combined of the Secondary Formation. It is a matter of no astonishment, therefore, that this period should have produced beds of coal — especially as there was a great increase of coniferous trees, perhaps nearly equal to that of the carboniferous era. To tliis fact (which is one deserving particular notice, since not a trace of these trees is to be found in the era immediately preced- ing) maybe attributed many of those isolated deposits of lignite, mineral bitumen, pitch, and impure vege- table gums, oils, and resins, so plentifully distributed in basins over the earth. These same trees, with those of the Cycadese, had also a prolific development during the Oolitic period, and the result was the deposition of such coal basins as that near Richmond, in Virginia, which, in consequence of its greater age, is more completely miner- FOSSILS OF THE TERTIARY. 295 alized than those of the Tertiary period. Whenever these trees occur, there is coal ; but whenever they do not occur, there is none ; and the coincidence is full of significance in connection with the theory of the origin of coal which I have proposed in this work. But besides the conifer86, there was an equal, if not a greater development of other dicotyledonous trees, and of species allied to those now existing in the forests of the earth. Among these may be mentioned the families of poplars, willows, elms, sycamores, maples, birches, magnolias, oaks, etc. The monocoty- ledons also were developed to a greater extent than ever before, and are represented at the present time by more than one thousand species, principally of palms, naiades, and tropical trees. The ferns and mosses were also more numerous, as well as marine plants and weeds ; but all the other varieties which distinguished the carboniferous era, and which are usually supposed to have furnished the great bulk of its coal, have no fossil representations whatever. The Infusoria and Polyparia, which flourished in nearly every preceding era, still continued, on a scale of even increased magnitude, their extended operations in the bottoms of seas. Yast beds of limestone and silicious concretions have been elevated from the ocean, which are literally derived from their delicate secretions and the re- mains of their minute skeletons. Insects, which ap- peared in-egularly, and with the varying development of vegetation, again spring into existence, after their total absence during the Cretaceous period. They began grad- ually to increase from the dawn of the Tertiary, and at its close were more numerous than ever before, and scarcely less so than at the present moment. Spiders, scorpions, serpulae, and other articulated creatures, also expanded very materially over previous periods ; but there was no perceptible increase of marine molluscs, except in 296 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOQICAL. Nummulites, Miliotites, and other microscopic shell ani- niais, and in the variety of land and fresh-water testacea. These latter were evidently as numerous during the Ter- tiary as they are now, and, as has already been suggested, were superseded by the present species. The most ex- traordinary change in the marine fauna of the Tertiary was in Fishes ; and in this, as in every other movement affecting the animal species, the infidel theory of pro- gressive development, or of gradual infusion of a lower species into a higher order of creation, is at once utterly disproved and annihilated. Nearly every leading compa- rative anatomist has adopted a system of classification of his own ; and, in dealing with the ancient fishes espe- cially, there is necessarily abundant room for diversity of opinion. The animal kingdom is divided into four lead- ing parts — the principal one being the Yertebrata, which is itself divided into four classes, as fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Each class, in turn, is arranged into orders ; the orders into tribes ; the tribes into families ; the families into sub-families or genera, and the genus into species. There is in each division, a central nucleus, or typical characteristic of structure, around which all the individuals can be arranged; and the only difficulty that has arisen has been as to which division — species, genera, family, order, or class — the individual specimens properly belong. Cuvier, and most of the older ichthyo- logists, classified the extinct and living classes according to their internal skeletons, their brain, nervous, genera- tive, and circulatory organs. But as in the fossil speci- mens it was often impossible to determine their true character b}'- these tests alone, owing to their imper- fect preservation. Prof Agassiz adopted a classification founded mainly on the structure of their scales and that of their external skeleton, which are generally not only well preserved, but very often the only portions not en- FISH OF THE TERTIARY 29t tirelj obliterated. In this way many specimens have been identified, which defied classification according to the other systems. Agassiz, therefore, divided the fish, both living and fossil, into four orders, — the Placoid, the Ganoid, the Ctenoid, and the Cycloid. The fish of all the preceding geological eras, up to that of the Cre- taceous, belonged to the two orders first mentioned. The Placoids were distinguished by having their body covered with broad horny and enameled plates, with bristling protuberances like the teeth of a file, instead of smooth imbricated scales ; and for presenting, in lieu of a well-defined osseous skeleton, a soft cartilaginous struc- ture. Of the six families which the order comprised, at least two have typical representatives in our seas. These are the sharks, the rays, the dog-fish, and some other car- tilaginous species — all very numerous in some regions, and the first occupying to the creatures of the deep, the same position as that of the vulture to those of the earth and air. The shark has been known to follow in the track of vessels for hundreds of miles in quest of spoil ; and to attend, with eager watchfulness, during naval en- gagements, nothing daunted by the deadly conflict of arms, ready to seize the human victims that might fall a prey to their voracious jaws. Some of the species of rays, armed with stings, (as the raia pastinaca,) or with an electric apparatus (as the torpedo narke), are also en- abled to prey upon the weaker and smaller fishes which they encounter. The Placoids and Ganoids appeared for 'the first time during the upper Silurian era, but flourished more extensively in the carboniferous than any other pe- riod. They sent out lateral families, genera, and species at different times, but always as distinct subordinate groups. While there has been a constant variation in every progressive formation (the old families running out and the new ones coming in) the general features 298 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. that characterized the order as a whole were invariably distinct and separate. And while some of their typical representatives are as distinct and numerous now as those of the previous eras, they remain true and fixed to their ancient instincts, and preserve, in some measure, the anatomy and family features peculiar to the ancient types. Through all the changes of time and of circum- stances, they are as esseniially'^lacoidian to-day as other placoidians were in the far remote antiquity. In the great mint of Creation, generic and specific moulds have been changed, as all else was changed, from era to era ; but no one but a philosophic fool would venture to infer from thence that the solid gold and silver of the stamped coins has been basely amalgamated. Nature has never been convicted of counterfeiting ; on the contrary, the integrity of her stamp has ever been maintained, from the highest to the lowest of her creatures, and in the face of the most wicked and outrageous abuses. To charge her with infusing lead into silver, or silver into gold, or of bringing down god-like man by gradually merging into him the fishes of the sea and the crawling reptiles of the land, is merely equivalent to charging upon the Almighty Creator an ultimate design of merg- ing and fusing all his splendid variety of created life into one channel, or into one species ! Such an idea of fusion or of development, so far from having been contemplated in the scheme of Creation, is absolutely be- neath contempt. And yet the late Hugh Miller wrote two very learned and elaborate books, mainly to confute it — as if a bare-faced libel on the Almighty needed any refutation whatever. But in his attempt to put down the theory of progressive development, he suggested an- other, scarcely less unfortunate or absurd — that of gradual degradation. Much respect has been accorded to Miller because of his zeal in behalf of religion ; but many of FISHES OF THE TERTIARY. 299 his propositions, though maintained with a great deal of pseudo-scientific acumen, and with extraordinary beauty and force of diction, are utterly untenable, unphilosophic, and insidiously inimical to sound truth. His pages are full of special pleadings ; and often proceeding upon ob- scure and doubtful premises — upon an isolated shell, or tooth, or stem, or algae — he boldly launches out into the most gorgeous and dashing inductions, cutting hither and thither, and putting whole armies of Lamarkians, and Okens, and " Yestiges" to flight, like another Don Quix- otte vanquishing a drove of swine. But he was a good and a great man ; and his practical explorations of the old E.ed Sandstone are among the most valuable contributions to modern geology. He was, however, more of a poet and a word-painter than a philosopher ; and loved to dally with pretty ideal visions, and high-sounding words, rather than to pursue stubborn facts. He was more a Theologist than a Geologist ; and while he deserves credit for un- surpassed zeal in his endeavors to harmonize the two, he has yet placed obstacles between them, which are utterly insurmountable upon the basis of scientific and philoso- phic inquiry. The Ganoid order of fishes embraced thirteen different families, most of them numerous, and several belonging to the Sauroid type. Like the Placoids, this order was most numerous during the Carboniferous period. Their body, like that of alligators, was generally inclosed in a coat-of- niail — the scales being hard and horny, and of a rhom- boidal shape. The skeleton was more bony than that of the Placoids, but less than those of Cycloids. In this particular their position was intermediate between the two, but in other respects they were perfectly distinct from both. The sturgeon, howev^er, which belongs to the Ganoid order, has a cartilaginous structure ; but differs from the shark in the arrangement of its gills, which re- 300 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL semble those of the true fish. Its mouth is small, and destitute of teeth, and, like the Cycloids, its head is cui- rassed, and supplied with bony bucklers. While this fish is found everywhere in the ocean, it also frequents rivers, where it deposits its spawn. During the Oolitic period, as we mentioned while speaking of that era, the Sauroid fish had an extraordinary development — but those varieties with heterocircal tails were utterly extinguished, and no less than fourteen genera, with homocircal tails, made their appearance. Of these genera, two representatives remain — the Folypterus of the Mle, and the Lepidasteus, or pike, of our American rivers and lakes, Of the families of Syngnathidce and Diodontidce, several types exist, but their fossils are rare in the Tertiary. With a few excep- tions, and they of a somewhat doubtful character, the true Saurian fishes all expired during the Cretaceous period — a period which effected a more complete and general revo- lution of animated nature than any previous era. With the simultaneous and almost universal extinction of the Ganoid order, and of the Saurian type, those of the Cte- noid and C3^cloid made their appearance. But they did not come gradually, as if developed from the extinct races, their immediate predecessors ; but they came in myriads, and in numberless distinct families, genera, and species; and as they came, so they remain/ While the Cycloids and Ctenoids are both distinguished from the ancient fishes by their osseous or bony structure, as well as some other prominent features, ichthyologists have devised various schemes of classification to separate them from each other, the most popular of which, based on the number and character of their fins, also constitutes a fea- ture in the system of Agassiz. It is hardly w^orth while here, or proper, in view of the space it would require, to enter upon a description of their genera and species, since nine-tenths of all the fish now living belong to these two FISHES OF THE TERTIARY. 301 great orders — the other one-tenth being feebly represented by those which are t5^pical of the preceding eras. Both of them comprise a great many families — the Cycloid being well represented by those of the Pike, the Carp, and the Salmon, while the Ctenoids are equally represented by the Perch, the Mackerel, the Mullet, and the Gudgeon. As far as specific character is concerned, there is no fish now living that really presents a true counterpart of any that distinguished the ocean previous to the Cretaceous formation. The change then introduced was so thorough and so sudden, that the whole ichthyologic field was re- organized on a new basis, to meet the requirements of the approaching era of man. This was not the work of a slow, precarious and gradual development ; but it was instantaneous and direct. It was not the effect of an em- pirical law ; but the work of the great Creator, flowing spontaneously from the exercise of his almighty Yolition. Bearing this great fact in mind, and remembering also, in connection with it, the true osseous skeleton of the orders thus created, with which the merest urchin of the hook and line is familiar, where is the force of Miller's theory of gradual degradation, on the one hand, or of the La- markian (or Aristotelian) theory of gradual development on the other ? If the ancient fishes combined in their form and organization some of the features of birds, rep- tiles, and turtles, it only proves, if it proves any thing at all, that they were not true fishes. Because they inhab- ited the seas, it does not follow that we must regard them as true fishes. Ducks and geese frequent the water, and whales and dolphins live in it ; — yet they are not fish. Fishes were made for man ; and God did not create them until the dawning of his era, Moses, indeed, in his retro- spective vision of the fifth day, says nothing whatever of fish. He speaks of the waters ^'bringing forth moving creatures and great whales ,^^ and these, we repeat cannot 302 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. be understood as implying true fish. Moses and all his people were as familiar with the existing type of fish as we are at this moment ; and the word fish is used again and again in the Bible. - That he, therefore, did not contemplate true fish, properly so understood, in the phe- nomena of the great Secondary Geological Day, is very plain, for the simple reason that he did not name them ; while, that he did contemplate them in the Sixth Day, is equally plain, for the reason that he does name them! Now, all this is significant. The " moving creatures" of the Fifth Day could not properly be called fish, nor rep- tile, nor turtle, nor bird, nor beast. Even comparative anatomists, and scientific men of all departments of zool- ogy and physiology, generally exceedingly prolific in no- menclature, have been much perplexed in adopting names by which to distinguish the peculiar and varied creatures which characterized that vast formation. And after all, the term applied by Moses is perhaps more expressive than those of professional naturalists. " Moving crea- tures^'' contemplates a variety — a heterogeneous assem- blage, otherwise unclassified, rather than a distinct class or order ; and hence the propriety and significance of the term. Had Moses used the word swimming creatures, or crawling, or flging creatures — or had he used the word fishes direct — the impolicy of the expression would here be palpably manifest — for a whole army of scientific sticklers, sitting in their high, places like eagle-eyed vul- tures on frowning precipices, would long since have pounced upon the unfortunate word, and voraciously as- sailed the integrity of his inspiration and his facts. While its non-introduction, under the peculiar circumstances, is extremely fortunate, its omission can neither be ascribed to accident nor ignorance. It was design — deliberate and premeditated. For after the creation of the true and ex- isting orders of fish, on the dawn of the Sixth Day he ex- PISHES OF THE TERTTAKY. 303 pressly refers to them as constituting a portio/i of the vast domain of man. The term "moving creature," as applied to aquatic fauna, is no longer used ; — but "the fish of the sea^^ are now distinctly and unequivocally referred to,, well knowing, as he did, that the previous species had been extinguished, and that under no circumstances could they have contributed to the sustenance or the varied re- quirements of the human family. The theories, therefore, of progressive development and of retrogression and degradation, are alike absurd and visionary ; and they are only the more palpably so, for having been elaborated with consunniiatc skill and a great display of pseudo- learning. We have previously alluded to the supposed absence of the fossil remains of whales and dolphins in the rocks of the Secondary Formation. Isolated and detached bones have indeed been found, which have been referred to these animals, and their existence, during that period, is not doubted by geolosrists ; but, on the contrary, astonishment is expressed at the absence of their fossil remains. I suggested that this might be explained on the basis of their enormous dimensions, requiring them to select the deepest channels of the primitive oceans, or at least for- bidding their sojourn in the shallow estuaries which were then being converted into dry land. The Greenland whale is an animal from sixty to eighty feet in length. Less than a century ago, when the fishing grounds in the re- gions of the North and South poles were first frequented, some were found over one hundred feet in length, and comprising a bulk greater than that of one hundred ele- phants. The ordinary whale, as it is now captured, is still, by far, the largest animal that ever inhabited the earth ; and we have the very best evidence to infer that, before the species were prematurely cut off by whalers, they attained a size commensurate with their age, and far 20 304' THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. greater than any now living in our modern seas. We have a right to infer this, not only from our practical ex- perience, but from the language of Moses. He does not speak simply of whales, but of great whales — such as were found inhabiting the Polar Seas when whale-fishing was in its infancy. The order of Cetacean Mammals, to which they belong, comprises several other species, besides Dol- phins and Porpoises — all of which are much smaller, and generally more local in their habitats, than the great Arctic whales. The term great whales, therefore, has a meaning, as every word which the good old prophet ut- tered has a distinct application. If he meant to include the whole order of whales, large and small, the use of the word " great" would have been improper ; or if he meant to distinguish even the ordinary arctic or antarctic whale, such a word would have been out of place. But there is a literal and distinct meaning involved in it ; and we are to understand from it, what our own experience has taught us, that the ancient whales were far more enor- mous than any which exist in modern times ; that they were necessarily inhabitants of the deep sea, and that in consequence ^f their extraordinary bulk, their carcasses could not be associated in the sa7ne shallow basins and estuaries with the remains of smaller animals and testa- ceans: and that, consequently, we must look for their fossil remains in the bottoms of those deeper and more remote seas, some of which may have become dry land only during the Tertiary period. Isolated bones of these monsters of the deep have been found, as I before stated, in the formation during which they were created ; but for the reasons here suggested, their more complete skeletons or osseous remains occur in by far the greatest abun- dance in the Tertiary measures which immediately suc- ceeded. From the known fact that the Jews were unacquainted I ANIMALS OP THE TERTIARY. 305 even with the northern or southern whales, certain Zoolo- gists have suggested that Moses must have referred to some other animal of the Sauroid or Ophidian orders. This is a somewhat anomalous suggestion to emanate from a gentleman, (W. J. Bicknell, of England), who subscribes himself author of a " Scripture Natural His- tory," and as a "Licentiate of Theology." If the term " moving creature" did not sufficiently comprehend the whole division of Chelonia, Sauria, Ophidia, Batrachia and Fishes, we might venture to infer a misapplication of the words " great whales" — especially if no such animals had existed. But so long as the divine authenticity of the Mosaic narrative is maintained on the basis of physical progress, discovery, and law, we see no sufficient reason for interposing needless apologies. When the inspired Cosmogonist shall have been convicted of lying and de- ception, it will be time enough for his friends to volunteer explanations for mitigation of sentence ; but in the mean time, the Bible can afford to stand as it is, and dispense with all such well-meant but rather equivocal apologies and explanations. ^ If the Paleozoic Formation was remarkable for its vege- tation beyond all other features, and the great Secondary for its wonderful and prolific marine fauna, then the Tertiary is even more extraordinary than either in the development of the higher classes of land animals. This far exceeds in extent, variety, and perfection, any thing which we have yet met with in the stratification of the earth, and forms the crowning glory of the magnificent and stupendous whole. And yet, while we have seen the footprints of supposed Cheirotheria, as far back as the New Red Sandstone, (if not, indeed, in the Coal measures, and the Old Bed Sand- stone?) and the scattered teeth and jaw-bones of the Thylacotherium, and other supposed Marsupial mam- mals, in the Oolite. — not to mention the fossil remains 306 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. of other land animals hig-her in the scale of physical organi- zation — is it not at least curious, (and in connection with progressive development,) is it not extraordinary and incredible that, during the Cretaceous era, none of these, nor hardly a trace of any terrestrial species of mammalia whatever manifested themselves I If true terrestrial mam- mals occurred at all, during any portion of the great Secondary Formation, it was in few, doubtful, and isolated species ; while in the Cretaceous sub-era, which termi- nated the Fifth Geological Day, no traces of any kind have been found/ But on the opening of the very next day, when Moses lifts the vail of the Tertiary, after the good Creator had commanded "the earth to bring forth the living creature, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth," what is the scene that expands before the view ? It is one, the living magnitude of which bewilders the senses, and impoverishes the most versatile resources of pen and pencil to describe. All at once, as if the Creator had exerted his miraculous power to their highest tension, the whole surface of the earth is covered with strange, wonderfully-made, many of them gigantic, " living creatures !" Myriads and myriads of cattle — vast herds of roving monsters — birds of varied plumage — beasts of every conceivable form, proportion, instinct, habit, and species, crowd the teeming vales and the sloping hills, wallow along the shallow lakes, bask in the vernant sun, or browse leisurely amid the green forests ! The past history of the earth, remarkable and prolific as portions of it had been, affords no parallel to this. Nor was the ocean by any means deficient in life. If possible it was more populous than ever before ; but, like the earth itself, with new and strange creatures. Where now, let me ask again, is the theory of development ? And what becomes of the still weaker theory of degradation ? Mopes himself unmistakably indicates a development of LAND ANIiMALS OP THE TERTIARY. 307 formations. He carries us by stages from a lower to a higher order of Creation ; but not by a law of gradual operation. It is the development of successive creative acts, and nothing short of the most immediate, direct, an(? miraculous creative action can account for the sudden in- troduction of the terrestrial fauna of the Tertiary upon the surface of the earth. The whole animated Creation was changed — changed, as it were, instantaneously, as one act of the drama succeeds another. " The first^t-e acts already passed, A sixth will close the drama with the day — Time's noblest ofFering is the last I" The gi'eat class of Mammalia, for which the latter part of the Tertiary or Sixth day was pre-eminently distin- guished, includes not only the higher quadrupedal animals that sustain their offspring during infancy by the secre- tions of milk in the mammae, but also comprises the human species. The class forms two divisions : the first known as the JDiadelphian, and the second as the Mona- delphian. The Diadelphian division is small, and in- cludes but a few living families, all of which are natives of America and Australia. They are distinguished for being furnished with pouches, by means of w^hich they sustain their young for a time, after bringing them forth in an immature condition. In some of the species, how- ever, as the Mexican Opossum, the pouches are not deve- loped ; and the young opossums seek protection of the mother by winding their long prehensile tails around hers, and grasping the fur of her back in their mouths. In this way, she can avoid her enemies with half a dozen of her progeny on her back. The Australian Kangaroo is the most perfect Marsupial or pouched animal now" living. After the birth of her young, which she brings forth singly, and after a gestation of only thirty-nine days, the 308 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. mother places it in her pouch, which is situated in the folds of the skin below the abdomen. Here it receives the lacteal nourishment to sustain it until able to shift for itself, which it will undertake to do after a pouch-life of nine or ten months. It will leave the pouch occasionally, at intervals, during this period, but return to it on the least indication of danger, where it may often be seen peeping out, as if considering how far it might be com- patible with prudence to venture forth. The Kangaroo readily becomes domesticated, and they formerly occurred in large numbers in certain portions of Australia. The animal is also remarkable for having its kind limbs twice as large and long as those in front, for which reason its gait consists of successive leaps, instead of a walk. The American Opossum, so far as its pouch is concerned, is similar to the Kangaroo, but much smaller. Most per- sons who read these pages are doubtless familiar with this animal, as it inhabits nearly all the Middle States. In Australia there are three or four species of opossum be- longing to the Marsupial order — including, also, squirrels and rats. It is supposed that the extinct Thylocothe- rium, Phascolotherium, and some other obscure frag- mentary remains previously alluded to, belonged to this order. The Monadelphian division comprehends the great bulk of the higher animal species, including man. It is dis- tinguished from the Diadelphian, among numerous other striking features, by the full organic structure of its species at the time of their birth, requiring only, for a time, the subsequent care and nourishment of the mother. It comprehends no less than ten different orders, based principally on their organs of touch, of mastication, and locomotion. These orders are themselves so numerous, that they are subdivided into many families and groups. Of the first order, we have the Cetacea, comprising three ANIMALS OF THE TERTIARY. ^9 families, and including tlie different varieties of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The remains of living and ex- tinct genera of this order are plentifully diffused in the Tertiary, but mainly in the more recent strata. Among these are the remains of a gigantic animal, supposed by some to have been a cetacean, by others a pachyderm, called the Dinotherium. It is supposed to have had a proboscis, like the elephant, with two enormous teeth attached to the lower jaw, but curving downward. In other respects, it was fashioned somewhat like an ele- phant ; but is presumed to have been more aquatic than terrestrial in its instincts. Some writers, speculating upon its habits, have described it as swimming along the shores of lakes, and attaching itself by means of its curved tusks to trees, in which position it would employ its long trunk to feed upon the tender shoots and foliage. Its skull has been found in two or three instances, usually in the Miocene strata of the Tertiary. Another Cetacean, styled the Zeugloden, but formerly regarded as a reptile, has been found in the Eocene of Alabama. The order of Buminantia may be recognized by the structure of their feet, which terminate in two toes, in- closed by a bony hoof The name, however, is bestowed in consequence of the fact that all the species belonging to the order chew the cud, and have a singular organization of the stomach. Some zoologists assign but three fami- lies to it — those of camels, stags, and oxen. Others in- clude sheep and goats, the true position of which- seems to be somewhat obscure and doubtful. Including them with this order, it not only becomes the most numerous as to individual numbers, but is by far the most useful and important in domestic economy of any other in the entire range of the animal kingdom. The two-hunched Camel, which has been styled the ship of the desert, and the swift-pacing Dromedary of the Orient, are both inti- SIO THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. mately associated with the earliest history, and the pro- gressive struggles and labors of man. To the Arab they are alike invaluable and indispensable — furnishing him with food and milk, while their hair is woven into tents and wearing apparel, their hides converted into leather, and their dung into fuel. Strong hopes are indulged that recent efforts of our Government to acclimate and render available the services of the caravan-camel in the south- western plains of the United States, will prove eminently successful. Three or four years have now elapsed since their introduction, and though some of the anitnals have died, they have thus far generally exceeded the expecta- tions formed of them. The Dromedary differs from the Camel in having but one hunch on its back ; and in being A much swifter traveler. It is said to be able to travel with ease one hundred miles per day. Besides possessing four compartments of the stomach, from one of which (forming a sort of temporary repositorj^, which is peculiar to all Ruminantia,) the food is returned in the cud, to be again chewed before undergoing the usual process of digestion, the Camel is also furnished with a tank, by means of which it carries supplies of water for its own private use. It is thus able to resist the pangs of thirst to an extraordinary extent, and to traverse regions of arid plains where ordinary animals would perish in a day. The wise provision of Providence is thus exemplified in a most remarkable manner — adapting his creatures in every instance, as it would seem, to the peculiar circumstances which surround them. Extinct genera of the Gamelidod are rare. Fossil remains of them have been found in tbo glaciers of Siberia, while specimens of existing genera occur abundantly in the Eocene strata of France, Asia, and America. The Cervidce, or Stag family, is very nu- merous, and, as indicated by the name, comprehends all known varieties of the deer — as the Moose or Elk, the THE DEER, THE OX, THE SHEEP. 311 Reindeer, the Stag or Red Deer, the Axis Deer, the Fal- low Deer, the Chevrotain, the Roebuck, the iiiitelope, and the Nyl-ghau and Cameleopard, or Giraffe. Few of these animals have been domesticated, and they are chiefly valuable for their flesh and the amusement they afford tha hunter. The Laplander, however, turns the Reindeer to practical accou^it — not only employing it in sledging over the snow and ice, but mainly subsisting on its flesh, and deriving clothing from its skins. With the exception of the Cameleopard and the Chevrotain, which are natives of Southern Africa, and the Axis deer of India, all the rest are found in different latitudes in America — most of them, ideed, as the Elk, the Stag, the Fallow Deer, the Roebuck, and species of the Antelope, being ])eculiar to the United States. There is a strong family resemblance in all these animals — three of which are spotted, as the Giraffe, the Axis, and the Fallow. The Giraffe is remarkable for its height, long neck, and slender build ; but notwithstanding its seeming awkwardness, it -^ said to be a swift runner, and has to rely on this facul'ty as a means of defense or escape from its enemies. Its bones have been found in the sub-apennine Tertiary of Fpnce ; while all the later Tertiary strata, and especially all caverns, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, abso- lutely teem with the dissevered skeletons of nearly every member of the order now living. They formed then, as they do now, a common prey to predaceous animals; hence the abundance of their gnawed bones in nearly all caverns and strata of recent formation. Extinct genera are rare, though not wanting. Of these, the Sivoiherium is supposed to have been intermediate between ruminants and pachyderms. The head contained horns, and, some persons conjecture, a proboscis also, like that of the ele- phant. Remains of it have been found in the later Mio- cene of the Himalaya mountains in India. The Gapra 812 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. comprise the common domestic goat, the Ibex and the Chamois of the Swiss Alps and the mountainous regions of Savoj, Piedmont, and Germany, and the goats of An- gora and of Syria. The goat is found in nearly all climates, hot and cold ; is remarkably sure-footed in traversing mountain steeps and precipices ; generally yields nutri- cious and wholesome milk when herded and domesticated, and its skin is valuable for various purposes in manufac- tures and domestic economy. The sheep (ovis aries) comprise various species, but have been materially changed by domestication. Contrary, however, to all develop- ment hypotheses, they still continue to be sheep — having no more bones in their skeleton now than had the flocks of Abraham and Isaac. Great Britain is the principal Held of sheep husbandry in the world ; but certain States of our Union have lately been making very rapid advances, especially Texas. The western part of Pennsylvania, and the adjacent districts of Ohio and Virginia, have long been known for their extensive production of sheep, with special reference to the quality of the fleece. In England more attention has been given to the quality of the flesh than the wool ; hence John Bull is as famous for his mut- ton chops as for his roast beef. Speaking of roast beef, reminds us of the Bovidce, or Ox family. Little, however, need be said of them. The word oxen originally implied black cattle, of both sexes, and in this sense may be ap- plied to all the members of this extensive and valuable family. It comprises the domestic ox of Europe and America, the ox of Syria, the American Bison, the Buf- falo, the Indian Zebu, and the Musk ox of Hudson's Bay. The domestic ox formed a leading element of individual and national wealth in the most remote ages of antiquity — among the Jews tiieir skins sometimes formed a medium of exchange, in the absence of money. The wealth of the old patriarchs consisted altogether of cattle, even lands ANIMALS OF THE TERTIARY, 313 being held as of secondary value. Emasculation was for- bidden by the Mosaic law, in view of the valuable ser- vices of the ox as a beast of burden, and in the general agricultural system of those primitive days. The property possessed bycoAvs of affording milk long after their young are withdrawn, is a feature in physiology which is said to pertain to no other animals. And in view of their uni- versal adoption into the domestic economy of man, it sug- gests the inference of their creation expressly for his benefit. The domestic oxen have been much improved by cross-breeding, but w^hether their condition, as a whole, has been strengthened or elevated, is a question which admits of doubt. At any rate, it need not be considered here. The Syrian ox differs from that known to us by presenting a considerable rise or protuberance over the fore-shoulders. The Zebu of the East Indies is an animal not materially different from the other species. They are natives of Asia, but are also found scattered throughout Africa. The Musk ox has a large and powerful body supported on short legs, and is usually found in herds of thirty or forty in the cold regions of North America. The Buffalo, although a native of Africa, is very numer- ous in America, and, like the Bison, forms immense herds on our western prairies. It is estimated that fifty thou- sand of these animals have been met with in single herds in those vast regions stretching out west of the Missis- sippi. Their skins are valuable, as every one who has wrapped himself up in the folds of a buff'alo-robo, during the blasts of a pitiless Nor'easter, can gratefully attest. Specimens of the remains of the extinct genus Lcpfilhe- riLim have been found in the caverns and the upper Ter- tiary deposits of Brazil ; while those allied to living specimens are quite abundant all over Asia,, Africa, Eu- rope, and America. Indeed, during the latter stages of the Tertiary, these animals were almost, if not quite, as 314 THE SIXTPI DAY — GEOLOGICAL. numerous as they are now ; and roved over the country in immense herds, hke the Buffalo of the West. The order of Pachydermata is so named because all its species are distinguished from other animals by the thick- ness of their skins or hides. During the Tertiary period, it was the most wonderful class of animals, in every re- spect, which ever appeared on the earth. Although much of its ancient character is lost, it still furnishes some of the largest and most powerful animals now living, as also some of the noblest and most esteemed. It presents but three families, comprehending the horse, the rhinoceros, and the . elephant. The horse not only includes every known variety of that animal, of which there are manj^, remarkable either for their size, their strength, speed, docility, or other qualities ; but also includes the ass, wild and domestic, the mule, and the African Zebra. The degree of intelligence which this animal has attained during his familiar intercourse with man, is no less astonishing than gratifying. "When we see the thousands of wild horses of the plains, and reflect that the noble animal we bestride has been reclaimed from such a condi- tion, and elevated to a degree of intelligence under which his services are invaluable, it shows the subtle power and majesty of mind, and evinces the perfection of that do- minion over the beasts of the earth, with which man was endowed by his Creator. And the only progressive de- velopment which we could ever discover in nature, is that wrought upon the inferior animals by the influence of man ; and for this he has the full sanction and express authority of the common parent of all. And yet, in the face of such influence — in the face of all efforts, whether dictated by sordid gain, or that vaulting ambition which impels some men to usurp not only temporal and civil, but the highest laws of nature and morality, man has been unable to produce a genuine race of mongrels, having the THE HORSE, THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, THE ELEPHANT. 315 inherent powers of reproduction. It is true the mule may be regarded as a sort of hybrid between the horse and the ass, but both parents are alike members of the Equus family — they are themselves horses. Yet even the mule is obtained in violation of all the instincts of the mother ; and nature has affixed the stamp of barrenness upon the offspring, as if to condemn and to arrest further innovations upon creative order. Nature, however, seems to have sanctioned the production of this animal for a special purpose, since it is endowed with qualities possessed by neither of its progenitors. Such is its sure-footedness that it can ascend and descend mountain passes and declivities, where unaided man himself would hesitate to venture. In the Andes and the Alps, the mule does not descend by steps, but drawing its feet close together, and falling back on its haunches, it slides down the steepest^ mountain slopes, bearing her rider or freight in safety to the base. No other animal could do this, or could ever be induced to try it ; for it requires not only extraordinary agility and suppleness of the limbs, but a cool daring of instinct, which seems to be an innate peculiarity of the mule. But while mongrels, prodigies, and monsters may be produced, — if for no other end than to warn man against the enormity of the abuse, — nature, in no instance, permits their perpetuation. The natural vitality of the true species will either absorb them, or their own deformity entails the inability of reproduction. This fact, which is alike fatal to the idea of development or of degradation, will account for some of those apparent anomalies in the ancient zoology, which have puzzled modern anatomists. Nature produced monsters then, as she does now ; but they were always confined to single individuals. Fossil remains of the horse, the ass, and the zebra, have been found in the upper Tertiary veins, in all parts of the world ; but I believe they always indicate an 316 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOCHCAL. identity witli tlie existing species, and thus point to the fact, not without interest, that, notwithstanding all the local changes which the animal has undergone, the family, as a whole, remains precisely where nature originally placed it in the scale of created life. Belonging to the pachyderms proper, there is a large group both of extinct and living species. Among the latter, — to which some of the former were closely related, — are the hippopotamus, the wild boar, the hog, the peccary, the tapir, and the rhinoceros. The hippotamus is one of the most compact and powerful animals ever created, and is well described by Job, who, indeed, appears to have been a naturalist of the highest ability. " He moveth his tail like a cedar ; the sinews of his thighs are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass : his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God ; he who made him hath furnished him with his sword. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow ; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, should the river swell, he hasteneth not ; he is fearless should even the Jordan come up to his mouth. Who can take him openly, or draw a cord through his nose ?" The hippopotamus, as indicated by the sacred writer, is an amphibious animal, but not car- nivorous. It feeds exclusively on herbage, and such is the enormous capacity of its stomach, that it can hold six or seven bushels of half-chewed vegetable matter. A hippopotamus on exhibition in the Zoological Gardens of Regent's Park, London, has brought forth young on two or three occasions, and we observe, by a paragraph in the newspapers, that she invariably destroys them shortly after birth. Whether this is generally peculiar to the animal in its unrestrained condition is of course hardly THE RHINOCEROS, THE TAPIR, ETC. 31 1 probable ; if it be, then nature has undoubtedly made some provision for the escape and support of the young, or otherwise the species would long since have been extinct. Remains of this animal have been found in the Tertiary and alluvium of Europe, Asia, and North America. The rhinoceros, in its general appearance, is not much unlike the hippopotamus. The former is distinguished by a sharp horn issuing from its nose, with which it can gore and lacerate any animal bold enough to attack it, and by a long tail terminating in a switch. The other animal has quite a short and stumpy tail, and no nasal tusk. The hide of the rhinoceros is so hard that it often resists a rifle-ball, while the claws of the tiger and the lion make but little impression upon it, except in vulnerable spots. It is said to be fond of wallowing in muddy pools and flats in the vicinity of large rivers. Its present habitat is the East Indies, especially in the valley of the Ganges. That of the hippopotamus is principally in the south of Africa. The rhinoceros is believed to include ten or more species, of which at least four have been identified in the upper Tertiary of Europe. The tapir of South America represents a. genus of animals which appear to have been numerous at some places, during the upper Tertiary period. It presents some resemblance to the hog, the hippopotamus, and the elephant — though its present size hardly exceeds that of the animal first named. Its skin is remarkably hard and tough, and has but a thin coating of bristling hair. Its tail is stumpy, its legs short and thick, terminating in hoofed toes, and its upper jaw is furnished with a fleshy prolongation or incipient proboscis, similar to that of the elephant, b\it not one-fourth the comparative length. The animal is amiable in its habits, and is easily domesticated. Its flesh is eaten by the Indians of South America, and is said to be as palatable as that of most Qtb'^r herbivorous animals. The genus Laphiodon of the 318 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. Miocene, of which twelve species have been found, and the Paleotherium of the Eocene, were both very similar to the existing tapir. The size of the ancient animals, however, varied considerably — some having been scarcely larger than a hare, while others attained the ordinary proportions of a horse. Other varieties of the extinct tapir combined the structural peculiarities of the horse, the hog, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the camel. There were five or six extinct genera, each of which was distinguished by some peculiarity of structure, which it is not necessary here to describe. The wild Boar, which belongs to the Pachyderm order, is generally con- sidered to be the parent of the domestic swine. From the fact that his upper snout is furnished with tusks, we think this proposition rather questionable. The domestic swine are, no doubt, derived from progenitors originally wild and ferocious ; but, they were very probably a differ- ent genus from the tusked animal now existing. The Mexican peccary is very similar to swine, but instead of two, one of its species (the Bahiroussa) has four tusks ; and yet there is no instance of a hybrid race among them. The peccary is gregarious, exceedingly ferocious, and lives principally on roots and vegetables. The remains of animals allied to the existing genera of swine have been found, but somewhat meagrely, in the upper strata of the Tertiary. The domestic variety is recent, and was no doubt created for the office of scavenger, for which his habits and instincts incomparably qualify him. If, indeed, he is not remarkable for the fastidiousness of his appetite and general deportment, it may be said to his palliation that man, with a great deal more pretention, is scarcely more so ; since he does not hesitate t«. devour the very animals whose valuable services as a common scavenger THE PECCARY, THE HOG, THE ELEPHANT. 319 he affects to despise ! Tempus edax rerum, and so does man The family of Elephants forms tlie remaining group of tlie order of Pachydermata. The living species are found in Africa and Asia, but the size of those of the latter is considerably greater than the former. They seldom ex- i^eed ten feet in height, or four thousand pounds in weight. They are regarded as an unusually intelligent animal, but it is doubtful whether they are capable of higher mental culture than dogs or horses. They have been extensively employed in wars, in caravans, and in the pompous pageants and processions of the East, and have thus had the full benefit of a long and close intercourse with man, by which means the intelligence of the species has been developed. The proboscis of the elephant is prehensile, and is made up of no less than forty thousand aggregated muscles, curiously interlaced. It possesses amazing strength and flexibility, and with the enormous ivory tusks, forms a leading feature in the appearance and struc- ture of the animal. During the Tertiary period, the family of Elephants included several varieties now ex- tinct. Among these were the Mastodons, of which there were several genera. They were considerably longer and somewhat higher than the living elephants, and ap- pear to have been very numerous all over the world. Their bones have been exhumed in great abundance in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, and in the States of New York and Virginia. The ivory obtained from the tusks of extinct elephants has, from the most re- mote ages, formed no inconsiderable item of commercci and manufactures. Each tusk usually attains a length of eight feet ; and the supplies of the world, for the last cen- tury, have been principally derived from Russia, where the antiseptic qualities of the frigid climate have no doubt tended to their preservation. Tusks from the living 21 320 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL species still constitute a principal trade among the na- tives of Africa. The Edentata is an order which presents a transition from those previously described, in the form of the hoof, which is in them superseded by claws or toes armed with nails for scratching and digging. There are three or four families — two of which are represented by the living ant- eaters and the armadillos ; the others, long since extinct, by the gigantic Megatherium. The Sloths, which in- clude two genera not materially different, were for a long time a great puzzle to zoologists, who could not reconcile the structure of their limbs with the usual ambulatory movements of such nnimals. It was finally ascertained, however, that in tlioir native forests, they were in the habit of traveling from tree to tree by means of the con- necting limbs, and, the better to facilitate their move- ments, always selected windy days, when the branches would be brought in closer connection ; but unlike squir- rels, they traveled with their bodies suspended under the limbs, and their feet upward, like flies adhering to a ceil- ing. It was ascertained that they also slept in this novel position, and, in short, reversed the usual order of nature in all their movements. The animal called the Ant-eater is generally about four feet long, exclusive of tail, and is provided with a bird-like snout, serving as a sheath for a long pointed tongue, which it thrusts into an ant-hill, and withdraws coated with the living prey. It is found with the Sloth in Africa, but its chief country is South America. There are three extinct genera of this family, all of which are found in the pampas and caverns of South America, with the remains of those of existing genera. The second family comprehends the manis and the armadillos — all of which are inclosed in scaly coats- of-mail. The manis is also an ant-eater, but unlike the others (which are clothed with hair), it has a long lizard-like body, pointed snout. THE SLOTH, THE MEGATHERIUM, ETC. 321 and short legs with long pointed claws. Its length is usually about eight feet, of which the tail comprises one- half. True to its serpentine instincts, it rolls itself up on the approach of danger, and, by means of its hard osseous scales, intimidates the boldest denizens of the wilderness. This is also peculiar to the armadillos, whose horny cov- ering is arranged into flexible sections for that purpose. They are all burrowers, feeding upon roots and vege- tables, and fly to their holes on the apprehension of dan- ger. The armadillos, unlike the manis, have the general form of swine, though in one variety the body and tail are considerably elongated. The extinct genera of this family were very numerous during the Tertiary, and one of them, the Glyptodon, attained extraordinary dimen- sions, and had some resemblance to the Megatherium. This animal was nearly as large as an elephant, and its skull was similar to that of the Sloth. Its mouth pos- sessed gigantic power, and, like the other monsters which distinguished the Tertiary, was well adapted for crushing the roots upon which it fed. Its feet were large and armed with tremendous claws, and the " entire frame was an apparatus of colossal mechanism, adapted exactly to the work it had to do ; strong and ponderous in propor- tion as this work was heavy, and calculated to be the vehicle of life and enjoyment to a gigantic race of quadru- peds,, which, though they have ceased to be counted among the living inhabitants of our planet, have, in their fossil bones, left behind them imperishable monuments of the consummate skill with which they were constructed. Each limb and fragment of a limb formed co-ordinate parts of a well-adjusted whole ; and, through all their deviations from the form and proportion of the limbs of other quad- rupeds, affording fresh proofs of the infinitely varied and inexhaustible contrivances of creative wisdom."* One * Dr. Buckland, Bridgewater Treatise, p. 164. 322 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. of the most extraordinary animals of the Edentata order is the hedge-hog, of which several varieties are found in Australia. Like all the other ant-eaters, it has a long slender beak, with a prehensile tongue ; short feet equipped with jclaws, and a body shaped like that of the domestic pig ; but instead of scales or hair, it is covered with a substance resembling feathers, which serve to turn the rain like those of fowls. Another variety of the animal has the bill of the duck, and is called the Ornithorhynchus in consequence. This, however, is coated with hair. They all burrow in the ground, and swim and dive in the shallow rivers for food, precisely like ducks, for which purpose they also have webbed feet. The common Euro- pean hedgehog Las also a long pointed snout, but its food consists mainly of insects, worms, and fruits. Its armor is something like that of the porcupine, and, rolling itself into a round ball, its bristling points keep its nu- merous enemies at bay. It is a harmless and inoffensive animal, and though in many respects resembling the ant- eaters, it belongs to another order of animals. The order of Rodentia, which is the fifth in the Mam- malian series, comprises all animals distinguished for their gnawing propensities, and of which squirrels, mice, and rats are familiar and somewhat obtrusive examples. The squirrels embrace many genera, distinguished principally by color or some other minor features — as the red, the gray, the black, the ground, the flying, and the long-tailed varieties. The rats also comprise many different groups, as those popularl}^ known as the house, the field, the ship, the water, and the musk rats. The mouse is equally varied in type, and even more numerous. Besides these, the marmot, the beaver, the porcupine, the hare, the rab- bit, the guinea pig, the cavy and the chinchilla of South America, all belong to the gnawing fraternity. The dental apparatus of these animals is well calculated to subserve RATS, SQUIRRELS, BEAVERS, HARES, ETC. 323 their natural proclivities and habits — the teeth growing as rapidly as they are worn down, and being formed in such a way that they answer the same purpose as a file and chisel. The beavers are thus able to cut and rasp down considerable trees, while the rats and mice gnaw their way to the secret recesses of spoils and plunder. All these animals, but more especially the rats and mice, have an uncomprojnising enemy in man, as well as in the feline and canine races ; yet such is their wonderful pro- lificacy, that they still maintain their ground, and this, too, in the face of their own intestine wars and cannibal appetites. Like the persecuted Jew, they are found all over the earth, on the sea and on the land ; in the pal- aces of the rich and the lowly hovels of the poor ; in the well-filled granaries of the farmer and in the filthy sewers and subterranean recesses of the city. Essentially cos- mopolitan, like the descendants of poor Cain, they are " fugitives and vagabonds" wherever they may go, and have no friends on whom they can rely in the hour of peril, even among their own species or around their own domestic hearth. In China, indeed, their social position is somewhat superior to that occupied in republican America or under the constitutional monarchy of Eng- land ; yet, even there, they are only recognized at the festive board, where they are invariably involved in the stews and broils of the bill of fare ! The fur of the squirrel, and of some of the rats, the bea- ver, and the hare, was formerly of some value, but they have all depreciated of late years with the progress of textile manufactures. Nearly all these creatures abound in America, and it would be useless to occupy space with a description. The fossil genera in the Tertiary are nu- merous, embracing no less than five or six difi'erent types, while the remains of those still living are widely diffused in caverns and the modern alluvial deposits. 324 THE SIXTH DAY — (JEOLOGICAL. The Cheiroptera embrace the different genera of bats, of which there are four or five, among them the ternate or vampire of the East Indies. The bat has its claws or fingers elongated to stretch out a thin membrane, like a fan, by means of which it flies. It is covered with a deli- cate fur, like the mouse, and ventures forth at night, gen- erally preferring for its nocturnal haunts old, dilapidated, and abandoned buildings. The vampire of India is a blood-sucker, and is so insidious in its attacks upon per- sons asleep, that instances have occurred of their bleeding to death in bed. The wound is generally inflicted on the foot, add it is so small that it hardly exceeds the puncture of a pin ; yet from this the animal will suck enormous quantities of blood, which will continue to flow long after it has gorged itself to repletion. All the fossil species of this order are identical with those now living, and they are found in nearly all the later strata of the Tertiary, and the caverns of the modern era. Their fossils are mainly confined to Europe and South America, where the living species still flourish extensively. The order of Amphibia is made up of seals, embracing the marine and river seal, the sea-bear, the sea-lion, and the sea-horse or walrus. Their extremities are so modi- fied that they all swim with ease and dexterity. Their principal habitat is in the cold latitudes of the North — especially Greenland, ISTova Zembla, and Hudson's Bay. The common seal is a long animal, gradually tapering from the middle to the head and tail, and provided with two legs, which answer the purpose of paddles in swim- ming. In some genera the head is thick and massive, and in others tapering from the neck, like that of the leopard. The sea-lion has its legs in front, with an enormous breast and neck ; the sea-horse or walrus has a much larger body, and, in addition, is supplied with two V)ng and sharp tusk?, whicli lie uses in climbing and in THE LION, THE TIGER, THE PANTHER, ETC. 325 grappling sea-weeds. The sea-horse may be seen in large numbers sitting on floating ice or along the margins of northern seas, keeping up a low bellowing. The sea- lion is not materially different in its habits, but, contrary to the general impression, they are said to be courageous and determined, and not readily repulsed if attacked. The old animals roar tremendously, while the younger ones and the calves bellow like sheep. Fossil specimens of this order have been found in Miocene beds of England and France. The eighth order is composed of the Carnivora proper, and comprehends the great bulk of mammalian animals. The felis, or cat group, embraces lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, leopards, pumas, lynxes, and the wild and do- mestic cat. The dogs, or canines, include the mastiff, the bull-dog, the gray-hound, the blood-hound, the terrier, the Newfoundland, the Mackenzie river, the Esquimaux, and the St. Bernard dogs ; besides the wolf, the fox, and the jackall. The ursus, or bear type, include all the va- rieties of that animal, as well as the raccoon, the badger, and the ratel. The civet, the ichneumon, the weasel, the ferret, the pole-cat, the sable, the otter, etc., comprise other and independent varieties. From his powerful build, his extraordinary agility, and his unflinching courage, zoologists have assigned the lion the first rank in the brute creation. Some travelers, how- ever, who have seen the lion and the tiger in their native jungles, assign greater courage and equal strength and agility to the latter ; and it is questionable whether the high position usually awarded the former, might not be successfully contested. The lion seldom weighs over five hundred pounds, is from four to six feet high in front, nn-l seven to nine in length. His jaws, which are enormous, operate like the cutting edges of shears — the lower jaw moving in an upward and downward direction, but not in 326 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. a lateral or horizontal one. In this, as in many other re- spects, all the felines are readily distinguished from the ruminants, who grind their cuds by a sort of circular pro- cess. The padded paws of the felines, added to their muscular development, also give them an exceedingly soft and graceful movement, while the whole carriage of the lion is lofty in the highest degree. The African lion is by far the largest and the most spirited, and holds un- disputed sway over all the feline species, if not over all the brutes of the earth. The lioness is usually smaller than the male, is destitute of his flowing main, and some- what different in structure. She produces two or more at a birth, and watches her young with much care and jealous solicitude, in which her lord heartily co-operates. The tiger, although his general appearance is different, resembles the lion in many particulars of his structure, in size, habits, and inherent propensities. His coat is yellow, but regularly banded with stripes of black, which extend over the head, legs, and tail. His height varies from three to four feet, and his length from six to nine. He is more slender than the lion, and less bold ; but has all the gracefulness of a kitten. The tigress is also a careful mother, and will encounter any danger in behalf of her young. The tiger is found around the deserts of Asia, and in the East Indian Islands, but his chief habitat in modern times is Hindostan and China. The Royal Bengal tiger is the model of his species, and one cf the most magnificent animals in the world. Singapore, an island twenty-five miles long, in the eastern archipelago, means the place of lions ; but for a long time the term has been inappropriate, since the lions have been extinguished, and their place supplied by tigers. This would support the inference already suggested, that the tiger is probably the strongest and most terrible in combat of the two. The tigers live in the tall grass and jungles of the island, THE LEOPARD, THE JAGUAR, THE CHETAH, etC. 32T but a large number swim over fr||m the peninsula, from which it is separated about a mile. Here they watch the movements of the Malay and Chinese laborers, as they go to the fields to work, and suddenly springing upon them, a single blow on the back of the neck, w^hich they break, lays them dead upon the ground. It is stated, on high authority, that from three to four hundred persons are killed annually in Singapore by these ferocious monsters. Though large rewards are offered by the government for their destruction, besides which the skin is worth fifty dollars, but little progress has been made in their exter- mination. The leopard, it is generally thought, is of the same genera as the jaguar and the panther — there being, in fact, but little difl'erence except in the spots of the skin. They are natives of Africa, but are found in equal abundance in India. In size they are inferior to the tiger, the panther, or the jaguar. The leopard has a white and yellow skin, dotted with irregular dark spots ; the jaguar's is similar, but the spots are much larger, while that of the panther is a dark yellow, with compound or rosette spots — that is, dark rings with black dots in the interior. The panther is found generally throughout Asia and Africa, and certain genera exist in America. The jaguar, how- ever, is known only in South America, and abounds principally in Brazil and Paraguay. Xearly all the animals thus far mentioned, except the lion and tiger, are expert climbers, and often pursue their prey to the tops of trees. Humboldt, in his Aspects of Nature, says the yell of the jaguar may be heard in the forests of Brazil, mingled with the shrill long screeches of the monkeys, as they leap in terror from tree to tree. Horses, cattle, sheep, monkeys, fish, turtles, snakes, birds — all these are the in- discriminate and varied victims of the animal. The chetah of India, is a leopard which approaches some of the qualities of the cat, though it is greatly larger. It 828 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. has been trained for J.iunting the wild antelope, but has not been thoroughly tamed or domesticated. The puma is a native of North and South America, and has some- times been called the American lion; but, as compared with the African congener, he reflects little credit upon his native heath. In South America he is hunted with dogs, and then lassoed ; or if the dogs pursue him to his refuge in the branches of a tree, he is dispatched with a rifle-ball. He is a thin gaunt animal, of a dirty yellowish color, but has the powerful limbs and paws of the lion and tiger. The ounce is a rare animal, one or two specimens of which have been obtained in India, but whether it exists to any extent in other parts of Asia or of Africa, has not been ascertained. It is supposed to form a distinct species of the feline group. It is spotted like the leopard, but its hair, is long and somewhat shaggy. The ocelot is another native of South America, and has a skin remarkable for its brilliance and beauty. The prevailing yellow of the leopard, in this animal, is tinged with a tawny hue, and covered with long reddish-black spots, which extend to all its limbs. Like all the others, it is an expert climber, and lies concealed among the foliage of trees, ready to pounce upon monkeys, or other animals of inferior strength. It is difficult to tame, and has the repu- tation of being the most restless and ferocious of the feline race, though it will avoid dogs until hard pressed. The lynx is celebrated for its clear and extended vision, and for its wide geographical distribution. It was, and is still found in nearly all parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, but with ever-varying local characteris- tics, especially in the quality of its fur — all of which may be attributed to the effects of climate, and to other physical circumstances. The skins of the lynx comprise a leading item in the fur trade of Russia, America, and the British provinces. It used to be very numerous THE OUNCE, THE CAT, THE LYNX, ETC. 329 around our northern lakes ; and the Hudson's Bay- company, not many years ago, obtained from six to nine thousand skins annually. But the lynx has now nearly disappeared in that quarter, and the fur trade has dwindled to a mere cipher, compared with what it was fifty years ago. The ancient haunts of the wild beast, and the no less savage Indian, are now becoming the abodes of civilized man ; and the beautiful transparent lakes which separate our states from the British possessions, are fur- rowed by the steam and the sailing vessel, instead of the frail fur-laden barges of the red man, seeking the far- off stations of the traders. The fur of the lynx is long, soft, and silky, and presents a delicate brownish gray aspect. It was always held in high repute in the market, but varied in value from three to thirty dollars each. The animal, in its natural condition, is as playful as the lamb; nevertheless it feasts upon the weaker animals, and from its position among the branches of trees, often pounces upon deer and sheep, whose blood affords a rare delicacy. The wild cat is supposed by some naturalists to be iden- tical with the domestic animal ; but this has been denied. The structure, it is true, presents no perceptible difference ; but the color of the wild cat is generally steadfast with the local species, while that of the domestic animal is constantly varying, even with the same brood. Besides, the wild cat is thought to be irreclaimably ferocious; and there is no known instance of its having been tamed and domesticated. The wild animal sometimes attains an enor- mous size — the domestic animal varies but little. There is a peculiarity in the formation of the eye of the cat, and to some extent in all the feline family, by which they are enabled to see to better advantage at night than during the day — Whence their predaceous instincts are strictly noc- turnal. Although cats are not named in the Bible, they were domesticated among the Egyptians, and mummies 330 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. of them have been found in Thebes, and sculptured figures on the monuments of the Pharaohs. The Canine family includes our good friend Ponto, whose wonderful sagacity is referred to by Mr. Alfred Jingle, in the Pickwick Papers. If there is one feature more prominent than another to distinguish him from other animals, it is his extraordinary friendship, fidelity, and devotion to man. No matter who or what you are, or where you go, your faithful dog, like the devoted spouse of Wilkins Micawber, "will never desert you." The lonely hermit in the wilderness ; the traveler by the wayside ; the miser counting his greasy gold ; the shop- keeper amid his wares ; the children romping on the hills, or the family mansion sheltering its sleeping inmates — all are jealously guarded by this faithful watchman, quick to give the alarm, and often bold to pursue and seize the stealthy invader. The dog is the only real and disinter- ested friend which man can rely upon through all the changing phases of worldly fortune. He is the first to welcome you home, and the last and most reluctant in his conge. He shares with you all the excitements of the hunt ; points out the fluttering game, runs down the bounding deer, pursues the fox to his hole, and the climber to his tree ; and, at the risk of his own life, will attack the bear, the tiger, or the lion, to save yours I Of the differ- ent species, it may be remarked in brief that the Mastiff is, par excellence, the house-dog. He is large and stately, with immense ears, a long tail, and possesses unusual in- telligence, and a demeanor dignified, quiet, and unobtru- sive. The Bull-dog has a short stumpy tail, a thick head, or snub nose, short ears, and a surly demeanor. His courage, however, is wonderful, and he will give battle with his last expiring breath. An old law of England once required that no bull should be slaughtered until he had first been baited. This act was passed by Parliament THE DOG. 331 expresisj to encourage the amusement of bull-baiting ; and it was owing to the universality of this barbarous sport that the peculiar character of the bull-dog was de- veloped. In seizing cattle, the bull-dog generally attacks the lip, the tongue, the eye, or some other vulnerable part of the face, where he often hangs until released by the complete mutilation or dismemberment of the organ. This dog, unlike most of the species, attacks his enemy without barking ; and, when occasion seems to justify it, he will not hesitate to attack a man. Although bull- baiting has long since lost its ancient respectability in England, the stamina of the ox and the fierce expression of the dog have been daguerreotyped on the national character, if not sometimes upon individual feature 1 The sobriquet of John Bull is consequently not only signifi- cant, but it is 6?opf-matically appropriate. Of hounds, there are three rather distinct characters — the blood, the gray, and the fox hounds. The blood-hound is the largest, and has considerable resemblance to the mastiff. His ears and tail are long, his forehead broad, nostrils wide and long, and face narrow. He is distinguished for the accu- racy and perfection of his scent, in consequence of which he has often been employed in war to hunt down the enemy, especially negroes, and midnight robbers. He has been termed the policeman of the canine family ; but his fondness for blood often renders him also an execu- tioner. He is even now employed in portions of the South, and very extensively in Cuba. The gray-hound is an exceedingly light and fragile animal, and is the swift- est dog of the chase. Its powers of scent are very infe- rior, however, and it is only valuable for its extraordinary speed in pursuit of game. The fox-hound is more remark- able for its powers of endurance in the chase than for swiftness or accuracy of scent. In form it is not materi- ally different from the blood-hound, except that it la 332 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLO(iICAL. generally lighter and smaller. The terrier has some re semblance to the bull-dog, with which he has often been crossed ; but its instincts are more particularly directed against rats. Another species, however, is a good field- hunter, and likes the pursuit of larger game, as the fox, the squirrel, and the opossum. The Lurcher may justly be termed the natural thief of the race. He has a sneak- ing look, and a shaggy, ill-conditioned coat — in his perso- nal appearance rather a Jacques Strops than a seedy Robert Macaire. He has a fine scent, which serves at night the same purpose as the dark lantern of the burglar. He pounces upon his victims without any premonitory barks or growls, and sneaks away as stealthily as he came. His robberies became so notorious in England, in connec- tion with professional poachers, that the breed was finally proscribed by law, and has lately been nearly extinguished. Specimens of more or less purity, however, may be found in the United States, and in almost every village or way- side cottage. The common cur unfortunately has but too large an infusion of his thieving propensities, with the additional one of barking furiously at every passing object. This latter quality w^as never borrowed — it is inherent in the very nature of the cur — of all curs, whether canine or human. We now turn to three varieties of the dog, whose noble bearing, fine proportions, industrious habits, general intelligence, and benevolence of character, it is pleasing to contemplate. These are all inhabitants of cold, dreary, and inhospitable climes, as if adversity subdued the baser instincts, and nourished onl}^ the nobler and more generous impulses of the canine race ! The Esquimaux dog has the ears of a fox, with the head of a wolf. His tail is large and bushy, and curls into two coils over his back. His body is protected from the cold blasts and snows of his native region by long and fine hair. To the natives he is perfectly indispensable — in THE BULL-DOG, THE TERRIER, THE LURCHER, ETC. 333 fact, without liis services they could-not long survive. Harnessed in teams to sledges, they travel at the rate of sixty miles per day over snow and ice. The teams are preceded by a leader, who follows the instructions of the driver. Furnished with a keen scent, they will pursue their way through the most tremendous storms of snow, and endure the most intense privations and fatigues. Besides transporting burdens on sledges, these dogs are skillful hunters, and invariably assist the Esquimaux in capturing the seal, the reindeer, and the bear. They have not the docility of our domestic dog, because their masters are themselves deficient in the elements essential to im- part it ; but they are in all respects intelligent, u.sefu], and reliable ; and, in the position which discerning Nature has assigned them, are infinitely more valuable, in a compara- tive sense, than the horse is to us. The Newfoundland dog is often six feet in length, from his nose to the tip of the tail, which latter is seldom over two feet. His weight and general proportions correspond, from which it will be seen that he is the giant of the canine family. He is a splendid-looking animal, and combines with unsurpassed strength the gentleness of a lamb. If the blood-hound is the policeman, the lurcher the thief, the bull-dog the butcher, the Esquimaux dog the traveler, the mastiff the watchman, and the gray-hound the sportsman, then we can recognize in the Newfoundland dog the old-fashioned country gentleman. Compared with the others, his de- portment is dignified and courtly ; but unlike his modern congeners of the human family — (the conventional gentle- men whose exquisite polish, like the daguerreotype, always reveals the parvenue) — he is eminently practical, and devotes the faculties with which nature has endowed him to the use and benefit of man. In the snowy regions of Newfoundland he is an important auxiliary to the woodman, and, harnessed in sledges, draws the wood from 334 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. the forest to the landing without the aid of a superintend- ing driver. He also carries messages and packages ; and being an excellent swimmer and diver, for which he is provided with webbed feet, his services are often equally eflBcient in the water as on land; and he has rescued many an individual from a watery grave. Unlike other dogs, his aquatic habits extend so far that he can make a meal of fish, whether cooked or raw. Bjn'on had a Newfound- land dog, called Boatswain, to which he was greatly at- tached, and upon the death of the faithful animal, he erected a little monument to his memory at Newstead Abbey. The following epitaph was perhaps only a grate- ful tribute to the real merits of the poor animal : " When some proud son of man returns to earth, Unknown to glory but upheld by birth, The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of vroe, And storied urns record who rests below ; When all is done, upon the tomb is seen, Not what he was, but what he should have been ; But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend, The first to welcome, the foremost to defend, Whose honest heart is still his master's own. Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone, Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth. Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth : While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven. And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven. Oh, man! thou feeble tenant of an hour, Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power, Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust, Degraded mass of animated dust ! Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat, Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit ! By nature vile, ennobled but by name, Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shamo. Ye ! who perchance behold this simple urn, Pass on — it honors none you wish to mourn : To mark a friend's remains these stones arise ; I never knew but one — and here he lies." ESQUIMAUX AND NEWFOUNDLAND DOGS. 335 Near one of the most savage passes of the Alps, on the great Mount St. Beraard, is located the convent of that name, inhabited bv a society of monks who devote their lives to the entertainment and rescue of travelers who may be overtaken by snow storms or avalanches of frozen sleet, ice, and earth. Such are the dangers of this fright- ful mountain gulf, that many travelers are constantly and unavoidably lost, being suddenly overtaken and buried in snow-drifts, or killed by the descending avalanches, which sometimes carry large masses of rock, earth, and trees with them over the frowning precipices. The good monks have reared a race of dogs to assist them in their benevo- lent and angelic labors : and such is the degree of intelli- gence and efficiency which they have acquired, that they have been the instruments of rescuing numbers of unfor- tunate travelers, and conducting them safely to the cheer-s ful hearth of the convent. Every dog is furnished with a bottle of spirits suspended around his neck, or a cloak or blanket, intended for the benefit of the exhausted way- farer. The scent of the dogs is so keen that they can readily trace a man in the snow, although he may be buried many feet beneath the surface. When an unfor- tunate is thus found, the dogs raise a vociferous barking, which is the signal for the monks to come to their aid. In many instances bodies are found after life is extinct, when they are conveyed to the convent and preserved for the future identification of their friends or relations. On one occasion, a mother was crossing the mountain with her son, a lad of some seven or eight years. An ava- lanche overtook her, and buried her in the snow. When the dogs arrived, she had already perished ; but the boy had sufficient strength and intelligence to mount the back of one of the animals, and was thus borne in safety to the convent. This dog for some years after, carried a medal commemorating the event, but finally perished himself 22 3^ a?HiE SIXTH DAY — QEOLOQICAX. while engaged in his benevolent work. Such incidents as these raise the animal above the level of his species, and challenge our highest admiration and gratitude. The St. Bernard dog is a large and fine-looking animal, with long hair, and a bushy curling tail. His fafce expresses intelli- gence and docility in the highest degree. There are several other varieties of the dog, as the spaniels, the mongrels, the poodles, etc. ; but, after contemplating the character of the St. Bernard, it would be a degrading re- flection on that noble animal to speak of any others, and especially such as we have indicated. While there is an extraordinary variety in the size, color, habits, and in- stincts of the race, it is a no less singular fact that their physiological and osseous structure is invariably the same. The little lap-dog, with his red ribbon and bell, and his passe nurse and mistress, has exactly the same number of bones as the giant of Newfoundland. The conformation of all is the same ; the deviations are merely local, to meet the requirements of the position to which the Creator has consigned them. The Canine group, however, is not confined to dogs. It also includes the wolf, the fox, and the hyena. The wolf has a keen scent, and, like the rest of the canine race, is a good hunter. The deer of the forest, and the sheep and oxen of the field, often fall a prey to his vora- cious jaws. Under circumstances of intense hunger, he has not hesitated to attack man ; but the instances of this are few, A species of wolf is still very numerous and predaceous in the plains of the South and West, and they are very unpleasant neighbors to the frontier settlers and the "squatter sovereigns." In some instances, the cabins of the planters are surrounded by deep trenches, covered with oscillating platforms, well supplied with bait. The "Solves, as they gather upon this platform, are precipitated into the pit by their own weight, and before morning, like THE ST. BERNARD AND OTHER DOaS. 33T the Kilkenny cats, it is found that they have generally dispatched each other by their own fraternal quarrels The wolf of New South Wales neither barks nor growls, but erects the hair of its skin, when surprised, like the quills of the "fretful porcupine." Its prevailing color is brown, interspersed with black stripes from the fore shoulders to the tail. The fox embraces many varieties, but the principal genera are the red fox of Europe and America, the white Arctic fox, and the jackal of Asia and Africa. The habits and cunning of this animal are well known. Although an unpleasant neighbor to the farmer, he has afforded more amusement in the chase than any other animal whatever. In England, indeed, his species would long since have been extinct, had not the sporting gentry given liberal bribes to the farmers for their tolera- tion. He is a great burrower ; and after making a noc- turnal visit to the poultry roost, he distributes his spoil in his several subterranean mansions. The fox has a thick fur, a long sweeping tail, and a cat-like face. He spends his days in sleep, and his nights in depredations — hares, rabbits, squirrels, poultry, and birds are his ordi- nary food ; but sometimes he ventures upon lambs, and, if hard-pressed, will descend to shell-fish and crustaceans. He is a crafty villain, and has little in his character to deserve sympathy and commiseration, or to shield him from the desperate fury of the hounds. The Arctic fox, like the Pola,r bear, changes his coat from an ash color to that of a white on the approach of the severe winters of his native region, and the hairs then become very soft, woolly, and long. In his character, he is not materially different from the red variety already noticed. He is found only in the colder latitudes of Eu- rope, Asia, and North America. Jackals inhabit Asia and Africa, and usually travel in large packs, when they sometimes venture to attack their superiors in strength. 338 THE SIXTH BAY — GEOLOGICAL. The habits and appearance of these animals are very simi- lar — they are all burrowers, all great sleepers during the day, and prowling depredators at night. The hyena has two leading genera — the striped animal of Africa and portions of Asia, and the spotted one of the Cape of Good Hope. They are distinguished for their savage strength, their rapacious appetites, their long rough hair, and their general ungainly and ferocious appearance. They live mostly in caverns, and those of the Tertiary period are literally strewn with the bones of the animals upon which they feasted. The family of bears includes several genera of that animal, besides those of raccoons and badgers. Their teeth are similar in number and arrangement to those of the dog, and although the bear is carnivorous to some ex- tent, it seems to prefer vegetable food, especially fruit and tender herbs. They reside during the winter in caves and mountainous recesses, where they rear their young. It is an unoffending animal until molested, or when acting in defense of her young, for which the mother has an ex- traordinary affection, and will lay down her life in their behalf It can climb trees with facility, and is equally at home in the water — the white or polar being, in fact, amphibious. The brown or black bear has a long-haired skin, and thick muscular legs, with padded feet and sharp projecting claws. Its walk is very soft and stealthy, and it betrays no inconsiderable cunning in its midnight prowls — often approaching the cabins of woodmen in the forest, and helping itself to whatever spoil may be left exposed. A touching incident is related in Lord Mulgrave's Yoyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Pas- sage. A female bear and her cubs were approaching the ship, when the sailors fired, killing the cubs and wound- ing the mother. Regardless of her own sufferings and danger she scorned to withdraw and leave her young BEARS, RACCOONS, AND THE EAGLE. 333 behind. She would not understand that they were dead ; she placed food before them, and by every endearing mo- tion endeavored to raise them up with her paw^s ; she withdrew and looked back, as if expecting them to fol- low ; but perceiving that they lay motionless, she re- turned, and with inexpressible fondness walked around them, pawing them, licking their wounds, and moaning the while. At last, as if receiving the unwilling convic- tion that they were dead indeed, she turned toward the ship, and uttered a fierce and bitter growl against the murderers, to which they replied by another volley of shot that laid her beside her young.* Bear-baiting was one of the classical amusements of our English ancestors, two or three centuries ago. It has been rarely tolerated in modern times ; but bear-dancing is not an unusual feature in the entertainments of the ring, garnished with the grotesque movements and the stereo- typed sallies of Mr. Merryman. The Polar or white bear differs from the ordinary species, mainly in color, and in having his feet clothed with hair, for the double purpo.- e of giving him warmth and of enabling him to maintain his footing on the smooth ice and sleet of his native glaciers. The smaller animals of the land and the sea are his ordinary food; but being an excellent swimmer and diver, he is a successful adventurer in seals and large fish. The former he approaches by a series of adroit dives, and v/hen he gets sufficiently near, a single bound and hug serves to secure the victim, whether it be leisurely repos- ing on an iceberg, or floundering in the water. The raccoon is very abundant in the United States, and some of the genera, which consist of four or five, are no doubt natives either of North or South America. The common animal has a soft tread, a thin tapering snout, ♦ Scripture iyatural Historj. 340 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. broad head, white face, and a long switching tail, having rings of black. Its general color is brownish grey Its upper lip, a la genus homo, is furnished with a thick black mustache. The raccoon is a great sleeper during the day, and rolls itself into a ball to avoid the glare of the sun, which appears to be inimical to its delicate vision. It is extremely cunning, and very tenacious of life — as much so, perhaps, as the opossum. Some twenty years ago, during the excitement of politics, the 'coon accidently became the recognized and victorious ensign of the whig party. And to politicians generally, its character is not without emblematic significance. During the brief and temporary predominance of the "Know-nothings," it was generally thought that the party of Clay and Webster was dead; but the truth is, (as I think indications now dis- closing themselves sufiiciently demonstrate,) the old ^coon was merely asleep, and he yet lives to be borne in triumph in the conservative processions of the people And why not ? His character is certainly as fair as that of the predaceous vulture emblazoned on our national escutcheon, — a bird distinguished for little else than its prowling and tyrannical habits. Dr. Franklin regretted that he (the bald eagle) " had been chosen as the representa- tive of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labors of the fishing hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. With all this injustice, he is never in good condition, and like those among men who live by sharp- ing and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward ; the little king-bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly, and drives THE RACCOON, THE RATEL, ETC. 341 him out of the district. He is therefore," says the Doctor, " not a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America, who have driven all the king-birds from our country !" We have said that the 'coon is cunning ; and it is of a sort that may be denominated Yankee cunning. For example : being an amateur in crustaceans, he is in the habit of suspending his tail, in a very insinuating manner, over the haunts of crabs and lobsters, who, naturally mistaking it for a delectable morsel, clutch it, whereupon they are suddenly jerked out of the water by the astute fisherman, and a sumptuous repast is dcrivo' from their tender joints ! There are two varieties of tli ; raccoon in South America, known as the coati-mondi. In color they are brown and red, and are nearly as large as the fox. They often do much mischief to the planta- tions, but their food mainly consists of insects and reptiles. They are also expert climbers, and like the squirrel, descend trees head foremost. The suricate is also a native of South America, and is easily domestiicated, as are, in fact, nearly all the animals belonging to this group. The badger combines in his nature some of the features of the hog, the bear, and the genet. It is a burrower, and possesses unusual strength in its fore legs, the feet ter- minating with sharp claws. It emits a strong and un- pleasant odor, resulting from a secretion in its extremities. Its food consists principally of fruits, insects, frogs, eggs, and those birds whicli build on the ground or on low im.shes. Their burrows are usually lined with straw and other vegetable material to render them warm and comfortable; and though emitting a disagreeable smell, thoy are yet extremely tidy in their subterraneous abodes. They are widely disseminated in Europe, Asia, and North America. The glutton is an animal intermediate between the badger and the coati-mondi ; but as yet, little is known of it. It is a native of South America, and in captivity 342 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. evinces a playful and sportive disposition. The ratel is found in Africa and India, especially in the department of Bengal. Like the fox and the raccoon, it spends the day in sleep, and prowls upon birds, rats, and other animals at night. It is a skillful burrower, and the graves of the dead are not exempt from this propensity, unless protected by a covering of thorns or stones. It has a partiality for honey, and under the guidance of the forest cuckoo, it searches out the stores of the hive, v^hich are usually erected on the ground, or suspended from low bushes. Upon finding a hive, the ratel burrows near it, and approaches directly beneath it by a subterraneous passage. He then emerges to the surface, and boldly besieges the magazine of hone}^ In captivity it is said to be very frolicsome, and resorts to various antics to attract notice. The upper portion of the body, from the head to the tail, is covered with gray, while the sides and under portions are black. Its tail is moderately long, but its whole appearance is peculiar. The civet, the ichneumon of Egypt, and the genet are all distinguished for having an apparatus to secrete a sub- stance which imparts a a strong scent, more or less musky. The secretion, in the civet, is deposited in pouches in its posterior glands, which may be extracted from the animal, by means of a spoon, at tlie average of a drachm per week. The musk is very powerful, and substances scented with it will retain it for a long time. Every portion of the flesh of the animal is thoroughly impregnated with it. The scent is somewhat similar to pomatum, and is gener ally highly esteemed. The civet is about three feet in length, and its habits are similar to those of the fox, which it resembles in the face, but has a longer snout. Its color is brownish-gray, traversed with numerous bands of black. The civet is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe fox the production of musk. The zihet of the LHE ICHNEUMON, THE WEASEL, T.TC. 34? island of Java is a near relation of the civet, and is distin guished for its burrowing and thieving propensities — being, in this respect, an exact counterpart of the fox. The ichneumon is a native of Egypt, but is found in all partvS of Asia and Africa. Although scarcely larger than a cat, it is the deadly foe of young crocodiles, snakes, and other noxious animals of the torrid zone. Its mode of attack is to dart, with extraordinary agility, upon the head, and seize them in the most vital part. A single shake usually serves to break the necks or backs of rep- tiles, after which they all become powerless in its grasp. It is also provided with excretory functions, but unlike the civet, its secretions have a most offensive odor. In appearance and habits it is not unlike the weazel — its feet being armed with claws, its nose long and tapering, and its eyes small and flashing. The genet is beautifully spotted, hke the leopards, and does not differ materially from the ichneumon except that it is larger, and instead of emitting an offensive odor, it is rather pleasant, being that of a delicate musk. It abounds in Turke}^ and Spain ; and is characterized not only for the beauty of its skin, which is valuable, but also for its cleanliness, mildness of disposition, and skill as a hunter. The weasel stands at the head of a group of animals which are also distin- guished for imparting, while living, a most offensive odor, but most of which are nevertheless valuable for their skins. These are the weasel, the ferret, the stoat, the martin, the pole-cat, the skunk, and the sable. These animals all present a long, round, and serpentine body and neck, and though swift runners and swimmers, they have the shuffling movements of snakes rather than quadrupeds. The weasel is small, not as large as a common cat, has eyes remark- able for their quick perception, and a color varying from a brown to a dirty white. While it is found in all parts of Europe, it exists in great abundance in the United 344 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. States. It feeds principally on rats, mice, moles, and birds. The ferret is larger than the weasel, and is a na- tive of Africa. It was formerly employed to hunt rats and rabbits, which it would pursue into their holes in the earth — hence the name. The stoat much resembles the weasel, except in color, which is more generally white, particularly in high northern latitudes. It has sometimes been called a white weasel. The martins comprise seve- ral varieties, all of which are very numerous in the United States and Canada, and the northern parts of Europe. It is larger and longer than the weasel or the ferret, and is furnished with a long and switching tail. Upward of fifty thousand skins of this animal have been obtained, in the northern and western regions of the United States and the British possessions, in one year ; and though it is allied to the 'class of mustela vulgaris, the odor from the skin is delightfully musky and pleasant. The pole-cat is well known for its offensive smell, and its nocturnal depre- dations — poultry, rabbits, pigeons, etc., being its princi- pal victims. It is a great climber, and can make its way over the smoothest walls. It is also a very courageous warrior, and defends itself with considerable skill from the attacks of dogs, who often beat a retreat, probably in consequence of its disgusting smell. He has been termed the prince of marauders, a title which his cunning, skill, agility, and peculiar qualities seem fully to merit. Notwithstanding his odor, his skin, when dressed with the hair, retains nothing offensive. The skunk is an American variety of the pole-cat. The upper part of the body is white, while the lower is black. It has long shaggy hair and tail, short legs, and a long pointed snout. It seldom ventures out in winter, except in the Southern States. Its food consists mainly of rats, mice, and toads. When attacked, it emits a fetid discharge, which is offen- sive in the highest degree. The sable is an inhabitant THE FERRET, THE OTTER, THE SABLE, ETC. 345 of Russia and Siberia, and its fur is by far the most valu- able of any of the family. It is long, fine, and silky, and generally of a very bright color. The sable changes the color of its hair with the change of the season, the dark thin hairs being gradually superseded by white ones, which form its usual winter coat. The skins of the sable imported annually from Russia vary from one to two hundred thousand, and they often command enormous prices. The otter, although it does not belong to this group, has a similarly long and slender build, but is more aquatic in its predilections. Its fin-like legs, feet webbed and oar-shaped, and its long rudder-like tail, enable it to make the swiftest and most astonishing evolutions in its native rivers and lakes. Its fur is short, but extremely fine, and large numbers of its skins have been exported from the American fur grounds. Such is a brief glance at some of the leading features which characterize the numerous, varied, and remarkable animals comprising the order of Monadelphians. We could do little more than mention the families ; nor was an extended description essential to our purpose. We wish to convey an idea of the extent and variety of the higher fauna of the earth on the close of the Sixth Day ; and our object will have been sufficiently attained in the enumeration of the principal known families and groups. As to their fossil remains, they are everywhere scattered throughout the higher Tertiary, and it is almost needless and superfluous to dwell on the particulars. The fossil remains of extinct and living genera of bears occur in great abundance in France, Germany England, America, and very likely ail over Asia and Africa. Badgers, dogs, hyenas, and a large number of the feline type, both of extinct and living genera, have also been found in caverns, and sometimes as low down as the I^liocene Tertiary, in all parts of the globe. And their remains invariably ap- 346 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. preach those of the living species in proportion to their proximity to the present geological epoch. But, before we enter upon a general review of this interesting forma- tion, or make further comments upon its animal and vege- table creations, two other orders yet demand our attention. The ninth order in the mammalian division is the Quad- rinnana, which comprises apes, baboons, and monkeys. All the representatives of this order are remarkable for having four hands, terminating in five toes or fingers, and for the general resemblance which certain of them present, when in an erect posture, to the human species. This is particularly the case with the apes, of which the Oran- outang is by far the largest and most perfect specimen. The anatomical structure of this animal is said to be simi- lar to that of man ; and, as compared with some of the lower types, it must be admitted that the partition between the two races seems to be very thin and transparent. "We saw a specimen of the Oran-outang twenty years ago, and had daily opportunities of witnessing its habits and move- ments. It was brought from Africa by a fellow-townsman. Dr. S. M. E. Goheen, who retained it about his premises for several months, chained to a kennel. The pictures presented of the animal, in works on Natural History, are usually much exaggerated, especially when represented in an erect position, which is wholly unnatural to it. It is very rarely, and only when attempting to climb, that the Oran-outang stands on its hind feet ; and it requires much skill and patience to train them to the effort. The face, too, is invariably flattened ; in the original specimens it presents no regularity of feature whatever, as compared with the human countenance ; but, on the contrary, is dis- gustingly deformed and inexpressive. In some of the pictures, however, which we have seen, it even surpasses many specimens of the human f axe — being furnished with a regular beard, and cheeks as smooth and flesh-like as if THE ORAN-OUTANG, ETC. 34T fresh from the hands of the barber. Moreover, it is often represented as exceedingly plump, round, and muscular in its physical conformation ; whereas the very reverse is the case with the living animal, the body and all the limbs being exceedingly attenuated, notwithstanding that it possesses much of the agility and elasticity of move- ment which characterize other quadrupeds of the same size and mode of life. While we cannot pretend to deter- mine, from absolute knowledge of the osseous structure of the Oran-outang, the actual extent of its similarity to that of the human frame, we know that the animal as a whole is altogether different ; that, as compared with the human form, it presents a series of malformations from its toes to its head ; that many of its organs are irregular and misplaced ; and that while it is suggestive of a resem- blance to man, the ideal image is entirely dissipated by the reality which a personal acquaintance with it affords. All its instincts are low, and in general intelligence it is by no means the equal of the dog, the fox, the elephant, or the horse. The Oran-outang is a native of Africa, but has also been found in India. It is a very rare and soli- tary animal, and, like all the others in their natural state, shuns mankind as much as possible. The Chimpanzee and the Barbary ape are other varieties of the ape tribe, but they differ little from the former, except that their physical features have still less correspondence with those of man. All these animals are clothed with long irregu- lar hair, and the fingers or toes of their hind feet are of the same length and equally as prehensile as those in front. In the Barbary ape, the hind feet are considerably longer than those in front, and are very thin and sinewy. The face of the Chimpanzee is broad, with protruding jaws and an immense mouth ; that of the Oran-outang is somewhat smaller, but, upon the whole, less regular. The lips of all these animals are thin and flabby, and de- 348 THE SIXTH DAY— GEOLOGICAL^ void of that fullness and incarnation which gives expres- sion to the human face. This arises, in part, from the fact that all the specimens of the Quadrumana have pouched cheeks to a greater or less extent. The monkeys, especially, conceal large stores of provisions in their jaws, and the apes do so to a limited extent — hence the enor- mous protrusion of this portion of their face. The Bar- bary ape, unlike the others, is furnished with immense ears, and with the single exception of its protruding jaws, the head and face are very similar to the bull-dog. And although, in its external appearance, it bears no similarity whatever to man — no more, in fact, than to a dog — yet we are assured that its osteology is the same, or, rather, that it has the same number of hones, joined in a manner very similar, but deviating in length, in local form, and in general conformation. All the ape tribe appear to be natives of Africa, though specimens of the Oran-outang have been found in India, and in some of the islands of the Indian Ocean. The baboon has but few varieties, and are all distinguished from the apes by their tails, their long hair, and their more repulsive features. The ribbed- nose baboon has a series of ribs arching over his cheeks on each side of his nose, which latter organ, like that of the dog, extends on a line with the mouth, and gives these extremities of the face a canine appearance. The whole structure of his head is frightful, and is rendered more so by the varied colors of the nose and the ribs — the one being a bright red, and the other a light blue. The pig- tailed baboon is a smaller animal than the other, and is provided with large cheek pouches, like all the genuine monkeys. The face, ears, and posteriors are naked, and, when tamed, it evinces a fondness for tobacco, snaff, and mustard, which it eats without apparent inconvenience. In this respect, it comes nearer to man than any of its species I These animals, unlike the apes, usually travel I APES AND MONKEYS. 349 in companies, and their thieving and libidinous propen- sities constitute the prevailing features of their character. The J are also natives of Africa, and live principally on grains, fruits, and succulent herbs. The monkey tribe is very numerous, and differs from the apes and baboons in being furnished with very long tails, which are useful in allowing their suspension from the limbs of trees. Cun- ning, trickery, thieving, and capering are their leading characteristics; and, excepting that their faces are moulded somewhat after the human type, they partake of the nature and features of squirrels. The Mico is much the handsomest specimen of the tribe. It has a rather handsome face, with a red flesh-color, is covered with a rich coat of white hair, and a tail nearly twice the length of its body. Its habits are also more agreeable than most of the species. It is found in large numbers in South America, particularly in Brazil. The green monkeys are found in Northern Africa and India. They are light and fragile in form, and, like the mico, have tails of extraor- dinary length ; some of which are naked and others clothed with hair. The human aspect of the face gradually dis- appears in this group, and takes the form, in some of them, of the squirrel, the fox, and the rat. The ring- tailed monkey has the head of a fox, the body of a cat, and the gait of the kangaroo. The yellow Macauco ap- proaches the opossum. They both belong to Africa, although found in numerous other localities, and are re- markable for their playfulness. The remains of monkeys have lately been found in the upper strata of the Tertiary in all the countries where they now live, and in some where they have long since become extinct. Those found in the Tertiary of India have been referred to a species of Semnopifhecus, and indicate animals of large size. Those discovered in the South of France are smaller ; while again, those of South America point to species more than 350 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOQICAIi. twice the stature of those now living there. The fossil remains of this order establish the interesting fact that, before the close of the Tertiary era, four leading di- visions of the monkey family existed ; that these divisions were as distinctly separable by structural features and general habits as are the living apes from the monkeys ; and that, moreover, they had a wider geographical distri- bution, and existed in regions of country where the cli- matical changes which have occurred in the mean time have utterly extinguished the ancient species, and forbid the residence of those now living under the torrid zone — hence their limitation to Africa and South America, and portions of Asia ; and their invariable exclusion from re- gions of glacial cold. The last order of the mammalia consists of man. It was toward the evening of this great geological day — between the closing of the post-Pliocene and the fragrant and peaceful dawn of the Present, that the ne plus ultra of the creative work had been attained. After the most elaborate preparations had been made for his reception ; after all the animals had contributed their share, directly and indirectly, toward the attainment of that harmonious equilibrium in nature by which governmental dominion was to be forever maintained over them ; after the earth had been clothed with herbs, and fruits, and shady groves, and the valleys and the hills strewn with blooming flowers ; after the terrestrial stage had been furnished with " new and gorgeous scenery," and the vast over-arching dome hung with brilliant chandeliers, the light of which dazzled with the varying lustre of millions of celestial Koh-i-noors ; — it was then that the great versatile actor, Man, made his first appearance on the stage, and entered at once upon the round of characters which usually distinguish his brief and arduous engagement. We have no disposition to speak of him in the spirit of levity ; but we may say with MAN APPEARS ON THE STAGE ! 351 a sigli, but with entire truth, that the characters he assumes upon the stage of life are often but indifferently performed. His most lamentable failure is in the rendi- tion of the sterling character of an honest, upright, God- feainng man ! It is one often assumed, but alas ! how complete and overwhelming are the failures ! The cant- ing hypocrite — the selfish miser — the envious, shallow- pated pretender — the unfeeling destroyer — the Aminidab Sleeks — the arch-nosed Shylocks — the plausible, slippery, crawling, insidious lagos — these constitute the staple characters of life, and they are almost everywhere played off before indulgent audiences. But to go back : The order of Bimana, which embraces all the varieties of the human species, was the last and the greatest work of the Creator. This fact is not only apparent in the statement of Moses, but it is rendered perfectly indispu- table by the revelations of geology. As to the exact time of man's appearance, there is room for a little doubt ; I shall, however, endeavor to show that it must have been toward the close of the Tertiary, in which his fossil re- mains have been sparingly found. Like all the inferior animals, the species of mankind comprise a large number of distinctive varieties, which physiologists arrange under five leading groups or families, viz., the GaucaHian, the Mongolian, the Malayan, the Negro, and the American Indian. Each of these principal divisions comprises a large number of sub-groups, nearly all of them speaking different languages, and characterized by local halnts and mental idiosyncrasies as diverse as could well be conceived. Emigration, intermarriage, and commercial and social intercourse between individuals, tribes, and nations, have constantly tended to increase the lines of separation and the complexity of type, or to gradually fuse old into new ones. From the earliest history of mankind, howeyer they all appear to resolve themselves into five principal S55 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL, families, and still more remotely into three. Thus, the Caucasian is everywhere distinguished from the others by his white skin, his tall stature, and the general pro- portion, harmony, grace, and beauty of his person, while his moral and intellectual faculties are also better developed, and appear to be of an infinitely finer tempera- ment than those of all the others. His nose is straight or aquiline, his face and ears small, the forehead broad, and the complexion roseate, and expressive of thought. His face often sustains a beard on a line with the cheek bone — a feature, which, though not invariable, is yet peculiar to none of the others. While it is far from being the most numerous, the Cauof^sian race may be regarded as the governor of mankind, and as the head of all animated nature, because it has attained a higher degree of civiliza- tion, refinement, power, and mental culture. It includes most of the inhabitants of Western Asia, the Tartars, the Caucasians, Georgians, Armenians, and Circassians; the Turks, Persians, Arabians, Affghans, Egyptians, and Abyssinians, and with the exception of the Finlanders, it embraces all the Europeans, and their American descend- ants. The nobility of England may be regarded as its highest type, both in physical and mental develop- ment. The Ethiopian, or Negro, though a native of all parts of Africa, is yet distinct from certain tribes inhabiting the northern and central portions, some of which, according to recent discoveries, appear to have attained a considerable degree of civilization, and are no less remarkable for the purity of their complexions, and the European aspect of their features. The Negro is the very converse of the Caucassian — his skin being perfectly black, and his hair and eyes generally of the same color. But his hair, instead of being long, straight, or curling into ringlets, is woolly and knotted. His nose is broad and RACES OP MAN. 353 flat, his lips thick and protruding, and his forehead low. There are many minor features by which he is everywhere distinguishable ; but there is one which, though I have never seen it mentioned by physiologists (except by Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia), appears to be universal even with mulattos and half-breeds. The skin of the Negro secretes a perspiration which emits a peculiar and unpleasant musky odor, somewhat in the manner of those animals of the family Mustela vulgaris already described. The Malayans are natives of the numerous islands of the South Sea, as New Zealand, New Guinea, New Hol- land, and the Malayan Archipelago. Their skin has a dark brown color, hair long and black, nose full and broad, mouth and face long, large, and prominent. They can very easily be traced back to the Ethiopian type. The Mongolian race is well represented by the Chinese, tbe Japanese, the Mongols, and other Asiatic tribes, to- gether with those of Tonquin, Siam, and Thibet, and the Laplander and the Esquimaux. Their color is that of yellow or olive. They have but little beard, generally none at all ; low forehead, broad face, rather flat nose, large ears, thick lips, projecting round cheeks, black hair and eyes, and stature inferior to the Caucasian. The American Indians present several groups, but they all resemble the Mongolian race so closely, especially in the structure of their heads, that they may properly be regarded as primitive off-shoots from it. Their color varies from a dark red to an olive — as a whole, they may be termed copperish, with an infusion of yellow sufficient to identify them with the Mongolian. Their hair is also black, long, and coarse, but they are destitute of beard. Their leading characteristics are essentially Mongolian, while their individual features sometimes approach the Caucasian. As a race, they are tall, straight, and grace- ful, and in natural sprightliness of intellect, dignity of '''^''* ,354 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. riage, and eloquence of speech, are hardly inferior to any. After the creation of man, toward the close of the Sixth Day, the world seems, for the first time, to have been lulled into a serene and calm repose. Creative action had attained the ultimatum in man. All the previous w^ork ended and blended harmoniously in him, as the days themselves blended into the great Sabbath of Nature which ensued. All the angels of heaven participated with God in the joyful work of creation. Even the little children-angels, that play around the opal-throne of the Creator, seem to have contributed their little works in the annelids, insects, and flowers that peep out from their secret retreats in the earth ; while God himself was mainly engrossed in infusing the coup de grace to the whole — in concentrating and embodying all the animal functions, under the sceptre of Reason, in the brain and body of man ! How wonderfully and fearfully he is made ! What an infinite number of delicate vessels traverse his frame ! How nicely all his bones fit into their varied and compli- cated sockets ! How gracefully and elastically his limbs bend and move under the guiding tendons, muscles, and fibres with which they are padded ! How God-like is his Mind! Composed of a variety of organs, hitched to the car of Thought, Reason holds the reins, and drives the body through the earth — sometimes over rough and dan- gerous roads, sometimes in happy thoroughfares and along broad avenues, strewn with flowers and sweetened per- fumes ! Man is the Governor— the Monarch of Creation ! In him all things earthy end — in him all things return back to God ! After his creation, therefore, God ceased from his work. Day after day, each filled with its appro- priate work, passed in succession ; but the Seventh day, instead of being ended, is only begun. Moses does not speak of the Sabbath as having any end, so far as man is MARRIAGE OF ADAM AND EVE. 355 concerned, it is an eternity, during which God will rest from his creative labor ! Upon the close of the Sixth Day, after a terrestrial equilibrium — a systematic organi- zation of all the types, creatures, and circumstances of created life had been secured, the whole was placed under the dominion of man. It was expressly consigned to his custody. He became the god of earth — the recognized agent of the Almighty, to take care of the creatures and the varied works he and his angels had made ! Man's creation .was the preliminary step to the Sab- batical repose which ensued. When the sky began to gleam in vast lakes of liquid azure, and bold promontories of fleecy drapery — when the mountains rejoiced in spread- ing foliage, and hid their hoary peaks in the clouds, to conduct angels to the paradise below ; after the sloping plains had rolled out their carpets of velvet, and crystal streams glistened in the sun, or leaped in cascades, or waltzed around in eddies and gurgling pools to the soft cadences of the musical air ; — in a broad vale, fringed with thymy terraces, and boquetted with flowers and blos- soming orchards, whose fragrance infused ethereal intoxica- tion ; — in a garden, by nature formed to please, laden with fruits, and vines, and gums, and juices nectarial — amid the joyous songs of birds, and the approving throbs of animated life ; surrounded with the winged ministers of the planetary universe, and the angelic hosts of the court of Jehovah — there, as the last and crowning act of crea- tion, God " formed man in his own image, male and female created he them;" and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, he became a living and an immortal soul. Adam and Eve, thus created and united in wedlock, be- came flesh of one flesh, and bone of one bone. In the presence of the angelic throngs of heaven — with the ap- proving smiles of all the representatives of the ethereal worlds — the powers of space, of Eternity and Immortality 356 THE SIXTH DAY — GEOLOGICAL. - — the nuptials of man's progenitors were solemnized, and as their endowment, God consigned to Adam the sole custody of the great work thus completed ; crowning him with unrestricted dominion over the boundless earth — the fishes of the sea, the varied creatures of the land and air I He then blessed and sanctified the Sabbath that ensued ; and now, the joyous train showering their gratulations on the wedded pair, The heavens, and all the constellations rang ! The planets, in their places, list'ning stood. While the bright pomp ascended, jubilant! Open ! ye everlasting gates ! they sung; Open ! ye heavens ! your living doors — let in The great Creator from his work returned, Magnificent ! His six days' work a World ! Open ! and henceforth oft, for God will deign To visit oft the dwellings of just men Delighted ! and with frequent intercourse ' Thither will send his winged messengers On errands of supernal grace ! THE SEVENTH DAY— THE SABBATH. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And ou the seventh day God ended his work which he had made j and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 6 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew ; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. I REMAHKED at the outset of the present work, that I had no desire to enter the field of theological speculation. Indeed, it was a part of my original plan expressly to avoid it, except only in those cases where there seemed to be a direct conflict between the Bible and Geology. In these conflicts, I have ventured to explain the geology, rather than the theology of the dispute. I have, in fact, not written as a theologian at all — I have not even con- fined myself within the sectarian discipline of the church, I have simply taken up the Cosmogony of the Bible, as an humble but original and independent investigator of nature, and endeavored to sustain its integrity against the insidious assaults of the most distinguished geologists. This work, I am well aware, could have been better per- formed, so far as the Church itself is concerned, by some (35t) 358 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. one more closely identified with its tenets and policy than myself. But while the field of theology is comparatively well filled with expounders of every degree of merit and intelligence, it will be conceded that but few of them have devoted attention to the department of practical geology. Instead of dedicating a portion of their time and energies to a proper investigation of the field, so as to protect the Church from its assaults, many preachers have really diverted their pulpits from their more legitimate duties, to the promulgation of what may be termed '' sensational" sermons, or have partially abandoned them in favor of the lecture-room and the political arena, for the poor and questionable compensation of popular applause and notoriety. The pulpit, thus neglected and weakened, has been left unprotected from the attacks of pernicious geological theories and speculations; and the result is, that we now see its authorized guardians and defenders driven to miserable special pleading, or compelled, in many cases, to abandon the explicit statements of the Bible in favor of mere subterfuges and unmanly evasions and apologies. Notwithstanding the enthusiasm — not to say fanatical zeal, which a large number of ministers evince in the abstract political questions of the day, the great majority, no doubt, deserve respect for good intentions, at least. There is no character on this broad earth more entitled to our kindly sympathies, our warm regard and admiration, than the conscientious, open-hearted, and devoted minister of the gospel. Their social influence is, and ought to be, unlimited, because they are necessary to the preservation of society, government, and civilization. When, therefore, we see men compromising their high position as ministers of the gospel — neglecting its immediate and legitimate objects, or prostituting them in the strife and angry tumult of partisan politics, the cause of religion is not PULPITS ABANDONED FOR THE STUMP. 359 only weakened, but the Church itself suffers degradation. Diversity of opinion upon doctrinal points may safely be tolerated, and is perhaps unavoidable ; but a diversion of the obvious functions of their office from its high social, moral and spiritual, to a sectional and political purpose, can only lead to the embitterment of popular prejudices, to the disruption of society and of governments, and to the ultimate extinction of religion itself. But the very fact, paradoxical as it may seem, that scarcely any two ministers can agree upon all the doc- trinal points of the Bible, is a powerful argument in favor of its divine authenticity. Like all the works of God, it is sometimes difficult to understand. But all that which v/e see around, above, and beneath us, although quite familiar to our senses, is yet only one great, stupendous, unfathomable mystery. We ourselves are no less so. And yet we see in the daily operations of nature, things that we know to be fixed and certain ; and from things thus known, we can easily pursue those that are unknown, or involved in obscurity. We can thus trace God through all his works. And it is precisely so with the Bible. The great bulk of it, although mysterious, we know to be true and fixed, because self-evident to our senses — and by the faith we thus have in the known, we are justified in our inferences of the unknown. Geology proves, for example, that there was a beginning; — that there was a time when man did not exist ; — that there was a time when animals and vegetation did not exist ; — that there was a time when the earth itself could not have existed. Now, knowing this, we must infer that a cause produced the effects which we see and feel — that the operating cause must be one of superior intelligence, and that origi- nally it must necessarily have been in close communion with the creatures of its volition. Hence, we cannot but believe that man, in the beginning, was in friendly inter- 360 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. course with his Maker — that he received from him the means whereby to sustain and develop his nature, and the admonitions and advice by which happiness, love, and peace would be forever secured. God is said to unite three persons in one — as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This combination of per, sonality is incomprehensible to us, but not incredible. As Father, he is the undoubted Creator of all things — the personification of worlds, of matter, elements, and force. We may recognize in him the imponderable and inde- structible elements — carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, electricity, light, gravitation. These are omnipresent in space and matter. Besides these, there are sixty-two simple min- erals tliat cannot be destroyed or changed from one to another, as gold, iron, mercury, etc. The elements may be presumed to constitute the instruments of creative action, order, and law, because all matter and life are sub- ject to their control. Some of these elements and min- erals may have afi&nities in other worlds, or in space, and the whole may have originally formed a unit, or one. This primary unit, existing in unimaginable chaos, evolved a governing principle — a principle inheriting all the properties of elements, as subsequently diffused in worlds and life. Now, this vital principle was and is none other than God. It may be said that God himself was thus created. No : he primarily existed ; he now began to create. His will was manifested by diffusion — irradia- tion. The elements incorporate in him were invisible creatures, like the ideal visions of man's dreams, but capable of assuming fixed forms in matter. God is thus the source from which all things flow. But this personality of Creator is distinct from that of Son, in which he also became, by his irradiated elements in worlds, the governor of all things. That is to say, having created, he now also governed by Law, which Law may THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST. 361 be regarded as the embodied Son or offspring. He is thus Father and Son ; or the source of elemental matter, and the diffused law that controls created elemental matter. As Holy Ghost, he further exists in man in the form of mind, or as the subtle spiritual principle. As Father, he creates ; as Son, he is law ; as Holy Ghost, he is the im- pulse to guide the creatures of law. God said, " Let us now make man in our own image — after our likeness;" that is, let us endow man with some of our qualities. He was accordingly created to govern the world, and was therefore supplied with mind, a function of the Creator. Man, therefore, comprises two persons in one — a mental and a physical being. His spiritual part is immortal, and exhibits the governing principle under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Being the creature of Law, man can neither modify nor evade it. God, therefore, combines the attributes of three distinct personalities — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.* Even before the creation of worlds, God was surrounded by angels or spirits representing the different irradiated offsprings of his Volition. When he began to create worlds, and to confer authority on his Son (embodying Law), certain of these angels rebelled, and because they sought to subvert Law, or harmony, or order, they were expelled into the regions of unreclaimed darkness. The chief of these was Satan. Under every form of dis- guise, he has since sought to subvert the Son in his ad- ministration of law. Although forever expatriated from heaven, he still preserves his immortality, with which he was clothed in the beginning, and which is consequently irrevocable, since God, having finished his work of crea- tion, now only governs by law, and has transferred the * These are but ideal speculations, and will of course be so regarded by the reader. — E. B. 362 THE SEVENTH DAY— THE SABBATH. custody of the earth to his embodied Son. Satan, there- fore, is a rebel against the Son of God ; and having known the original decrees of heaven, and that the earth formed a portion of the plan of the Universe, he undertook its subjugation. Such w^as his sub til ty, that he not only deceived man (a creature of law), but also the angels guarding the gates of Paradise. Effecting an entrance into Eden, the beauty of the garden recalled vision^ of that ethereal paradise which he had forever lost. He traversed its broad and sinuous avenues, paved with sands of gold "unnumbered as the dust of Barca, or Gyrene's torrid soil." With stealthy eye, he traced its grotesque walls of alabaster, sinking into dim perspective. He stole into its secret grottos, walled with crystal amethyst, and ribbed arches of gnarled topaz. He contemplated its diked porphyry, rising upon the level plateaux in monu- mental piles to the glory of the Creator, glittering with intermingled clusters of massive diamonds, opals, and sapphires, like the stellar diadem of Night. Trees bowed low with the offering of their luscious fruit ; and the vine clung to the spreading oaks, tempting with her pulpy nectar. Leaping cascades, gushing fountains, expanding lakelets diffused their refreshing draughts to the thirsty sun ; while liberal Flora, from exhaustless stores, fed the fragrance-seeking breezes to balmy repletion. In the deep recesses of the wood, surrounded by their brooding mates and their unfledged young, myriads of plumaged warblers prolonged their happy strains, and bore higher and higher the universal anthems which animated Nature sent up, in harmonious accord, to the throne of the divine Creator. Thus stealthily stalked the angel of Evil from one object and scene to another, until all their varied features had been duly scanned ; while he secretly gloated over the impend- ing gloom (decreed in the bituminous caverns of hell), EVE TEMPTED BY SIN. 363 which his machinations were now suspending over the young earth, like the web of a spider. Anon, he espied the secret bower, sacred to love and wedded bliss. On an elevated step, overlooking the glories of the paradise which stretched out in profuse luxuriance beneath, a Parian nook opened its chaste portals to the nuptial feast. From the top, clusters of amaranth diffused immortality upon the rosy couch ; while dahlias, geraniums, helio- tropes, myrtles, and olives, sacred to eternal love, devo- tion, holiness, and peace, twined their tendrils and their new-blown buds in long-drawn aisles and foliaged arches, to screen them from the peering sun. There, on sheets of silken down, newly hackled from gossamer cocoons, the progenitors of mankind resigned themselves to rest, locked in the arms of holy love ; " The loveliest pair That e'er in love's embraces metj Adam, the t^oodliest man of men, since born His sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve." In the very citadel of earthly bliss the tempter had already entered, in a dark disguise. Drawing near to the pillow of Eve, he deduced from their whispered speech that the ^ee of life was to them forbidden fruit ; and he infused the spirit of unrest in her dreams. He obtained a clew — the artful spider here found a beam from which to stretch his subtle web ; and now the angels of Sin sent up a shout, in anticipated triumph, that echoed through the parched and blistered gloom of their infernal caverns. He left the sleepers ere Uriel's sunbeams had arrived, and again transforming himself into a new shape, wandered among the cattle of the fields ; " For spirits, when they please, Can either sex assume, or both ; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure; 364 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. Not tied or manacled witli joint or limb, Nor foixnded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh ; but in what shape they choose, Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, Can execute their airy purposes. And works of love or enmity fulfill." In his present purpose, however, he assumed the body of the serpent, which he knew to possess " more subtilty than any beast of the field. " In this guise, he approached Eve, while she was alone, and engaged in training the flowers of Paradise. Struck with the beauty, and the extraordinary faculty of speech and intelligence which the serpent possessed, Eve unfortunately became interested in its discourse. Inquiring whence it had obtained such varied accomplishments and wisdom, it replied that they flowed from a certain tree in the garden, the fruit of which it had freely eaten ! The innocent curiosity of the mother of her race was at once aroused, and following the ser- pent to the spot, discovered that the tree in question was the forbidden tree of life. The serpent, with the freedom of levity, and with an air of affected sympathy and in- credulity, inquired, "Yea, hath Grod said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ?" To which poor Eve replied, half ashamed that she should be inferior to the serpent in the gratification of her tastes ; " We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." To this the subtle villain again, with mock pity and commiseration, and with a half-suppressed smile at her innocent naivete, replied, "Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened ; and ye shall he as gods, knowing good from evil." This certainly looked plausible, and the experience of the serpent seemed to confirm it; THE FALL OF ADAM. 365 for if it could eat with impunity, and inherit wisdom, and live, why should not ^ue ? Alas ! "Neither man noi- angel can discern Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks Invisible, except to God alone, « By his permissive will, through heaven and earth ; And oft, though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill Where no ill seems !" The woman fell, and brought down her husband with her ; for when Adam perceived that she had violated the direct and express command of God, he was confounded with conflicting emotions — love for the lost woman, whose crime might perhaps be palliated by his own participation, or his happiness jeopardized in her death ; fear of the just retribution of God, and yet a longing desire for the wisdom which the fruit could impart ; credulity in the experience of the serpent, because manifest to all the senses, and yet a lurking suspicion of its honor and integ- rity — all these struggled in the excited mind of Adam, and he grasped the forbidden fruit as with uncontrollable desperation. They ate ! For a time the effect was ex- hilarating, like the juice of the grape. Their carnal natures were inflamed — they burned ^ith voluptuous desire — their veins swelled, and their cheeks flushed, and staggering, they fell to the ground ! They slept, but it was now the sleep of remorse and exhausted naturie, instead of innocence and peace. They awoke — not to the smiles of hope, and virtue, and harmony ; but to mutual shame, recriminations, bickerings, distrust, and reproach. In short, all the dark and damning passions of sin — disobedience, lust, falsehood, jealousy, revenge, and all their horrid train, marshaled by Sickness, Disease, and Death ; — all the polluted spirits of the infernal regions 366 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. arose from the earth like spectres, and became installed in the world — raising their arms against law and harmony — against peace and good- will — against virtue and love — and asserted dominion over Adam and his captive race ! Why, it may be asked, did not God place them beyond the power of disobedience ? Why involve them in a position in which they would be exposed to the assaults of sin ? To this it may be suggested that it was not the plan of the Creator to people worlds with absolute Gods. He had a purpose to subserve, decreed in the beginning. Man was his servant, owing to his law implicit obedience, but endowed with reason to obey or not. He was pro- vided with every earthly comfort — he was warned of his danger — and thus left free to act ! Had he been endowed with higher qualities, heaven would have been his proper sphere at once, not earth ; but made as a servant of God, his subsequent promotion depended on his implicit obedi- ence to law. Now, after Adam's transgression, God placed enmity between the seed of the serpent and that of Eve, and doomed Satan to crawl upon the earth in the character or form he had thus assumed. The serpent, therefore, is the personification of evil — first : because when coiled, it is emblematic of eternity, or the original immortality of angels ; second : when wounded or dismembered in its ex- terior parts, it has the power of renewing the lost flesh ; third: it changes its skin during the vernal season, thus renewing its youth with increasing age; fourth: its poisonous secretions, and needle-like fangs, are often fatal to man, and significant of his original fall ; and fifth : its movement is stealthy, noiseless, and slimy, eluding grasp, and reoi^ily accommodating its body to the most contracted retreats — all of which are significant parallels of those subtle spirits which haunt, annoy, and destroy the peace and happiness of mankind. Besides all this, there is an At)AM'S PUNISHMENT. 35*^ inherent dread of serpents in the human species, notwith- standing that it is one of the most beautiful, graceful, and agile animals that God has created. Its very appearance occasions an irresistible nervous tremor — a secret shudder, which it is impossible to control. We thus perceive that the enmity between the two races, is universal and palpable ; but this is not all. Man has the power of bruising its head — its vital and only dangerous part. He, therefore has the power of destroying evil — while in re- turn, the serpent only bruises man's heel, or his fleshly part, thus indicating tliat no part of man is liable to its attacks if he treads not in the paths of evil, where only the serpent is concealed. It is a singular and extraordinary fact, that what seem to be tlie most simple and common- ]-)lace expressions in the Bible, are in truth invariably pregnant with volumes of meaning, all of which are de- veloped upon the most casual investigation of the funda- mental laws of nature. It isthese, among thousands of other coincident features, that establish its divine inspira- tion beyond all doubt or cavil, while, at the same time, much that still remains obscure and dubious to our im- perfect comprehension, will ultimately be revealed by in- vestigation of nature's laws. In decreeing Adam's punishment, God cursed the ground for his sake — he did not impair, or blight, or afflict any of his physical functions. The punishment may appear severe, but no one can question its wisdom. Had he inflicted personal injury to the race, it would certainly have savored of cruelty ; but he merely cursed the ground. And how, and why ? He caused noxious weeds, and plants, and trees, to grow spontaneously, and with extra- ordinary prolificacy, at the same time that blight, barren- ness, disease, and death, attacked the fruits. In Adam's fallen condition, bodily and mental exercise became absolutely essential. Idleness is the prolific; mother of 24 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. sin, and the great Creator saw that to save the race of man, he must be furnished with employment. Hence he cursed the ground, and consigned Adam and his children to the task of subduing and tilling it. Under the circum- stances, it was no punishment at all — it was a benevolent, kind, and fatherly act, for it saved mankind from the ennui, the ^idleness, remorse, and languor that would in- evitably have resulted in the ultimate extinguishment of the race, or in its effeminate degeneracy to that abject weakness, in which it would have fallen a prey to the predaceous animals. To poor deceived Eve, he simply multiplied the sorrows of her conception — a punishment which, after all, is scarcely greater than that visited on the inferior animals. And yet, who can fail to detect Almighty wisdom and benevolence in this ? Had her con- ception brought with it no pains and pangs, no sorrows and troubles, and apprehensions, what a world of beastly profligacy and prostitution we should have had ! It is absolutely terrible and horrible to contemplate. The holy institution of marriage, the divine sentiment of love, of parental affection, and domestic virtue would not, and could not, have existed on the earth ; but unbridled licen- tiousness, beastly sexual intercourse, harlotry, and de- bauchery would have reigned unchecked and supreme. Punishment, indeed I It is just such punishment as a loving parent, knowing the weakness of his child, would inflict Tinder the pretext of a terrible corrective, but in reality a wise and benevolent protection from impending calamity, already brought down upon its head by unre- strained liberty. The whole history of mankind and of individuals, reveals nothing but the utmost benevolence of the Creator — love, forbearance, anticipation of his needs and rational desires, forgiveness, partiality, and parental fondness. There is hardly a creature, a vegetable, a jewel, or a substance of any sort whatever, above, beneath, I THE DIVINITY OP CHRIST. 369 or in the bowels of the earth or seas, that is not made tributary to his wants or to his childish fancies and desires. He is an infant that tumbles into every sort of mishap, and not the watchful care of all the angels of heaven can restrain him from mischief, or from the in- jurious contact of the prowling cormorants of sin and folly ! But, we are told, Grod put enmity between the seed of the serpent and that of the woman. What further meaning has this sentence, in addition to that already presumed ? Wherefore seed of the woman ? Satan se- duced woman ; he leveled his poisoned shafts at the weaker vessel, not at the strongest. To render his punish- ment the more poignant, therefore, God redresses the wrongs of woman through the strength or seed of woman. He caused the Virgin Mary to conceive in holy immacula- tion — the spirit of God descended in her, and she brought forth Christ in the image of man. Christ assumed the cause of his fallen race, and armed in the holy panoply of heaven, lived, suffered, and died like a god. Thus the human race was cleansed, purified, reborn, as it were, through his spiritual incarnation ; and man again stands redeemed and disinthralled from the manacles of Satan. But as a servant of God, he owes obedience. He must not transgress his laws — he must not again eat forbidden fruit. He must believe in Christ, that is, he must believe in and exemplify the doctrines taught and practically illus- trated in the whole life, actions, and doctrines of Christ. He is at once the head and front, the very incarnation of law ; and by pursuing the course he lays down, ever- lasting peace and good-will on earth, and felicity in heaven will be secured. He did not come upon the earth to destroy the law previously established, but rnther to ex- emplify it in his own incarnation ; he came not to destroy, but to fulfill, and thus it is that Chri^Hanity vnll ultimately 370 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. govern the whole earth, and by its equitable operations, rescue all mankind from the doom that would otherwise befall them. Much has been said and written regarding the divinity of Christ. One thing is certain,— he was a pure man, and this character is little inferior to that of a god, since it inherits God's kingdom, and secures immor- tality. But every thing tends to confirm his divinity. If he were not divine, he himself was a deceived man — nay, worse ; he lived and died a wicked man. But where was the motive for deception ? He did not assume worldly pomp — he did not covet regal splendor — nor princely luxury — nor wealth, nor temporal applause, honor, or station I No ! His whole life was directly the reverse. He was poor and despised. He was jeered and scoffed. He was a wanderer — without a home — without courtly friends — without a pillow to lay down at night, or a roof to shelter him from the storm. He was poor, indeed ! And yet, what philosopher of any age or clime has promulgated doctrines more in harmony with the higher decrees of heaven ? What man, since the fall of Adam, has lived a purer, a more holy, and angelic life ? He was without reproach. Like the lamb, he could " Hck the hand just raised to shed his blood !" He was the personification of wisdom. His words were more cutting and more powerful than swords I And yet his mission was not to destroy, but to save. His object was love — not gain. He wanted souls — not wealth. Either, then, he was divine or he was not. It will not sufl&ce that he was a monomaniac in Religion, gifted with extraordinary accomplishments and wisdom, and powers of meek suffering and endurance. A diseased mind is always arbitrary, incoherent, feverish. His was not ; on the contrary, it was strong, flexible, persistent, and logical. It was controlled by god-like reason and wisdom, and no devices or arguments of man or devil could withstand its THE DIVINITY OP CHRIST. 371 pointed barbs. If he was not divine, and especially ap- pointed by heaven, he deceived himself and his devoted apostles, and added to the enormity of a life of imposture, eternal fraud, falsehood, and perjury. But in the face of his spotless life, his holy work, his unrecompensed suffer- ing, persecution, and death, is it not absolutely sacrilegious to doubt his divinity ? Can any one study his character, motives, and actions, and discover any thing like human frailty, pride, vanity, selfishness, ambition, or folly ? CaBsar, Pompey, Xerxes, Alexander, Hannibal, and all the great captains of the earth, before and after him, sought the glory of States and of National power; — but he, with- out arms and munitions of war ; without Senates or pomp- ous oracles ; without games, feasts, statues, paintings, or idolatrous images, yet sought no less an object than the redemption and conversion of the world, past, present, and future, — and that, with no other instrument than his in- spired words and deeds! Living in the most critical, learned, and voluptuous age that had yet dawned upon the earth, — in the very zenith of Roman, Grecian, and Persian renown — an age of Poetry, Philosophy, Science, Art, Literature, Architecture, Oratory, Music, Diplomacy, and Civil Government — an age whose heroes stand before time in long lines of historical statues ; — living, preaching, suffering, and dying in such an age?, and at such a time, yet not a single speck or blemish could be detected in his person, manners, doctrines, or motives — exposed, as he constantly was, to all the assaults and blandishments of the wicked I Xot the shadow of a defect could bo po'nted out in his proffered scheme of salvation. His doctrines were the sublimated essence of all wisdom and philosophy, based as they were, and are, upon faith, obe- dience, love, and virtue. The fall of Adam and his species, it is claimed, was thus compensated by the implied promise of this very Saviour 3t2 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. — hence the enmity between the serpent and the descen- dants of Eve. Adam saw in this arrangement the future regeneration of his race, and by its retroaction upon the past, that of himself. This consoling promise saved him from again relapsing into the arms of sin, and under it he died a good and holy man. Had no such hope existed, he might again have embarrassed the plans of the Creator by self-destruction, or that of his doomed issue. But God, it would seem, was merciful, and did all for the best, but in a manner ^^eculiarly his own. Alll his acts and works seem dim to our feeble and limited vision ; but when we view them through the glass of familiar Nature, they are all sufficiently plain and simple. He not only cheered the unfortunate couple with this promise, but furnished him- self the skins to clothe them. With sad and subdued hearts, he then led them out of the Paradise they had desecrated, lest they should be tempted to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and thus live forever in their fallen state. Although but three of Adam's sons, and none of his daughters are named in the Bible, it is very likely that his family was numerous. These, from the necessity of the case, must have intermarried, and extended their set- tlements in various directions, though not in the more remote continents of the earth. The Bible deals only with such names and circumstances as are essential to the prominent facts of its text — leaving minor details to be inferred. Therefore, considering the early habits of man- kind, — their pastoral occupation and general non-commer- cial and non-manufacturing character, we may conclude that but a small portion of the earth's surface was popu- lated during the sixteen hundred years that intervened between the marriage of Adam and the birth of the three sons of Noah. Such, too, was the longevity of the ante- diluvian race, that but a verv few generations could have THE NOACHIAN FLOOD. 3T3 flourished during this period ; and as there could have been no necessity for their distant migration, so we have no right to infer that, up to the time of the flood, any of Adam's descendants wandered far. off from the original centre of creation. But such was the inherent wickedness of the race, that Grod determined to wash it from the earth — preserving, however, its concentrated virtue and wisdom in Noah and his family. From the fact that Noah is represented as ''perfect in his genera- tions," it is concluded that the promised seed of the Sa- viour had descended to him, and thence through Abraham to Mary, the immaculate mother of Christ. It is impossible for us to dwell upon the religious aspect of the history of the antediluvian race ; we merely purpose to consider the phe- nomenon of the Noachic flood, and the remarks thus far offered arc only intended as a connecting link between the close of the Sixth Day and the dawn of the ensuing Sabbath. The enmity which God placed between the seed of Evil and that of Eve, it will be thus observed, was brought to another crisis in the deluge, and to its culmi- nating point in the birth of Christ. In reference to the flood, nothing appears more certain than its universality ; and it is therefore a matter of as- tonishment that men standing high as Theologians should undertake to dispute it. Among the most recent, and perhaps the most plausible doubters, was the late lamented Hugh Miller, who brings to the support of his views the testimony of some of the most distinguished Doctors of Divinity. The whole premises of these distinguished Christian-doubters can be demolished with a single word : if the flood was onl}- partial, and confined (as they allege) to a small area, where was the necessity of the ark? Why could not God have removed Noah and his faniih^ and the animals of the earth, to the adjacent districts or con- tinents that remained ansabmergcd f Yet these plausible 3T4 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. Christian philosophers (embracing bishops, doctors, vicars, and laymen without number,) fill volumes to ex- plain and apologize for the supposed errors of Revelation, as if the word of God were a series of bungling errors. I confess I have no respect either for the learning or the religious integrity of such men. They would have the world believe that the Bible, as it stands, is true ; and yet they write unnumbered scientific homilies to prove that it is a fable, a farce, and a cheat. God communicated to Noah his reasons for decreeing the destruction of the animated earth. He became dis- gusted with the folly and wickedness of mau — " seeing that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." He repented that he had made man, or beast, or bird ; for on looking upon the earth, he could see nothing but corruption,* in which all flesh was alike involved. To his faithful old servant he said, " The end of all flesh is come before me ; for the earth is filled with violence through them ; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (that is, he will use the earth which they were abusing to effect their destruction). He ordered Noah, therefore, to build an ark, and gave him the direc- tions as follows : '' The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above : and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it." The Scripture cubit, according to Sir Isaac Newton, is a- fraction over twenty inches ; but, according to Bishop Wilkins, it is over twenty-one inches. Tlijs may, or may not, be true ; but assuming either of them to be correct, or approximating the true length, the dimensions of the ark would be as follows : Length between perpen- noah's ark and the great eastern. 375 diculars, 515 or 54t feet ; breadth, 85 or 91 feet ; depth, 51 or 54 feet; keel, or tonnage capacity, 464 or 492 feet, which would give a tonnage of from 18,500 to 22,000 tons. A parallel to Noah's ark is presented in the steam- ship Great Eastern, which recently visited our shores. The length of this Leviathan of the deep is, I believe, 680 feet, breadth 83 feet, depth 58 feet, keel 639 feet, and capacity 23,000 tons. But this is exclusive of her en- gines and propelling machinery, and of her elaborate fur- niture, fixtures, and properties — none of which encumbered the plain vessel of Noah. Besides, all these estimates are made for live freight ; — the actual tonnage of the Great Eastern, if laden with iron, would probably be over 26,000 tons, and that of the ark would have been in pro- portion. Her machinery and properties occupy at least one-half of her space, and one-half of her carrying capa- city, which would thus raise her tonnage to nearly fifty thousand tons. And in this view, according to the cubic standard of Newton or Wilkins, the carrying capacity of the ark would be considerably augmented, and might be safely computed, on the basis already presented, as nearly, if not fully equal to the G-reat Eastern, without her machinery. This would give at least forty thousand tons burden for live freight. An idea of the enormous dimensions of the Great Eastern may be formed from the fact, that she pre- sents as much available room, and could carry the com- bined freight, of ten of our largest war vessels. Thus, the tonnage of the steamer Pennsylvania, which used to be regarded as the giant of the ocean, is 3,211 tons ; that of the Columbus, 2,489 tons; the Ohio, 2,75t; the North Carolina, 2,633; the Delaware, 2,633 ; Vermont, 2,633 ; New Orleans, 2,805 ; Alabama, 2,683 ; Virginia, 2,633 ; and the New York, 2,633— making a total of over 28,000 tons. These steamers are all of the largest class, and yet all combined are barely equal to the Great Eastern ! And 3T6 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. after removing their macliinery, the whole would present an aggregate of storage surface very little superior to the great ark of Noah. Now, if this great steamer subserves no other purpose, it will at least demonstrate that it is sufficiently capacious to constitute a menagerie of all the terrestrial animal species now living! Hugh Miller, however, with characteristic special plead- ing (in his Testimony of the Bocks), brings down the dimensions of the ark to 450 feet in length, 15 feet in breadth, and 45 in height. He accomplishes this feat by an ingenious analysis of the modes of measuring adopted by some of his provincial countrymen. " There," says he, ''is the span, the palm, the hand-breadth, the thumb- breadth (or inch), the hair-breadth, and the foot. The simple fisherman on our coasts still measures ojff his fathoms by stretching out both his arms to the full ; the village seamstress still tells off her cloth-breadths by finger-lengths and nails; the untaught tiller of the soil still estimates the area of his little field by pacing along its sides." According to this system of measurement it is obvious that every thing depends on the physical propor- tions of the measurer. The fathoms of a big Scotch fish- erman would certainly exceed those of Tom Thumb ; while the pedal extremities of the " untaught tiller of the soil" would enlarge or decrease the area of his "little field" exactly as they happened to be large or small. The Irish clod-hopper, by this rule, might easily obtain broader acres than the Chinese rat-catcher. But even if this standard were adopted, Noah's ark would rather be en- larged than decreased. The same chapter that specifies the dimensions of the ark in cubits, informs us that "there were giants in the earth in those days ; and also after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children unto them; the same became mighty men, which were of old men of renown " Now, SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND NOAH'S ARK. 377 if the ark was built during an age of giants, of men re- nowned for tlieir mighty proportions, and the cubit was a measure of some portion of the human frame, (as Miller says it was, and still is,) instead of its having been 450 feet in length, it was most likely six or more hundred feet, and had a tonnage capacity in exact proportion ! And this, after all, is just as likely to be correct as any of the estimates since proposed. Miller, however, adopts the dimensions according to the cubit already given ; and then proceeds to consider how the animals could be accommo- dated in the ark. He calls to his aid Sir Walter Raleigh, an experienced seaman, who proceeds to pack them in after the following manner. " If in a ship of such great- ness" — (it was a square, flat-bottomed ark, without masts, spars, or rigging !) — "if in a ahip of such greatness," says Sir Walter, " we seek room for eighty-nine distinct species of beasts, or, lest any should be omitted, for a hundred several kinds, we shall easily find place both for them and for the birds, which in bigness are no Vv^ay answerable to them, and for meat to sustain them all. For there are three sorts of beasts whose bodies are of a quantity well known; the beef, the sheep, and the wolf; to which the rest may be reduced by saying, according to Aristotle, that one elephant is equal to four beeves, one lion to two wolves, and so of the rest. Of beasts, some feed on vege- tables, others on flesh. There are one-and-thirty kinds of the greater sort feeding on vegetables, of which number only three are clean, according to the law of Moses, whereof seven of a kind entered into the ark, namely, three couples for breed, and one for sacrifice ; the other eight-and-twenty kinds were taken by two of each kind ; so that in all there were in the ark one-and-twenty great bea.st3 clean, and six-and-fifty unclean ; estimable for largeness as ninety-one beeves: yet, for a supplement (lest, perhaps, any species be omitted), let them be valued 3t8 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. as a hundred and twenty beeves. Of the lesser sort, feed- ing on vegetables, were in the ark six-and-twenty kinds, estimable, with good allowance for supply, as four-score sheep. Of those which devour flesh, were two -and- thirty kinds, answerable to three-score and four wolves. All these two hundred and eighty beasts might be kept in one story or room of the ark, in their several cabins ; their meat in a second ; the birds and their provision in a third, with space to spare for Noah and his family, and all their necessaries." This estimate of Raleigh's was made nearly two cen- turies ago, and instead of there being but eighty or one hundred and twenty species of animals on the earth, as then estimated, discoveries made in the mean time have raised the number, large and small, of all the different species, to several thousand. Up to this time, every known region of the earth has been visited and fully ex- plored, and the animal kingdom is found to embrace the number of species as follows : Quadrumana 170 ; Marsu- pial! a 123 ; Edentata 28 ; Pachydermata 39 ; Terrestrial Carnivora 514; Rodentia 604; Ruminantia 180; Birds 6,266 ; Reptiles 657 ; Turtles, etc. 15 — making a grand total of living species of 8,596. This embraces all the animals of the globe, large and small, from the minute mouse up to the elephant. It must be borne in mind, however, (as we have all along warned the reader,) that much diversity exists in the systems of classification adopted by Naturalists. What one Zoologist would divide into three classes, another arranges under two : what one divides into five orders or tribes, another will arrange in three ; what one separates into eight families or sub-families, another can dispose of in four or five ; and w^hat one will spread out into ten, twenty, or thirty species, another will embrace in five, ten, or fifteen. Thus, the feline animals comprise many species, the num- LENGTH OF THE SCRIPTURE CUBIT. 3T9 ber of wMch might, witli propriety, be greatly reduced. And so with nearly every division of the animal kingdom. Species, as ordinarily used, implies a general, not an exact resemblance to the parents. It could easily be demon- strated that climate, external circumstances, and the con- trolling exigencies of necessity have created more species in the classifications of Naturalists than primarily existed in the original progenitors of the Animal Kingdom. But to enter upon a discussion of this point here, would ap- pear hypercritical, and might be regarded as an evasion of the main question. We despise any such pretexts or sub- terfuges, and should still rely on the abundant capacities of the ark to accommodate them all, if the number of species were twice as great as is now claimed — for the question involved is not as to the number of animals, but simply as to the dimensions and capacities of the ark. And this, singularly enough, and in the face of the exact and explicit language of Scripture, turns upon the value of the cubit. In ordinary, the cubit is the ulna, or bone which extends from the elbow to the wrist ; but in modern mensuration, it represents the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger. Webster observes that the standard length of the ancient cubit varied with different nations, as we know the length of the hand and the ulna vary with different individuals. With most men, the ulna seldom exceeds eleven inches, and the hand, from the wrist joint to the point of the mid- dle finger, rarely exceeds seven and a half inches. The two combined, in our largest individuals, would perhaps reach nineteen inches. The Roman cubit, according to Dr. Arbuthnot, was seventeen inches and four-tenths, and that of England eighteen inches. The Scripture cubit is defined as being a fraction less than twenty-two inches ; but as to the antediluvian cubit, we have no positive in- formation. If, however, the average lengtli of the ulna 380 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. and Tiand of men now living be estimated at nineteen or twenty inches, we are entitled to infer that, during the race of giants which flourished before and after Noah's era, they averaged from twenty-one to twenty-two inches. The cubit, thus graduated, would make the ark quite as large as the Great Eastern, and, leaving out her machin- ery, masts, and ordinary sailing and propelling properties, the tonnage capacity of such a vessel might be estimated, in round numbers, 2X fifty thousand tons. But, not to ap- pear unreasonable in our estimate, we will say — according to the twenty-two inch cubit of Newton — that the ton- nage of the ark, for lire stock, was at least equal to twenty thousand tons, of twenty-two hundred and forty lbs each, or to 44,800,000 lbs. This is considerably less than the capacity *of the Great Eastern, even including her five or six steam engines, her steam pumps and life- boats, 'her sails, masts, and rigging. As to the structure of this enormous boat, llut little need be said. The timber was close at hand, and its architecture, though simple and rude, was yet substantial. It was, simply, a gigantic flat-bottomed boat, with three stories, instead of one, exclusive of the roof or deck. Like the small plank and lumber arks that annually de- scend our rivers, its joints were carefully caulked and pitched ; and this was all that the circumstances required. It was not intended to ride the waves and storms of ocean, but rather to be borne gradually up along the sink- ing land, like a vessel during the flowing in of high tide. A difficulty has been suggested as to how the animals came to Noah ; but if the other end of the proposition were presented, there would be no difficulty at all. The animals did not come to Noah ; Noah went to them. His orders were specific, and he obeyed them. But how ? Did he or his agents wander over the earth, armed with spears, and lasso, and traps to hunt down and capture DID NOAH SELECT YOUNG OR OLD ANIMALS? 381 the animals ? or, like a man of sense, taking a practical view of the enterprise committed to him, did he merely seek the young of each species, and arrange them in a general cosmopolitan menagerie, to be trained to the voy- age they were to undergo ? We have no right to suppose that Noah was an ignorant, simple-minded, old man ; on the contrary, he was eminent for his wisdom and virtue. He was, consequently, fully equal to the great enterprise with which God intrusted him. Being a man of practical sense, therefore, his obvious policy was to obtain young animals ; first, because they would be more tractable 5 second, because they would occupy less space in the ark ; third, because they would not encumber the ark with brood ; and fourth, because their powers of recuperation would afterward be superior to those of adult animals ; and fifth, because they would require less forage for their keeping. Would not the cubs of the bear, the lion, the tiger, the elephant, rhinoceros — the calves of the herd, of camels and horses, and the young of all quadrupeds, answer his purpose better, in every point of view, than the full-grown animals ? Would snakes a week old, not suffice as well, (or rather better,) than boas and vipers twenty feet in length ? Was it necessary to fill his ark with antiquated oxen, and elephants, and camels, that had done service in the plow or the caravan ? Must he select poor old spavined horses, toothless lions, and tigers, and bears, when the little cubs would best correspond with the object of his mission? The idea is too absurd to be entertained. That the ark, indeed, was filled with the young of each species, is manifest in the fact that no births oc- curred on board, although the vessel was afloat for one hundred and fifty days. ,, This, remark, of course, applies only to the larger quadrupeds ; for among that somewhat numerous and diminutive class, whose ex- 382 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. istence is limited to a few montlis, the propagation of the species must have continued uninterrupted. A similar exception may be made for birds, among whom the process of incubation must have been constantly main- tained. As it required many years to huild the ark, there was abundant time to collect the animals. And as these occupied but a comparatively small geographical area, and were still under the dominion, and many of them in the service of man, there was really little difficulty in bringing them together. The lion and the tiger had little of the ferocity which, in their nativ^e jungles, distinguishes them now. The whole animal creation, like man him- self, was originally of a more subdued and tractable na- ture than it has since become. And, mainly confined to the area then occupied by the human species, it required no extraordinary efforts to bring them together, or to collect a menagerie of specimens. The species that may have wandered off into other continents, if they left no descendants at home, necessarily became extinct after the flood. The Bible says so, and Geology proves it. The earth teems with their fossil remains, and the extinct are buried in the same strata with those of the representatives of living species. Their number, however, was compara- tively small ; for the great bulk of all the animals of the antediluvian earth continued within the range of the orig- inal circle of the Adamite Creation. But while some of them may, and did wander off, and even reach distant continents, most of the original types, or progenitors of species, remained behind, and came into the ark of Noah. There is no fact in the entire range of Geological dis- covery, more palpable and overwhelming than this. It forms a line of separation between the fauna of the past and the present, as broad as the continents themselves. From facts that are thul clear, it is easy to follow the INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT OF THE ARK. 38S foot-prints of others more obscure, and bring order out of a seeming chaos. But let as now inquire how the animals can be accommo- dated. The ark, we will suppose, on the basis of a twenty -two inch cubit, to have been 600 feet in length, and 100 feet in width. This would give us an area of 60,000 square feet to each floor, making an aggregate of 180,000 square feet for the three stories, exclusive of the cabin under the roof for Noah and his family, and for the storage of such articles as could occupy the deck of the vessel. We, of course, cannot assume to understand the real interior plan or structure of the ark, but presume it was extremely simple. We can suppose it to have been divided into stalls, running lengthwise with the ark, and separated by narrow alleys for drainage, and to allow the passage to and fro of the grooms of the animals. The first two ranges of stalls, extending along both sides of the vessel, we shall devote to the cubs of the larger animals — as the elephant, the rhinoceros, the camel, the horse, the domestic cattle, including the buffalo, the bison, and the elk, moose, and deer. These, although extremely numerous in all parts of the earth, comprise but few species ; sc^cely more, in fact, than originally estimated by Sir Walter Raleigh. He computed them at eighty- nine, but his magnanimity extended the number to one hundred, which he estimated in bulk as equal to 120 beeves. We, however, will double the liberal estimate of the gallant chevalier. We w^ill suppose that there are now living 200 of the larger animal species, counting from the elephant to the horse. Of these animals that went into the ark, according to the Mosaic law, some were clean and others unclean. For the sake of facilitating our estimate, we will suppose 200 of the former, and 400 of the latter — in all 600 animals provided for in the ark. Adding 20 per cent, to equalize their bulk, we have a 25 384 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. number equal to seven hundred and twenty head of cattle. This, of course, is based upon the theory oi full- grown animals — a proposition which cannot be allowed for a moment, because it is at war with all reason and common sense. We take it for an absolute certainty that all the larger animal species were represented by cubs or young, for the reasons already stated. The young of all classes of the large animals, but especially those of the elephant, rhinoceros, bison, etc., are very slow in their growth and development, and for several years do not ex- ceed the proportions of an adult bear. Those of most of the others are even smaller, as cattle, the moose, deer, etc. It would be safe, therefore, to compute the average size of all as equal to \\\q bear, agreeably to the basis of Raleigh and Aristotle. Instead, therefore, of '720 head of cattle, we now have 720 hears to provide for, the aggre- gate of whose bulk occupies the same relation to the former as their weight. That is, if the t20 cattle averaged 1,200 lbs. each, the bears would not average more than 300 lbs., or one fourth. This, we think, is a liberal allowance, and contemplates cubs more than one-half developed (for weight generally increases only with the adult animal) Instead of 864,000 lbs., we thus have but 216^000 lbs., or Instead of the bulk of 120 cattle, we now have that of T20 hears. Now, if we suppose the first floor of the ark to have been apportioned into ranges of stalls, corresponding in size to the animals to be accommodated, an estimate of the quantity of superficial feet, occupied, can readily be formed. Thus, the stalls ranging along the sides of the vessel, might be partitioned into apartments averaging 8 feet in lateral depth, and 6 feet in width. The ark being 600 feet long, would thus afford two hundred stalls of this uniform width. The animals being reduced to the average size of bears, three and a half of them could be accommo- dated in each stall, and leave abundant room for their AERANGEMENT OP THE ANIMALS IN THE ARK 385 movement backward and forward. The Koyal Bengal tiger and his mate, or the African lions, are often confined in the cages of menageries, to areas relatively very much smaller. Allowing three and a half animals, therefore, to each stall, we can provide for seven hundred in the two ranges along the sides. We thus dispose of all the large animals, except twenty, which can be hereafter provided for in other stalls. We have thus taken sixteen feet from the one hundred feet width of the ark. Allowing two passages or alleys, each ,3 feet wide, we now erect two other ranges of double stalls, running parallel with the first-mentioned, the entire length of the ark. These, instead of eight feet in depth, will be but Jive ; and instead of six feet in width, will be but four. Two double ranges would thus give 150 to each range, or 600 stalls in all. In these could be ac- commodated the cubs of what may be classed as second- class animals — such as the bear, the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the panther, the jaguar, sheep, swine, goats, etc. Four of the cubs of these animals could be placed in each stall, and we should be able to provide comfortably for 2,400 individuals, or twelve hundred progenitors of species. Allowing 250 species for the 120 large animals, we should thus far have a total of 3,120 animals, and 1,450 species ; while the room thus far occupied is but 48 per cent, of the width of the ark, and perhaps not one-sixtieth part of its actual tonnage capacity. Leaving two other alleys, each 2-J feet wide, we shall again extend two double rows of stalls the whole length of the ark. Instead of five feet in depth, we shall have these hut four ; and instead of four feet in width, we shall make them three. We should thus have two hundred stalls in each range, making for the four ranges, eight hundred in all. These stalls would suffice for the cubs of third class animals — such as dogs, cats, armadillos, sloths, 386 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. chincliillas, foxes, rabbits, pigs, dogs, hares, beavers, wolves, etc. These could be stalled in fours, but we will say an average of three — making a total of 2,400 indi- viduals, and 1,200 species, and summing up an aggregate, thus far, of 5,520 animals, and about 2,650 species. These stalls and alleys have absorbed 21 feet of the width of the ark, which, added to the previous 48 feet, make 69 feet in all. Of the tonnage, not over one-fiftieth part has been absorbed. We now again leave two alleys, each 2J feet wide, and then arrange two more sets of double stalls. These, instead of four, will be 3j feet deep, and instead of three feet in width, will be but two. Consequently, each range will have 300 stalls, or in all, 1,200. In these we shall place the young of the animals of the fourth class — such as civets, weasels, ferrets, martins, pole-cats, sables, otters, moles, Guinea-pigs, squirrels, jerboas, marmots, rats, mice, — though many of them, being aquatic, need hardly be provided for. Four of these could again be accommodated in each stall, making an aggregate of 4,800 animals, and, say, 2,400 species. Added to the others, we have thus far arranged for 10,320 individuals, and 5,050 species. We have occupied 88 feet of the 100 feet Avidth of the ark, leaving 12 feet to our credit. We will appropriate this space to two alleys, each two feet wide, with a double row of stalls down the centre, for a distance of 500 feet, leaving the remainder to be occupied by the cubs of the twent}'- large animals hitherto unprovided for. The stalls thus erected would be 3i feet in depth, by two in width, making altogether 500 stalls. These could be occupied, three, or four, or half a dozen to the stall, by such animals as were hitherto unprovided for — provided, however, that any remain on hand! The stalls would^accommodate at least 2,000, which, added to the previous number, would make in all 12,320 animals, and 6,050 species, or kinds. AKRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS IN THE ARK. 38 Y According to Newton, the ark must have been from fifty-five to sixty feet in perpendicular height or depth. The lower story must therefore have been at least twenty feet in height ; and the second and third, nearly, if not exactly the same,. Now, if this were so, there is no reason why cages for the feathered animals should not have been arranged over all the stalls here mentioned. Allowing a height of eleven feet for all the stalls of the animals, there would remain nine feet for the bird cages ; and arranging these on the basis of the different ranges of stalls, at least twenty thousand birds, and ten thousand species, could be comfortably provided for. This, added to the other, makes 32,320 animals, and 16,050 species I And yet, not more than one-fortieth part of the tonnage capacity of the ark is thus far occupied. The second story, being a mere copy of the first, needs no amplification here. The only animals that yet remain unprovided for, are those of turtles, snakes, lizards, toads, crocodiles, and the numerous species of flies, insects, spi- ders, scorpions, etc. All these, however, it will be readily admitted, could be accommodated in a single row of stalls. The marine and semi-aqueous species, of course, could shift for themselves — including many fowls, insects, and mammals. As not more than half of the actual capacities of the ark could have been occupied by the animals, it may be inferred that a large space was devoted to forage and provisions. But when we bear in mind that all, or most of the animals were young — mere cubs, calves, or lambs — I am unable to perceive the necessity for such an inference. The fact is, comparatively little space was re- quired for such storage. Few of the animals required even straw to lie down upon ; — for if the stalls had a gradual slope into the alleys, covered gutters would con- vey away all the natural excrements, and they could be cleaned as circumstances required. A little hay would be 388 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. relished by some, grains by others, and flesh by all the carniyora. A large number, however, would be fed on milk, to supply which there must have been a special stock of adult cows and goats, as well as flesh for the strictly carnivorous. But one half of the area of the sec- ond story would suffice to store all the forage necessary for a year's voyage. The whole of the third story, and the roofed deck, would thus remain comparatively unoc- cupied ; but we can well suppose that, in addition to animals, Noah had also supplied himself with a stock of plants, vegetaMes, seeds, and fruits, so that, on his return to the impoverished land, he would not long remain with- out the customary necessaries of life. We have thus shown, that, according to the data furnished by the Doubt- ers themselves, there was room for more than thirty thou- sand animals, representing nearly half that number of species ; and that, if there were more, more could easily have been accommodated ! Zoologists may therefore go on, and ransack with impunity every corner of the earth, to multiply species ; but they will find the ark prepared to receive all they can bring forward, and still have abundant room to spare ! I will merely add, in leaving this branch of my subject, that whatever may be thought of the space allotted to the animals by my arrangement of the ark, it far exceeds that usually devoted to the animals in traveling menageries, where, as before re- marked, the Royal Bengal Tigers and African Lions are often confined in cages barely large enough for them to turn round. Moreover, all my arrangements are predi- cated on the basis of Aristotle and Baleigh, and if any mistake has been made, it is theirs, not mine. But, if any exist, it will be found to militate against the doubters of the ark's capacities, and not against those who regard it as sufficiently large to have subserved all the purposes contemplated by the Creator. SUBTERRANEAN STREAMS. 5S9 We now come to consider the flood itself. The animals, whatever their number and variety may have been, were safely disposed in the ark, and it only remains for us to institute some inquiries touching the flood. Here, again, the Bible is explicit : '' In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. And the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth, ^nd the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. And the waters prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days." " The fountains of the great deep broken up" — what is meant by this ? What are the fountains of the great deep ? They are, in part, the springs of water which gush out from the surface of the ground, and underneath rivers, lakes, and oceans. The crust of the earth is per- meated by water. Almost everywhere, by digging a hole ten, fifty, or a hundred or more feet deep, according to the position of the strata, water will gush forth — the deeper the excavation, the greater the supply. Now, in general, the water thus obtained is accumulated in the fissures of the earth from surface drainage. This is evident from the fact that, during seasons of drought, many springs are temporarily exhausted. But there are also lakes and great rivers of water in the bowels of the earth, not di- rectly due to surface drainage. In France, in boring for water, the auger suddenly fell a foot or more, when a stream of water rushed forth — thus proving that a reser- voir had been struck. In another instance, after boring 375 feet, fine sand, vegetable matter, and shells of species 390 THE SEVENTH DAY— THE SABBATH. living in the vicinity were brought up, indicating that they must have descended by some passage in the bottom of a river. In Germany, fish were thus brought up, al- though no river existed within many miles. Salt springs, although they are thought to emanate from deposits of rock salt lying at a great depth in the earth, may, in some cases, be due to subterranean drainage from the ocean. The borings for salt, in nearly all the Western States, are scarcely ever less than eight hundred, and many of them are more than fifteen hundred feet. The Artesian wells of Paris are over^ighteen hundred, and that of Charleston, S. C, (if we are not mistaken,) is nearly two thousand feet deep. That recently sunk by Mr. Lauer, of Reading, is nearly two thousand feet deep. So, also, another, in Columbus, Ohio. These deep borings very often pass through the upper formation or system of rocks, into the adjacent ones below, where the water is usually found in anti-synclinal basins ; and as it cannot, therefore, be de- rived from the surface immediately overlying, it follows that it must emanate from a distance, which may be great or small ; and, in the case of salt springs, may proceed from the ocean, or distant salt lakes, or salt deposits. In the State of Michigan, subterranean lakes have been found but a short distance from the surface ; and, in one in- stance, in excavating the track of a railway in that State, a large and deep basin was struck, into which the surface earth disappeared so rapidly, that many of the laborers barely escaped with their lives. The waters were beauti fully clear, and contained myriads of fish of the finest flavor. Such lakes, however, generally occur at a great depth, and their waters are only forced up through the fissures of the rocks by powerful hydrostatic pressure. Artesian wells are borings made through rock, or a stratum of clay, into a more porous or cavernous forma- tion beneath, which, in consequence of such porosity, be- GLACIERS OP MOUNTAINS. 391 comes a storehouse of water. Thus, a valley between two hills or mountains, maj be covered by clay, through which no water will drain. But the slopes of the moun- tain may be sandy, in which case the water will soak through the sand, and accumulate in the valley, under the layer of clay. Now, by boring through the clay, a col- umn of water will rise to the surface, and sometimes shoot up in a fountain, to the height of ten or fifty feet. These are called Artesian wells, because the experiment of sink- ing them was first made in the district of Artois, in France. Limestone formations are almost invariably of a stratified and cavernous structure, and consequently often contain immense stores of water. These reservoirs are generally supplied by surface drainage, and then tapped by springs in the valleys and plains, which form the sources of rivu- lets, creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Where a broad surface of water is presented to the sun, evaporation takes place. The heat of the air absorbs it from the ground, as well as from lakes and oceans. The heat of summer, in a few hours, will lick up all the water of a shallow pond, and bestow it upon vegetation ; or it will gather it into the atmosphere in clouds of vapor, and again spread it over the earth in genial showers. On the summits of all the higher mountains, as those of the Alps, the Himalaya, and the Rocky mountains, the rain congeals, and with the snow, forms stratum upon stratum of sleet and ice. The mass constantly increases until its ten thousand peaks are buried in the clouds — forming, as it were, gigantic stalagmites or steeples, piercing the regions of eternal cold. On the summit of the Alps, the ice and snow thus accumulated, forms plateaux two or three hundred square miles in extent, and varying in thickness from one to three hundred feet. The table-lands are traversed by rivers of melted snow, which are filled with fragments of ice, cut loose from the adjacent 392 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. cones, pyramids, and canoned shores. During the summer, especially after long-continued rains, the rivers and lakes are swollen, and immense bodies of ice are undermined by the water, and borne slowly down the mountain slope. Before they proceed far, however, winter again sets in, and the isolated masses are united by new congelations. While constant additions are thus made to the aggregate bulk, the descending movement, although very slow, and rarely exceeding from one to five hundred feet per year, still continues. The summer always relaxes the icy grasp of winter, for a short season, and the canon streams cut immense incisions into the mountains of snow, or under- mine the huge cliffs. As they thus become detached, the downward movement proceeds, when finally, reach- ing the precipices of the mountain, the enormous masses slide down with irresistible force. These are termed avalanches. They invariably carry with them immense rocks, trees, gravel, and earth ; and entire villages, and hundreds of people have been destroyed by their unlooked- for visitations. The narrow valleys of the Alps teem with little villages, all of which are more or less exposed to the contingencies of avalanches, which, although very slow in their downward movement until they reach the fatal precipices, are yet certain, if sufficient time be allowed. The glaciers of the Alps vary in their altitude — some being as low down as 3,000 foet, while others ascend to a height of from 1,000 to 8,000 feet. Some of them are fifteen miles long, and are so permanent in their features and characteristics, that they are known by specific names. When these glaciers or avalanches de- scend the mountain, they sometimes stretch across the narrow valleys, and form dams which arrest the water. The water is thus backed, until finally a sluice is cut, and the whole gradually is swept away. If, however, the avalanche descends into the ocean, it becomes an iceberg, ICEBERGS IN THE ATLANTIC. 393 and it is then floated about, until the ice gradually melting, the rocks, trees, gravel, and mud, are deposited in irre- gular heaps or lines over the bottom of the sea. Such deposits, when they occur in heaps, are styled moraines. Great as are the effects wrought by these high moun- tain avalanches and glaciers, they are mere trifles com- pared with the stupendous icebergs annually sent into the temperate zones, from the Artie regions. The whole Artie circles are covered with snow and ice, and the atmos- phere presents a perpetual winter. Every one who has crossed the Atlantic ocean, must have more or less experience and knowledge of icebergs. Yery often the reminiscences connected with them are of an unpleasant nature — for many a noble vessel has gone down in the fathomless deep by too close a contact with them. A passenger on the steamer Persia, writing to a journal in Mobile, details some of the incidents of such a voyage, and the allusion to icebergs being apropos, I will here introduce an extract : "Then came fog, fog for three days and nights, until one thousand miles were passed — Cape Race and the banks of Newfoundland. Here the air began to be very cold, requiring thick winter clothing, and indica- ting that we were approaching the region of icebergs. Sure enough, on the afternoon of the 9th, while we were at dinner, the cry of "icebergs" was heard through the cabin (a convenient excuse for many to leave the table, as the sea was a little rough) ! We rushed on deck, and there, far away, was a dim mass of white substance, which we could not distinguish from land; then another came, very large and grand, about ten miles dis- tant — a grand mountain of ice, like a huge, bold promontory, jutting out into the wild waste of waters, while the waves dashed in foam and spray •upon its cold and barren sides. Then the sunlight flashed over its glassy heights with a dazzling brilliance, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow, from peak to peak, until the mass passed into a shadow, and then appeared like a great mountain of snow, of the purest whiteness, untouched by that which defiles and darkens. To one we passed within half a mile, and could with great distinctness see its hugo sides cut into ridges and gullies, by the streams^ that were trickling down to the ocean ; on the Bummit there seemed the form of a house ; indeed, there was any thing 394 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. there that the imagination could picture out of such fantastic shapes and strange appearances. The cold gushes of wind that swept the ice-fielda came over our vessel like wintry blasts, producing the most intense cold. These are the strange visitors from the unknown regions of the in- hospitable North that break away from the icy fetters of their frozen continents, drifting down by current and breeze, seeking the warm gushes of the treacherous sunlight of a milder clime, which deceives their confidence, and before the huge ice-monsters become conscious of this snare into which they have incontinently drifted, the warm embraces of an enemy are around them, melting away their proud significance into the common level of the waters." When icebergs contain imbedded rocks, and are thrust against the edges of rocky promontories and cliffs, they polish the surface, and leave long parallel grooves and scratches. Many of the rocks of previous formations, occupying the sides and summits of mountains, having been submerged during the flood, have their peaks rounded and their surface smoothed for many miles by the masses of ice and debris which floated over them. " The recent polishing and striation of limestone by coast-ice, carrying boulders even as far south as the coast of Denmark, has been observed by Dr. Forchbaumer, and helps us to conceive how large icebergs, running aground on the bed of the sea, may produce similar furrows on a grander scale. An account was given, so long ago as 1822, by Scoresby, of ice- bergs seen by him drifting along in latitudes 69° and 70° north, which rose above the surface from one to two hundred feet, and measured from a few yards to a mile in circumference. Many of them were loaded with beds of earth and rock, of such thickness that the weight was conjectured to be from fifty to one hundred thousand tons.* A similar transportation of rocks is known to be in progress in the Southern Hemisphere, where boulders included in the ice are far more frequent than in the north. One of these icebergs was encountered in 1839, in mid-ocean, in the antarctio regions, many hundred miles from any known laud, sailing northwards, with a large erratic block firmly frozen into it. In order to understand in what manner long and straight grooves may be cut by such agency, we must remember that these floating islands of ice have a singular steadi- ness of motion, in consequence of the larger portion of their bulk being * Lyell's Elements of Geology, p. 122. DR. KANE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 395 sunk deep under water, so that they are not perceptibly moved by the winds and waves, even in the strongest gales. Maury had supposed that the magnitude commonly attributed to icebergs by unscientific navi- gators was exaggerated; but now it appears that the popular estimate of their dimensions has rather fallen within than beyond the truth. Many of them, carefully measured by the ofl5cers of the French Exploring Ex- pedition of the Astrolabe, were between one hundred and two hundred and twenty-five feet high above water, and from ttoo to Jive miles in length. Captain D'Urville ascertained one of them, which he saw floating in the Southern Ocean, to be thirteen miles long and one hundred feet high, with perfectly vertical walls. The submerged portions of such islands must, according to the weight of ice relatively to sea-water, be from six to eight times more considerable than the part which is visible, so that the mechanical power they exert, when fairly set in motion, must be prodigious." Persons living in the temperate zones can entertain but a feeble idea of the extent and power of the glacial influ- ences of the polar regions. Much information has recently been obtained from the explorations of the late Dr. Kane, who, for three years, sailed through towering icebergs, or was hemmed in during the winter by frozen seas, and glacial precipices, and lands whose dust was drifted snow, and whose rocks were massive ribs of ice. His little crew were sometimes reduced to the last stages of human en- durance, suffering, starvation, and disease, in a climate where the breath of man's nostrils would congeal, and his blood stagnate into torpidity. Even in the month of August, they were frozen in for the ensuing winter while attempting to reach the settlements of Greenland, after having delineated nearly one thousand miles of coast- line. The amount of travel to effect this exploration exceeded two thousand miles, and was performed solely on foot and by dog-teams. *' On one occasion, during this coast-exploration," says Doctor Kane, "we were made aware of a remarkable feature of our travel.* We were * Arctic Explorations, vol. i. p. 92. 396 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. on a table or shelf of ice, which clung to the base of the rocks overlooking the sea, but itself overhung by steep and lofty cliffs. Pure and beautiful as this icy highway was, huge angular blocks, some many tons in weight, were scattered over its surface; and long tongues of worn-down rock oc- casionally issued from the sides of the cliffs, and extended across our course. The cliffs measured one thousand and ten feet to the crest of the plateau above them. They were," adds Dr. K., in a note, " they were of tabular magnesian limestone, with interlaid and inferior sandstone. Their height, measured to the crest of the plateau, was nine hundred and fifty feet— a fair mean of the profile of the coast. The height of the talus of debris, where it united with the face of the cliff, was five hundred and ninety feet, and its angle of inclination between 38° and 45°." "We pushed forward on this ice-table shelf as rapidly as the obstacles would permit, though embarrassed a good deal by the frequent water-courses, which created large gorges in our path, winding occasionally, and gener- ally steep-sided. We had to pass our sledge carefully down such inter- ruptions, and bear it upon our shoulders, wading, of course, through water of an exceedingly low temperature." . . . "On the 1st of September, still following the ice-belt, we found that we were entering the recesses of another bay but little smaller than that in which we had left our brig. The limestone walls ceased to overhang us; we reached a low fiord, and a glacier blocked our way across it. A succession of terraces, rising with symmetrical regularity, lost themselves in long parallel lines in the dist- ance. They were of limestone shingle, and wet with the percolation of the melted ice of the glacier. Where the last of these terraced faces abutted upon the sea, it blended with the ice-foot, so as to make a frozen compound of rock and ice. Here, lying in a pasty silt, I found the skele- ton of a musk ox. The head was united to the atlas ; but the bones of the spine were separated about two inches apart, and conveyed the idea of a displacement produced rather by the sliding of the bed beneath, than by a force from without. The paste, frozen so as to resemble limestone rock, had filled the costal cavity, and the ribs were beautifully polished. It was to the eye an imbedded fossil, ready for the museum of the col- lector. ... I am minute in detailing these appearances, for they connect themselves in my mind with the fossils of the Eischoltz cliffs and the Siberian alluvions. I was startled at the facility with which the silicious limestone, under the alternate energies of frost and thato, had been incorporated with the organic remains. It had already begun to alter the structure of the hones, aud in several instances the vertebrce icere entirely enveloped in travertin. The table-lands and ravines round about this coast abound in such remains. Their numbers, and the manner in which they are scattered, imply that the animals made their migrations ia droves, as is the case with the reindeer now. Within the area of a few DR. KANE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 39 1 acres, we found seven skeletons and numerous skulls ; these all occupied the snow-streams or gullies that led to a gorge opening on the ice-belt, and might thus be gathered in time to one spot, by the simple action of the water-shed." In a note, Dr. K. adds, "A reindeer skull found in the same gorge was completely fossilised. That the snow waters around Rensselaer Harbor held large quantities of carbonate of lime in solution, was proved not only by the tufaceous deposit which incrusted the masses, but by actual tests. The broken down magnesian limestones of the upper plateau readily explain this." . . On the 4th of September, in detail- ing the incidents of the day or two previous, the Doctor again remarks in a note: " This halt was under the lee of a large boulder of greenstone^ measuring fourteen feet in its long diameter. It had the rude blocking out of a cube, but was rounded at the edges. The country for fourteen miles around was of the low-bottom series; the nearest greenstone must have been ma-ny miles remote. Boulders of syenite were numerous ; their line of deposit nearly due north and south." "Our progress on the 5th was arrested by another bay much larger than any we had seen since entering Smith's Straits. It was a noble sheet of water, perfectly open, and thus in strange contrast to the ice out- side. The cause of this, at the time, inexplicable phenomenon, was found in a roaring and tumultuous river, which, issuing from a fiord at theinner sweep of the bay, rolled with the violence of a snow-torrent over a broken bed of rocks. This river, the largest probably yet known in North Greenland, was about three quarters of a mile wide at its mouth, and admitted the tides for about three miles; when its bed rapidly ascended, and could be traced by the configuration of the hills as far as a large inner fiord. I called it Mary Minturn river, after the sister of Mr. Henry Grinnell. Its course was afterward pursued to an interior glacier, from the base of which it was found to issue in numerous streams, that united in a single trunk about forty miles from its mouth. . . I shall never forget the sight, when, after a hard day's walk, I looked out from an al- titude of eleven hundred feet upon an expanse extending beyond the eightieth parallel of latitude. Far off on my left was the western shore of the Sound, losing itself in distance toward the north. To my right, a rolling primary' country led on to a low, dusky, wall-like ridge, which I afterward recognized as the great Glacier of Humboldt ; and still beyond this, reaching northward from the north-north%ast, was the land which now bears the name of Washington. . . The great area between was a solid sea of ice. Close along its shore, almost looking down upon it from the crest of our lofty station, we could see the long lines of hom- mocks dividing the floes like the trenches of a beleaguered city. Fur- ther out, a stream of icebergs, increasing in number as they receded, showed an almost impenetrable barrier; since I could not doubt that 398 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. among their recesses the ice was so crushed as to be impassable by the sledge." In a note, in explanation of the previous remark that Hum" boldt Glacier connected the two continents of America and Greenland, the Doctor observes that all "Arctic America, north of Dolphin and Union Straits, is broken up into large insular masses, and may be con- sidered as a vast archipelago." " Grinnell land," he says, "cannot be re- garded as part of the continent of America; while Washington land seems, in physical character and position, to be a sort of middle ground." In the second volume of Dr. Kane's Arctic Explorations, page 146, some interesting phenomena touching glaciers, are described. "The bend of this glacier, (that named after Humboldt,) is a few de- grees to the west of north. We followed its face afterward, edging in for the Greenland coast, about the rocky archipelago which I have named after the Advance. From one of these rugged islets, the nearest to the glacier which could be approached with any thing like safety, I could see another island, larger and closer in shore, already half covered by the encroaching face of the glacier, and great masses of ice still detaching themselves, and splintering as they fell upon that portion which protruded. Eepose was not the characteristic of this seemingly solid mass; every feature indicated activity, energy, movement. The surface seemed to follow that of the basis-country over which it flowed. It was undulating about the horizon, but as it descended toward the sea, it represented a broken plain, with a general inclination of some nine degrees, still dimin- ishing toward the foreground. Crevasses, in the distance mere wrinkles, expanded as they came nearer, and were crossed almost at right angles by long continuous lines of fracture, parallel with the face of the glacier. These lines, too, scarcely traceable in the far distance, widened as they approached the sea, until they formed a gigantic stairway. It seemed as though the ice had lost its support below, and that the mass was let down from above in a series of steps. Such an action, owing to the heat derived from the soil, the excessive sui-face drainage, and the constant abrasion of the sea, must in reality^ take place. . . . The indication of a great pro- pelling agency seemed to be just commencing at the time I was observing it. These split-off lines of ice Avere evidently in motion, pressed on by those behind, but still widening their fissures, as if the impelling action was more and more energetic nearer the water, till at last they floated away in the form of ice-bergs. Long files of these detached masses could be traced slowly sailing off into the distance, their separation marked by dark parallel shadows — broad and spacious avenues near the eye, but THE HUMBOLDT QLAOIER. 399 narrowed in the perspective to mere lines. A more impressive illustra- tion of the forces of Nature can hardly be conceived. Regarded upon a large scale, I am satisfied that the iceberg is not dis- engaged by debacle, as I once supposed. So far from falling into the sea, broken by its weight from the parent glacier, xirisesfrom the sea. The process is at once gradual and comparatively quiet. The idea of icebergs being discharged, so universal among systematic writers, and so recently admitted by myself, seems to me now at variance with the regulated and progressive actions of Nature. Developed by such a process, the thou- bands of bergs which throng these seas, should keep the air and water in perpetual commotion, one fearful succession of explosive detonations and propagated waves. But it is only the lesser masses falling into deep waters which could justify the popular opinion. The enormous manses of the great glacier are jiropelled, ktep by step, and year hy year, until, reach' ing water capable of sujiportiug them, they are floated off to be lost in the temperature of other regions. " The crevasses bore the marks of dii-ect fracture, and the more gradual action of surface-drainage. The extensive water-shed between their con- verging planes, gave to the icy surface most of the hydrographic features of a river system. The ice-born rivers which divided them were margined occasionally with spires of discolored ice, and generally lost themselves in the central areas of the glacier before reaching its foreground. . . . The height of this ice-wall, at the nearest point, was about three hundred feet, measured from the water's edge ; and the unbroken right line of its dimin- ishing perspective showed that this might be regarded as its constant measurement. It seemed, in fact, a great icy table-land, abutting with a clean precipice against the sea."* We have made these extracts from the work of the lamented Kane, our indomitable countryman, for the pur- pose of impressing upon the reader the extraordinary ex- tent and nature of the Glacial mountains, seas, and deserts of the North and South poles. No conception of this can well be formed by persons who have paid no previous attention to the subject — they are not prepared to realize the fact that, for thousands and thousands of miles, no- thing but these stupendous glaciers, drifted snows, and ice- covered seas meet the eye of the explorer, and the navi- gator. The glaciers of the Alps and of other mountains * Arctic Explorations, vol. li. 26 400 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. that rear their peaks into the upper atmosphere, although extensive, when considered as belonging to latitude^ strictly temperate, are yet the merest nothings when compared with those of the Arctic zones. Now, it is a singular fact, that after volcanic action had comparatively exhausted itself in the middle belts of the earth, it was transferred to the poles. Whether this was due to the fact that, after the deposition of the great con- tinents, the polar circles became the weakest parts of the earth's crust, or whether they still retained their bituminous inflammability, after other districts had parted with it, is a question which it would be useless for me to discuss here. But it is nevertheless true, that toward the close of the Tertiary period and the dawn of the present geologi- cal epoch, both the polar regions of the globe simul- taneously became the theatres of the most violent and terrific volcanic action, the effects of which we propose briefly to consider. Dr. Kane, in the extracts we have given, has sufficiently indicated the primitive geological character of the arctic country. Whenever he found boulders or erratic blocks, they proved to be greenstone, porphyry, syenite, or amyg- daloid. We have before remarked, in the earlier part of this work, the primary origin of the entire northern por- tions of the continents of America and Asia. Most of these regions remained undisturbed, covered only with accumulating snows and ice, during all the subsequent geological periods ; but after the Tertiary, the whole northwest coast of Greenland, and the northeast border of Baffin's Bay, became the theatre of the most violent volcanic eruptions. An uninterrupted chain of extinct volcanoes stretch all around, and over the entire frozen country explored by our great geographer — a country which presented to his feet the very antipodes of previous heat and present cold. Nor was the volcanic action con- THE ERA OF VOLCANIC ACTION. 401 fined to that particular region. Nearly every portion of the earth, except America, came more or less under its influence ; but, as we observed before, the Arctic Zones were in this instance the chief centres of its operations. Along the Asiatic coast of the Pacific, including all the islands outside of the sea of Okhotsk, that of Japan, and of China, many thousands of small islands were elevated above the ocean, most of which were wholly unknown until recently, and every day reveals new ones. Thou- sands of islands, and groups of islands, some of them by no means inconsiderable in size, have been ^us redeemed from the waste of waters since the Tertiary period, or since the creation of man. The American coast is scarcely less prolific, but they are all confined to that Of the Pacific. The extensive chain of mountains known as the Andes, the Cordilleras, and the Pocky mountains, extending through South America to Oregon, are for the most part volcanic ; and although they were in action during previous geological eras, they again poured forth their streams of lava after the Tertiary, and at irregular inter- vals of time, continue to do so even now. The greater portion of ]^^orth America — in fact the whole of it, with the exception of the extreme northern parts, and a narrow belt along the Atlantic slope, already mentioned, was un- affected ; but nearly the entire surface of Europe was simultaneously convulsed and disruptured from one end of it to the other. Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and all the northern coast of the Mediter- ranean, into Asia Minor, and thence east to Persia, was an almost uninterrupted theatre of volcanic fury. The Ural mountains, and those of the Altai ranges in Central Asia, were affected to some extent, while nearly the whole of India, and the southeastern slopes of tha Indian Ocean, shared in a common and almost universal disturbance. This was emphatically the era of volcanic 402 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. action, both on the land and beneath the seas ; and Moses says truly, that " the fountains of the great deep were broken up. " With the single exception of North America, the volcanoes were distributed all over the world ; and in many portions entire regions were engulfed in their simultaneous action. While thousands of islands were thus rising from the ocean, what was the effect in the polar circles — among the mountains, deserts, and seas of ice ? Yolcanic eruptions in these regions would, of course, produce peculiar and extraordinary effects. They would not only crack and split the rocks, but inject upward the usual streams of red-hot liquid lava. This, coming in contact with the exterior ice and snow, would hurl the loftiest glacial mountains from their base, and send up columns of boiling water into the freezing air. The very opposites of elemental qualities would thus meet in angry combat. Glaciers, that reared their hoary beards into the clouds, would be precipitated into the adjacent seas — while the ordinary water courses would be swollen into mighty and resistless torrents — carrying with them the red-hot cinders and boulders thown in their way. Where the heat was greatest, the ice and snow would mingle in their original fluidity ; but in those points less affected, w.ountains of glaciers would slide from the heated rocks, and be borne off into the seas. The mighty volume of waters, now bearing thousands of these massive icebergs, loaded with earth and debris, are now borne off by the currents of the ocean, which sweep around the continents of Asia, Africa, and America. Those of the North Pole move toward the south ; while those of the South Pole move toward the north. The waters rush on, and as they proceed, encounter thousands of terrific volcanoes, burst- ing up from the oceans — "the fountains of the great deep." The waters still increase — the gigantic-rock- freighted icebergs still multiply The atmosphere of the THE FLOOD OVERFLOWING THE EARTH. 403 temperate zones becomes suddenly refrigerated, while that of the poles is, for a time, moderated. The dense moisture of the icebergs envelops the world in fogs and vapor. The clouds of thick sulphurous mist, rise higher and higher, while the icebergs still pour in with every suc- ceeding wave. The moisture is rarified in universal auroras ; electricity is generated ; heaven's artillery pre- pares to enter the elemental strife, and detonates its threatening thunder. Anon the ''windows of heaven are opened," and then descends rain in ceaseless torrents. Still the waters rise higher and higher — still the long islands of icebergs, laden with rocks, and trees, and mud, pour in from the north and the south — still the waters are enveloped in dense vapor — while in terrific and over- whelming showers — "The impetuous rain descends, Nor from his patrimonial heaven alone Is Jove content to pour his vengeance down ; But from his brother of the seas he craves To help him with auxiliary waves. Then with his mace the monarch struck the ground, — With inward trembling earth received the wound, And rising streams a ready passage found. Now seas and earth were in confusion lost, — A world of waters, and without a coast." The crust of the earth now quakes and shudders, while bleeding red-hot scoriae, from ten thousand gaping pores. The expansive force of the exploding gases — the continu- ous upward pressure of the volcanic currents, draws the water secreted in the bowels of the earth to the surface ; all the reservoirs are broken up, and the strata become dis- jointed, twisted, and melted. The fusion of the cavernous and disjointed rocks, occasions their subsequent contrac- tion and solidification, while the waters themselves having suddenly passed from icy coldness to that of boiling heat, 404 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. expand to nearly twice their usual volume. The disrup- turing of the earth, and of the floor of the sea, thus liberating the boiling water and liquid lava of the volcanoes, added immeasurably to the extent of the flood, while the subsequent subsidence and solidification of the interior crust of the earth, caused the whole surface of the earth to he overflowed ! The " fountains of the great deep are broken up" indeed, and water, in its most powerful, ex- cited, and irresistible form, again sweeps over the land, and asserts its dominion in the air I The mountains, none of which had yet attained their full-grown height (the Alps, the Himalaya, the Altai, the Urals, Andes, Alle- ghanies — all were growing in altitude with the varying movements that originally raised them up), were now covered by the triumphant waves. Neptune, enthroned in clouds of rain, with his brother Jove, reigned supreme over the sea, earth, and air ! The people of the Eastern and Middle States are all familiar with the action of ice-freshets upon their rivers — such as the Ohio, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Penobscot, Connecticut, etc. The sources of these rivers are in the mountains, which, during the winter, accumu- late deposits of snow. In the spring, when the sun sends forth his rays to waken nature from her torpor, these snows are melted. The water, pouring into the main river from a thousand swollen rivulets, produces a sudden enlargement. The ice that covered the streams during the winter is also suddenly broken up by the influx of waters, and then hurried down the agitated stream. Where the river contracts between high banks or hills, the ice gorges or wedges itself across the channel. For a time, the ice and water are both arrested, and then flow back, overleaping the shores, and forming a succession of steps and terraces. When the river has accumulated suf- ficient water to break through or override the narrow FLOODS IN RIVERS AND OCEANS. 405 obstruction, the whole mass again moves forward, and bears along with it trees, rocks, fences, and sometimes stables, houses, and bridges. These freshets occur in nearly every river on the globe. " The effusion of only a part of the ices of the Cordilleras in Peru," says St. Pierre, in his Studies of Nature, " is sufficient to produce an an- nual overflow of the Amazon, of the Orinoco, and of sev- eral other great rivers of the New World, and to inundate a great portion of Brazil, of Guiana, and of the Terra Firma of America ; that the melting of part of the snows on the Mountains of the Moon, in Africa, occasions every year the inundations of Senegal, contributes to those of the Nile, and overflows vast tracts of country in Guinea, and the whole of Lower Egypt ; and that similar effects are annually reproduced in a considerable part of Southern Asia, in the kingdoms of Bengal, of Siam, of Pegu, and of Cochin- China, and in the districts watered by the Tigris, the Euphrates, and many other rivers of Asia, which have their sources in chains of mountains perpetually covered with ice, namely, Taurus and Iraaus."* It may be assumed that what the occasional extraordinary over- flows of these rivers are to the particular regions which they drain, are the still rarer overflows of oceans in respect to the comtinenis which they drain. The parallel between them may be wide, but it is nevertheless correct ; for while the floods of rivers are more frequent, those of oceans, we are well assured by geology, have been no less regular and periodical. But what evidence have we of the submergence of the mountains ? We have, firnt, the evidence of the Bible, which is reliable beyond all other evidence — beyond the evidence even of our eyes and senses ; because all these organs may and do deceive us, but the Bible never. Sec- ■* Studies of Mature, by EtTuardin t-l. Pierre. 406 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. ondly, we have the evidence of Nature, also a reliable witness ; and thirdly, the traditions of man himself, in all parts of the earth. All these declare the universality of the flood, and that all the mountains were alike over- flowed. The Bible, however, does not aver that all the moun- tains overflowed bj the deluge were as high as they are now; nor, aside from the flood, have we any reason to suppose that they were. The Himalaya range, we have reason to believe, did not exist as mountains before the Tertiary ; neither did the Alps. The Alleghanies rose after the Carboniferous era ; but their rise was also gradual : and so, with but a few exceptions, was that of nearly all the lofty mountains of the earth. The earth itself was not made in a day ; and it would be the height of nonsense to claim that the mountains, which form its ribbed axes, were. But granting, for the sake of argument, that all the moun- tains before the flood were as high as they are now — what is gained ? All the mountains are or were covered with diluvion — most of them with erratic boulders, and the moraines of icebergs. How are we to explain this phe- nomenon ? Geologists, with universal accord, assume that the mountains have been sunk under the level of the sea, and then again elevated. In some instances, indeed, this supposed subsidence and elevation has occurred re- peatedly, at long geological intervals — for in no other way can the alternation oi marine, land, and fresh-water strata be accounted for. In truth, most geologists assign greater stability to the seas than to terra fir ma. " While we have no evidence," says High Miller, " that the sea-level has changed during at least the ages of the Tertiary for- mations, and absolutely know that it could not have varied more than a few yards, or at most a few fathoms, we have direct evidence that during that time great mountain SUBMERGENCE OF CONTINENTS. 407 chains, many thousand feet in height, such as the Alps, have arisen from the bottom of the ocean, and that great continents have sunk beneath it and disappeared. The hirger parts of Northern Europe and America have been covered by the sea since our present group of shells began to exist. In 1819, a wide expanse of country in the delta of the Indus, containing fully two thousand square miles of flat meadow, was converted, by a sudden depres- sion accompanied by an earthquake, into an inland sea. About three years after this event, a tract of country be- tween the Andes and the Pacific, more than equal to all Great Britain in area, was elevated from two to seven feet over its former level, and rocks laid bare in the sea, which the pilots and fishermen of the coast had never before seen ??* The sea appears to be receding from the shores of Sweden at the rate of four vertical feet per century ; while on the coasts of Greenland (as also remarked by Dr. Kane) it appears to be advancing at a rate somewhat more considerable. But while Miller and all cotemporary geologists thus assume the repeated subsidence and sub- mergence of elevated plateaux, mountain ranges, and vast continents, none of them attribute any operating or aux- iliary effects to the flood. The sea, they maintain, is stationary, and, with the exception of its tidal variations, always maintains its level. Both geologists and Christian- Infidels (if I may coin a severe term) therefore unite in elaborating very ingenious but very flimsy pretexts to utterly destroy the idea of a universal deluge, and with it all the co-ordinate ideas of a primary central creation of man and animals, and several other leading doctrinal pillars of Revelation. They would thus pull down the whole fabric of Christian faith under the pretext of " har- * Hugh Miller, Testimony of the Rocks. 408 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH, monizing^^ Kevelation with Geology I The foundation of their argument against the universality of the deluge amounts to this : that there was an insufficiency of water. They all tell us that the whole earth originated from the deep, and that continents were afterward repeatedly sub- merged ; but, in the ease of this particular flood, there could not have been sufficient water to cover the high mountains ! This, to be plain, is nothing but the argu- ment of fools ! Besides which, it betrays the most con- summate hypocrisy. In his account of Canada and the tJnited States, in 1845, Sir Charles Lyell announced the conclusion to which he had then arrived, '' that to explain the position of the erratics, and the polished surfaces of rocks, and their striae and flutings, we must assume first a gradual sub- mergence of the land in North America, after it had ac- quired its present outline of hill and valley, cliff and ravine, and then its re-emergence from the ocean. When the land was slowly sinking, the sea which bordered it was covered with islands of floating ice, coming from the north, which, as they grounded on the coast and on shoals, pushed along such loose materials of sand and pebbles as lay strewed over the bottom. By this force all angular and projecting points were broken off, and fragments of hard stone, frozen into the lower surface of the ice, had power to scoop out grooves in the subjacent solid rock. The sloping beach, as well as the floor of the ocean, might be polished and scored by this machinery ; but no flood of water, however violent, or however great the quantity of detritus or size of the rocky fragments swept along by it, could produce such long, perfectly straight and parallel furrows, as are everywhere visible in the Niagara dis- trict, and generally in the region north of the 40th parallel of latitude." The principles of continental subsidence here presented, UNIVERSALITY OF THE FLOOD PROVED. 409 the distinguished writer also applies to Europe, and argues the case at considerable length. But, it will be observed, he could not restrain a passing kick at the No- achian flood — "no fiood of water, however great the quantity of its detritus, could produce such long and par- allel furrows in the subjacent rock." ''This," he says, *' was the work of icebergs ;" — and who, /or one moment, disputes it^ Does the Bible say or intimate, that there could have been no icebergs ? Still less does the Bible intimate that there was no sinking down of continents. Water was wanted ; a universal deluge was decreed ; and it was therefore necessary to " break up the fountains of the great deep," not only to obtain icebergs, but water in every form in which it existed on the earth or in the air. The subsidence of entire continents is thus admitted, not only by one, but by all geologists, properly so called. Many of them, as I said before, demand the submergence of continents and of particular districts, again and again, so as to account for the alternation of strata. But the submergence in this case was the most recent — the very last that occurred on the earth. We know that it occurred during or toward the close of the Tertiary, and we know that it has not occurred during the present historic era of man. The highest mountain ranges on the globe, as the Himalaya, the Alps, and the Andes, are strewn with Tertiary remains, and are scratched with Diluvial ice- bergs and glaciers, while their slopes and valleys are filled with boulders and moraines. We can thus trace the flood, or the ''breaking up of the fountains of the deep," to the age of Noah. All co-ordinate circumstances lead directly to that particular lime ; and when thus hemmed in, on all sides, there is no longer any other alternative but to believe that it occurred exactly as the Bible describes it. There is no other alternative. 410 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. How, then, are we to account for this last submergence of continents ? The geologists universally demand their subsidence and submergence, but thej do not volunteer to enlighten us as to the modus operandi. Lyell presumes that it was "gradual ;" all his theories, indeed, are on a graduated scale. I have already intimated the cause to which I refer it, namely, the renewal of volcanic action, simultaneously, in nearly every portion of the globe. Volcanic eruptions, such as have already been described, would break up the " fountains of the deep," and this was the preliminary commencement of the flood that ensued. Expelling the water from its subterraneous caverns, and consolidating the strata in a general fusion and contrac- tion, would have the effect of lowering the surface of the earth, and especially of the higher mountains. We must constantly bear in mind that, while the rocky material omposing the crust of the earth is from ten to fifty or a hundred miles in thickness, the whole mass is extremely porous, and like a sponge, becomes the receptacle of immense reservoirs of water, as already described. We find caverns near the surface, like those of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, or Weyer's, or Madison's in Virginia, extending from ten to fifty miles in length. There are many thousands such on the earth, as yet unexplored. It is only when they occur near the surface that we ob- tain any knowledge of them ; but we know, from the phenomena of mineral and thermal springs, that many others of a similar character exist at great depths in the earth — far below the system of rocks prevailing near th^ surface. The effect of volcanic action is to expel the water jt)f such caverns and fissures, compress and solidify the strata, and absorb their gases. At the same time, volcanoes form the nucleus of all mountains, and throw up islands in the midst of the ocean. Mountains are, in fact; nothing but protuberances on the crust of the earth, ABSENCE OP FOSSILS IN THE DILUVIUM. 411 and in extent, bear the same relation to it that a mere cutaneous pimple or boil bears to a man's body. When the blood becomes stagnant and corrupt, the system en- deavors to expel the foul humors through the pores of the skin. This engenders fever or heat ; the body is covered with eruptions, expelling putrid matter ; but after such eruptions, the cuticle again resumes its natural position. It is thus with volcanic mountains. They are protuber- ances, emitting gaseous matter from a distempered earth, — upon the discharge of which they relapse, or the crust subsides, until new gaseous secretions have accumulated. The natural springs of the earth may be compared to the pores of man's skin — since their obvious office is to dis- charge the humors of the interior ; and whenever these become inefficient or inadequate, eruptions are certain to follow, and the fluid vessels of the earth are proportion- ally depleted. Thus whole continents are lowered, and again elevated by expansion ; and this, we have every reason to infer, was the condition of the earth during the Noachian deluge. But, say the doubters : if continents were submerged, during the era of man, the diluvium should contain his re- mains and those of his associate animals ; whereas, there is a very evident scarcity or absence of fossils, of every description, in that formation. This, however, instead of being an objection, is only a confirmation of the truth of a previous remark of mine, viz., that the land animals outside of the original circle of the Adamite creation, were extremely few, but that all which were outside, and had no specific representatives in the central creation, necessarily became utterly extinct after the deluge. The universality of the flood is not only indicated in this fact, but it also effectually disproves the theory of the plurality of creative centres, of which some writers claim from three to six for man, ten to fifteen for animals, and from twenty 412 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. to thirty for vegetation I If the fossils are scarce or. totally absent, (as they generally are,) in the diluvial strata, and confined mainly to species extinct, what be- comes of the great bug bear of Geology, as to the antedi- luvian fauna having extended all over the earth ? If it really extended over all the continents, where are its re- mains to he found '^ If man inhabited America before the flood, let the geologists show us his fossil remains, or traces of his work. If the cotemporary animals of man, such as were necessary to his sustenance, as the sheep, cattle, fowls, horses, camels, dogs, etc., — if these inhabited America before that event, be kind enough to let us see their fossil bones. 1 am aware that, in South Carolina, a pretended discovery of such bones has recently been made ; but it will require something more than isolated and scattered teeth to demonstrate that they really be- longed to the domestic animals of man, and that they lived here anterior to the Adamite creation. Their re- mains, if genuine, are found in deposits, and under geo- logical circumstances too closely related to the present, to raise them to the dignity of a position from which to contradict the order of physical cosmogony and the revela- tions of the Creator. There is a large class of "sensation" geologists, who are ever on the qui vive for something new and startling. Their little pamphlets, printed at their own expense, but circulated under the ostensible auspices of learned Scientific Academies, are distributed with pro- fuse liberality, and are almost invariably directed against the common target — Moses and the order of divine crea- tion. If the Bible had not been an inspired work, it would have been buried in contempt and oblivion many centuries ago ; but fortunately, all the assaults of the devil, and the insidious pamphlets of his Scientific coadju- tors, only excite the spirit of investigation, which iavari- aUy discloses its solemn and benignant truths like the GEOLOGICAL ABSURDITIES. 413 effulgent beams of the sun, peering tlirougli the dark and flimsy mists of the horizon. ^ The extinct species of animals belonging to the diluvial, are well known. They are of a character distinct and sep- arate from most of those now living, although their bones sometimes occur side by side. The gigantic Mastodon, the Castoroides Ohioensis, the Myladon, Capabara, Meg- alonyx, and others, are strewn over the diluvial plains of the South and West, and sufficiently attest the destructive effects of the deluge. Lyell, however, having found the bones of the Mastodon in fluviatile beds in New York, containing shells of the genera Melania, Lymnea, Planor- bis, Cyclas, Unio, etc., all of recent and existing species, goes on to shdW that the Straits of Niagara cut through these shell-deposits, and that, therefore, the Mastodon must be of cotemporary age with the shells, and that all are more ancient than the Falls, the erosion or retrogres- sion of which he estimates at 36,000 years. All this is very astute — very ingenious ; but extremely absurd. Has it never occurred to the distinguished geologist, when contemplating the varied and magnificent phenomena of the Falls, upon which he dwells, in all his books, with so much care and seeming pleasure, that the narrow, deep, perpendicular chasm which affords a grudging outlet to the river, has been repeatedly choked up with the ice pouring down from the cold region of the great lakes which it drains ? When thus choked up, the surrounding country would be overflowed, and the lake of Erie would expand greatly beyond its ordinary extent. During these repeated cataclysms, the sand and clay in which the shells are found were deposited, and the river, in point of fact, never cut through them at all — its narrow channel having been previously cut through the Silurian lime and shale. The surface is alluvial, derived from the lakes in the form of sediment, and scattered over an extensive area by Hi THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. means of small icebergs and muddy slush, in which the shells themselves ^^ere transported and deposited. The Mastodons, and other extinct animals of the diluvian era, wandering over the sandy plains, laid down to die, and their bones were afterward covered up by new accumu- lations of comminuted mud and sand. Who has not ob- served the sand-banks deposited along the sloping shores of rivers after a recent flood or ice-freshet ? Sometimes they are of great extent, and in level districts invade the adjacent country for many miles. The Mississippi often pours its waters, to the depth of eight or ten feet, over the adjacent prairies, not unfrequently twenty or thirty miles from the main channel. The sediment thus deposited is invariably strewn with the characteristic t Jftacea that in- habit the river or its numerous sources. Now, if an old horse should lie down to die on the prairies thus covered with shells and sediment, and his bones afterward be covered over by new accessions of fluviatile silt, no one except geologists of the Lyell school, would have the hardihood to assert that the horse was of the same age as the channel of the Mississippi ! The scarcity of animal species, therefore, in the diluvial sands of the flood, proves, if it proves any thing, that there was but one original centre of creation, from which but a few types had wandered, all of which became extinct im- mediately afterward, or were reproduced by the progenitors left behind in the ark. Man, and all his works, were con- fined to their originally limited geographical sphere — the exact location of which it is now impossible to determine. It seems, however, to have been located somewhere between the Red Sea, the Caspian, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Some suppose it to have been further southeast, between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, in Syria or Arabia ; while others, again, remove it still further east, into India. The greater portion of these THE ORIGINAL SEAT OF MAN. 415 countries is a Tertiary and modern formation — ^having been but recently redeemed from the seas and lakes that drain it. Much of it is sandy desert, or alluvial silt, poured from its great rivers, and whatever remains of the antediluvial era were deposited over the surface, have been obliterated by subsequent races, whose bones and monuments form of themselves the most attractive objects of antiquarian research. In such a region, forming one uninterrupted and exhaustless museum of historical trea- sure, it would be impossible to identify the relics of ages so nearly joined together; and hence the obscurity which must forever surround the remains of the Adamite race. The present age, with all the appliances which highly de- veloped and inquiring mental capacities could bring to bear, has yet found sufficient material upon which to exercise its antiquarian skill, in the buried ruins of Egypt, in its catacombs, pyramids, palaces, cities, and works of art and internal improvement. When this field shall have been exhausted, another still more ancient, and perhaps equally interesting, may be exhumed from the arid deserts that once formed the estuaries of the Mediterranean, and the Black, and the Caspian Seas. It may, however, be worth while here to observe, that the hope of ever finding the remains of the antediluvian race, aside from the difficulties already suggested, are rendered still more remote from another cause. Before the flood, the race of man was necessarily limited in number, as well as in geographical range. But sixteen centuries had elapsed from the creation of Adam — all of which, judging from those mentioned in the Bible attained an extraordinary age. Consequently there could not have been many distinct generations, nor could any of them have reared" works of art of an enduring and imposing character. Their lives were pastoral, and massive build- ings and monuments were unnecessary. But few and 27 416 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. limited as the race was in individuals and in works, it i8 probable that the whole was swept into the sea. If, indeed, the deluge had been stationary and permanent, man's remains might be looked for in the alluvial silt covering his original habitat ; but it came on suddenly, and then receded, like the ebbing of a tide. The bodies, obeying the same law which exists now, under similar circumstances, would float off with the tide, and would finally lodge in the bottom of the adjacent seas, or perhaps be borne to great distances in the ocean. Decomposition would ensue with rapidity — for it is a great mistake to suppose, as St. Pierre has shown, that because the waters of the ocean are salt, they are therefore preservative of ani- mal matter. Sea-^^ 'ter is saline, but it is not a pickle. If a bottle be filled in a tropical climate, decomposition will soon occur, when it becomes nauseous and putrid. The very saltness of the sea is supposed to proceed from the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter, pouring into it from all quarters of the earth. The ocean is a common sewer or cess-pool, into which all the filth of the earth is emptied, and from which, by the movement of its waves, salt is distilled. It is properly a lixivial, and can, therefore, readily decompose any organic substance introduced into it. If the Adamite race had been wafted into such waters, it is plain that all traces of it would soon disappear, and be forever lost to the curious specu- lations of modern paleontologists and comparative anato- mists. Before leaving this branch of the subject, I shall notice one or two additional points suggested by the anti- Noachians. "Of the creatures that live on vegetables,'^ says Hugh Miller, "many are restricted in their food to single plants, which are themselves restricted to limited localities, and remote regions of the globe. Though these were estimated in 1842, to consist of no fower than five HUGH MILLER ON THE DELUGE. 417 hundred and fifty thousand species, they might yet be accommodated in a comparatively limited space. But how extraordinary an amount of miracle would it not re- quire to bring them all together into any one centre, or to preserve them there ! Many of them, like the myriopoda and the thysanura, have no wings, and but feeble loco- motive powers ; many of them, such as the ephemera, and the male ants, live after they have got their wings only a few hours, or at most a few days ; and there are myriads of them that can live upon but single plants that grow in very limited botanic centres. Even supposing them all brought into the ark by miracle as eggs, what multitudes of them would not, without the exertion of further miracle, require to be sent back to their proper habitats, as wing- less grubs, or as insects restricted by nature to a few days of life 1 Or supposing the eggs all left in their several localities to lie under water for a twelvemonth, amid mud and debris — though certain of the hardier kinds might survive such treatment, by miracle alone could the preponderating majority of the class be preserved. And be it remembered, that the expedient of having recourse to supposititious miracle in order to get over a difficulty insurmountable on every natural principle, is not of the nature of argument, but simply an evidence of the want of it. Argument is at an end when supposititious miracle is introduced."* The closing sentence of this paragraph is somewhat anomalous. First, we are told, ''that by miracle alone could the preponderating majority of certain classes of the five hundred and fifty thousand species of insects be pre- served in the ark;" and then we are reminded that, if we establish their preservation by calling in the aid of miracle, or miraculous agency, (the same tiling,) " there is an end ♦ Hugh Miller's Testimony of the Rocks. 418 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. to argument. It seems to me that there is an end to argument in the very terms of the quoted sentence. This whole discussion involves miracles. Mr. Miller himself, in all his books, deals in nothing but miracles ; for all God's works are such. He never consummated a greater miracle than when he created these very insects. " Man the wonderful" scarcely displays nicer or more miraculous functions than the butterfly, the bee, the ant, or the spider. The earth and the heavens are merely stupendous miracles ; and how could the Bible, if it be a faithful reve- lation of God's acts and commands, be otherwise ? It is this very feature, so perfectly consistent with all that we see or know of the Creator, that gives the stamp of authenticity to the sacred volume. Mr. Miller, and all the geologists of his school, profess to believe in that book ; and yet we find them constantly assailing its integrity, because, forsooth J it daals in miracles! If its statements were based upon truths such as man would dictate — such as writers like Miller himself would expound — a new and revised edition would have to appear annually — future generations would have to erase the errors and absurdities of the present, and the present those of the past. But the Bible, based upon the solid truths of God's eternal laws, is the authentic record of miracles — miracles con- nected together as a chain, any single link of which proving false, would precipitate the whole Christian fabric to oblivion. But God's " Creation is no less Than a capacious res"ervoir of means, Formed for his use, and ready at his will." Bnt all this is perhaps foreign to the main question. We are to determine, without resorting to " supposititious miracle," how five hundred and fifty thousand species of minute animals, such as flies, spiders, beetles, locusts, etc., INSECTS IN THE ARK. 419 "were provided for in the ark. First, we have no reason to believe that there are, or ever were, five hundred and fifty thousand species — the largest and .most recent estimate that we have seen not exceeding four hundred thousand. This number, however, is sufficient, and would be equally as formidable as the first, were it not susceptible of very considerable reductions. More than one-half of them are aquatic, spawning in mud and water, and therefore require no more attention than fishes, or the cetacean mammalia. This brings us down to 200,000 species, of which number more than one half are burrowers in the earth, and have the faculty of lying dormant during seasons of cold, no matter how long continued, as worms of every descrip- tion, grubs, ants, and thousands of other minute and nameless creatures, which it would be out of the question here to describe. The whole earth, however, teems with them, and a moment's reflection on the part of my reader will recall myriads of different species to his recollection. Of the remaining 100,000 species, nearly all of them are natives or frequenters of the forest, the orchard, or the garden. They secrete themselves or their invisible larvse (visible, for the most part, only by the microscope) in the bark of trees, or bore into the solid trunks or roots, and in the partings of decayed stumps and rotten logs. 'No one who has not had some practical experience of forest life, can form the remotest conception of the almost unlimited extent and variety of the creatures which live and generate upon the trees. They are inseparable from vegetation, and are perhaps essential to terminate the life of the giants of the forest ; for there can be no doubt but that their rapid increase ultimately attacks the vitality of trees, and hastens their death. This is familiarly illustrated in the case of fruit and ornamental trees — the ravages of insects, in a single season, destroying not merely single individuals, but entire gardens and parks. 420 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. But we have made no provision for that numerous class of insects which infest animals, as fleas, lice, flies, gnats, and various other parasitic bugs and vermin. This class, also embracing many varieties, is equally inseparable from animal life, no matter under what circumstances it may exist. But besides these, there is still another class, by no means less varied or numerous, which are to be found in the crevices of furniture, houses, ships, barns, granaries, and among stores of every description — embracing spiders of all kinds, stylops, moths, ants, wasps, bed-bugs, roaches, and the whole family of Myriopoda cited by Mr. Miller, All these, I repeat, are inseparable from the substances in and around which they are found. Maggots exist in putrid animal matter — in cheese, in vegetables, in earths and soils. They cannot be eradicated, for their larvae, like that of common flies, is generally invisible. Besides these, there are many species of locusts, caterpillars, beetles, cochineals, dragon-flies, etc., etc., the larvae of which, like that of all the others, is diffused in the secret pores of vegetable, animal, and earthy substances, and generally lie dormant until wakened into life by heat or moisture. The simple truth is, that the great majority of these minute creatures, in their larval condition, exist primarily in the juices of animals and vegetables, precisely as the microscope shows thousands of distinct creatures inhabit- ing a single drop of water. I have already remarked, in the earlier pages of this book, the microscopic revelations of Ehrenberg and others, (among whom I may include my neighbor, Dr. Wythes, of Port Carbon, who has writ- ten a valuable book on the subject, and is perhaps one of the most scientific entomologists of the present age,) by which it appears that a greater number of inhabitants occupy a cubic inch of water than there are human beings on the face of the globe ! Water is water, whether it be EXTRAORDINARY PECULIARITIES OF INSECTS. 421 found in the body of animals, or in trees, plants, and fruits ; and it has been ascertained that no matter how carefully it may be distilled, animalcules still exist in it in one form or another. The author of the Vestiges of Creation refers, at considerable length, to experiments made some years ago, in England, by Messrs. Weeks and Crosse, by which insects of the species acari were elabo- rated from solutions of ferrocyanate of potassium, obtained by boiling salt in distilled water, and then subjecting the solution, under closed vessels, in an atmosphere of pure oxygen, to long-continued electric currents. These ex- periments are cited to prove the soundness of the devel- opment hypothesis, which is based upon the assumption that animal life can and has originated otherwise than ex ovo. Instead, however, of proving any such nonsense, they prove incontestably what has already been men- tioned, and what Ehrenberg, Wythes, and others have demonstrated, that a drop of water is as much a globe to microscopic animalcules as terra firma is to man ; that while water may be changed, mixed, distilled, or heated, the animals or their larvae still remain instinct with life ; and that they perpetuate their respective epecies by spawn so infinitesimally minute, that the highest powers of the microscope cannot detect them^ but which are proven to exist in the ovo of the very insects thus generated by the chemical experiments of 3Iessrs. Weeks and Crosse! But it is an extraordinary fact, that many of these animal- cules, as well as certain species of lice which infest vege- tation, are not only gifted with fecundating properties to perpetuate themselves, but transmit such properties to their female descendants for many succeeding generations. The minute spawn thus generated has, within its indi- viduals, the spawn for other generations ; and so they may continue to multiply, under the most diverse circumstances that the mind can conceive, without incurring the re- 422 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. motest liability of the ultimate extinction of their species. The celebrated Reaumer has proved, that one single female may become the parent, in five generations, of more than five thousand nine hundred and four millions of descendants! The higher species of insects are less prolific, but their nature is better understood. A single flv will generate, in a period of three or four months, a brood of from seven to eight hundred thousand flies ; the wasp will deposit thirty thousand eggs, the queen-bee from forty to fifty thousand, and the moth of the silk- worm from five to six hundred. It is the wonderful fecundity of these animals, and their adaptation to the most obscure and imperceptible retreats and crevices, and the ability of their infinitely minute spawn to resist all the ad- verse circumstances of earth, air, and water, that render the extinction of their species a physical impossibility, so long as earth, air, water, vegetation, and animals remain I "Why has man not a microscopic eye ? For this plain reason : man is not a/y • And for this very plain reason, it is impossible for man to fathom the deep and wonderful mysteries of the great Creator. His works are miracles — laj'ge or small, ani- mate or inanimate, gaseous, liquid, or solid; — all are wrought with a mechanism at once skillful, mysterious, and incomprehensible. I am astonished that a writer of the reputed intelligence and scientific acumen of the late Mr. Miller, should have advanced a proposition so perfectly destitute of signifi- cance, and reflecting so seriously upon his judgment as a Naturalist. He might as well have undertaken to sepa- rate animals or vegetables from the diseases to which they are liable, as to separate them from the parasitic insects INSECTS IN THE ARK. 423 and vermin which thej absorb in water, nourish in their vital juices, and yield up in their putrefying bodies ! Yet we find him exclaiming, with a dogmatic and triumphant air, as if his philosophic vagaries had dealt a stunning blow to the blunt and unaffected statements of the Bible : " But how extraordinary an amount of miracle would it not have required to bring them together into any one centre, or to preserve them there !" On the contrary, the amount of miracle (if it is estimable by bulk) necessary to bring them together, was extremely small — for nearly all the animals of the Adamite creation, as we have al- ready shown, occupied their original centre. The insects dwelt and moved with animals, and fed upon the vegetable and other stores in the ark ; while their spawn remained behind in seas and rivers ; under shelving rocks, and their burrows in the earth, and in the pores of roots and trees ; in perforated stumps and decomposing rubbish, and in nuts, fruits, and plants. Of the four or five hundred thou- sand estimated species of insects and vermin, it was hardly probable that special attention was necessary to the preservation of a single species. Even the bee could shift for herself, locked up in the cavities of trees, amid her stores of manufactured sweets. But this, it may be objected, was in conflict with the divine decree, which ordered all animal life to be extinguished from the earth — "all flesh wherein there is life." So far as the living creatures themselves are concerned, the order was obeyed; but it could have had no application to life in embryo. The myriads of spawn in the earth, and in the recesses of vegetation, were not living animals — they required the nourishing care of nature for their future development, and would only spring into existence with the renewal of vegetable and animal life. But the great bulk of the higher class of insects swarmed td the ark with the ani- mals and their forage, and had their larvas secreted long 424 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. in advance of its embarkation. But inasmuch £,s nothing was said of fishes and cetacea, we have a right to assume that insects stood in a similar relation, especially in view of the fact that the great bulk of them are aquatic and amphibious. Knowing their inseparable identity with vegetation and animals, the Creator was incapable of giving an order to his servant Noah, which it would have been difficult for him to carry out in any other way than that already suggested. The object was to annihilate man, and the order of mammalian animals more directly associated with the economy of the earth. But " myriads of them," continues Miller, "can hve upon but single plants, that grow in very limited botanic centres." If they can only live on certain plants, where would be the propriety of their removal f And does it not follow, as a logical sequence, that if they can only live on such plants, they derive their vitality from them — that the spawn exists in the sap of such trees or plants, while the adult lives as a parasite upon their exudations ? Most trees were not destroyed by submergence ; or, at all events, their roots remained, even though their trunks were de- tached, and scattered over the ground. No injury, there- fore, could result to the larv83 secreted in fheir pores or beneath their bark. But besides all this, water alone would in most cases not injuriously affect the ova or spawn of the great bulk of insects and vermin. Many of them are incubated by moisture and heat ; and the large family of fleas, musquitoes, and various bugs, seem to prefer such situations, and are often found swarming in countless myriads over stagnant pools or along the sea coasts, and in marshy swamps and meadows. ''But," he continues, "even supposing them all brought into the ark by miracle as eggs, what multitudes of them would not, without the exertion of further miracle, require to be sent back to their proper habitats as wingless grubs, or as insects re- SPECnFIC VEGETATION IN GEOLOGICAL ERAS. 425 stricted bv nature to a few days of life !" It is, indeed, painful to notice such innuendos, because they reveal the melancholy truth that, under the pretext of harmonizing God^s law with " science,''^ the writer has no proper con- ception of one or the other. When men betray such con- summate ignorance of the ordinary economy of nature, and of the wonderful powers of recuperation possessed by its microscopic creatures, it is hardly a matter of aston- ishment that they should, with high-sounding words, shows of superficial learning, and with affected zeal and boldness, undertake to question the plainest decrees of the Creator. Although "wingless grubs" exist in cheese, walnuts, fruits, and animal putrefactions, and millions of other similar worms and crawling grubs in filth of every description ; yet this Naturalist is puzzled to know how Noah could have brought them into the ark, and then how he afterward distributed them over the earth ! If Noah himself was puzzled at any thing, it was to know how he could keep them out of his ark ; and if he had a moiety of the common sense usually allotted to human nature, he never gave himself the least uneasiness as to their subsequent geographical distribution. I may here remark, what has already been noticed in my observations on coal, that every successive stratum of the earth appears to be impregnated with the seeds of its own peculiar species of vegetation ; and on consulting the Bible, I find nothing to contradict such a theory, but much to confirm it. The coal measures, wherever they outcrop, are pro- lific in ferns ; and I find precisely the same varieties im- bedded in the rocks below ! It may be assumed that the Carboniferous strata are the true native soils of ferns and all coniferous trees ; and that wherever these soils are brought to the surface, and unaffected by artificial culture, such trees will spontaneously spring into existence, and constitute the prevailing vegetation. It may be objected 426 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. that the seeds could not be preserved in the earth for such an indefinite and incalculable space of time, and that they would become fossilized with the limbs and trunks of the trees. But even in the hardest argillaceous rocks, and more especially in soft slates and shales, what we regard as stone is merely baked comminuted mud ; and we know from experience how the crevices and the interior surfaces of rocks clothe themselves in the most remote and loftiest situations, surrounded by water or by glacial mountains, with vegetation corresponding in every particular to the ancient species. And since God nowhere alludes to new creations of vegetation until he " planted the garden east- ward in Eden," and thus introduced the varied fruits and flowers which the world now enjoys, we have abundant reason to believe that every geological formation has its peculiar species of plants. I therefore lay it down as a theory, based upon my personal observation, that every system of rocks furnishes now, as it did in the past, its peculiar plants, affected only by changes of climate ; and it is in consequence of this fact that we have the unlimited diversity of species and genera which now distiuguishes the earth's crust. And should further investigation cor- roborate this hypothesis, the varied centres of vegetable creations claimed by nearly all botanists, like many other similar propositions that conflict with the Bible, will be forever nailed to the counter. After the creation of man, when the strata of the earth were thrown together upon the surface of the earth, in consequence of previous dis- turbance, God foresaw the intermixture of the seeds thus primarily imbedded, and hence decreed man to the task of cultivating the ground and subduing it. This intermix- ture of seeds must forever continue, so long as water runs, winds blow, or birds and animals migrate. It is a law — a miracle of nature, decreed from the beginning. Although I have already dwelt on this branch of my IDENTITY OF EXTINCT AND LIVING ANIMALS. 42T subject at greater length than I intended, another propo- Bition in Mr. Miller's theory of the deluge, and the one upon which he evidently most relies, common courtes}^ — ad hominem argumentum — requires me to notice. '' The great continents," says Cuvier, " contain species peculiar to each ; insomuch, that, whenever large countries of this description have been discovered, which their situation had kept isolated from the rest of the world, the class of quadrupeds which they contained has been found ex- tremely different from any that had existed elsewhere. Thus, when the Spaniards first penetrated into South America, they did not find a single species of quadruped the same as any of Europe, Asia, or Africa. The puma, the jaguar, the tapir, the cabai, the lama, the vicuna, the sloths, the armadillos, the opossums, and the whole tribe of sapagos, were to them entirely new animals, of which they had no idea. Similar circumstances have recurred in our own time, when the coasts of New Holland and the adjacent islands were first explored. The various species of kangaroo, phascolornys, dasyurus, and perame- les, the flying phalangers, the ornithorhynchi, and echid- nas, have astonished naturalists by the strangeness of their conformations, which presented proportions con- trary to all former rules, and were incapable of being ar- ranged under any of the systems then in use." Mr. Miller quotes this paragraph of the Baron Cuvier, and then adds : '* And it is a most significant fact, that both in the two great continents and the New Zealand Islands, there existed, in the later geologic ages, extinct faunas that bore the peculiar generic characters by which their recent ones are still distinguished. The sloths and arma- dillos of South America had their gigantic predecessors in the enormous megatherium and mylodon, and the strangely- armed glyptodon ; the kangaroos and wombats of Australia had their extinct predecessors in a kangaroo 428 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. nearly twice the size of the largest living species, and in so huge a wombat, that its bones have been mistaken for those of the hippopotamus ; and the ornithic inhabitants of New Zealand had their predecessors in the monstrous birds, such as the dinornis, the optornis, and the palap- teryx — wingless creatures like the ostrich, that stood from six to twelve feet in height. In these several re- gions, two generations of species, of the genera peculiar to them have existed — the recent generation by whose de- scendants they are still inhabited, and the extinct genera- tion, whose remains we find locked up in their soils and caves. But how are such facts reconcilable with the hypothesis of a universal deluge ?" Upon the premises thus surveyed, Mr. Miller proceeds to argue against the probability of these animals having been collected into the ark by Noah ; or, if they had been, by some miraculous means unknown, he considers it in- admissible that they should aftericard have been re- turned to the several islands and continents previously inhabited, without the exercise of still greater miracle. In short, he regards the whole thing as physically im- possible, but die novello tutto par hello. The immortal bard has said that ''Truth is stranger than fiction ;" to many persons it is not only a stranger, but it is not half so fascinating as fiction. If, indeed, the animals now in- habiting these regions were in the ark at all, it needs no argument to prove that they, or their progenitors, after- ward returned. But this is not the point; the main question at issue divides itself into three parts : first, were the extinct species (of the genera) really identical, and the " predecessors" of those now inhabiting those continents ; second, did the extinct species really live he- fore the flood, in the localities where their remains are found ; and third, if they lived hefore the flood, does it IDENTITY OP EXTINCT AND LIVING ANIMALS. 429 follow, and must we therefore believe, that they were un- represented in the original Adamite creation ? " The sloths and armadillos of South America had their gigantic predecessors in the enormous megatherium (and mylodon), and the strongly-armed glyptodon." This sen- tence is evidently intended to pass current for more than its exact value. They had their " predecessors" — that is to say, they were preceded by animals of a similar nature. It implies a near relation ; because, if there were no such relation, the fact of the one class preceding the other would have no significance. We say it implies a near relation, but the writer has omitted to point it out. He says nothing of the habits or anatomical structure of any of them. Where, then, is the propriety of creating in- ferences not sustained hj facts'^ The animals may or may not be allied by generic features ; if they are, they should have been pointed out. A dog resembles a horse because it walks on four legs. Here we see the exact amount of the resemblance — its beginning and its end. The lion and the tiger, the bear and the cat, the panther and the leopard, are equally members of the feline tribe, the generic features of which embrace a very large num- ber of different species, and all of them distinct from each other. Now, (according to the implication of Miller's proposition,) if a menagerie traveling through South America, and including in its collection the Bengal tiger, the African lion, the chetah, the cat, and the leopard, the zoologist would be justified in asserting that the native puma and the jaguar, living or dead, were the "predeces- sors^^ of these animals — and that, in consequence of their visit to South America, they attained a 'nearer i^elation to the puma and the jaguar than that previously held when separated by the Pacific ocean ? In other words, accord- ing to Miller's premises, the fact of their meeting on com- mon ground is sufficient to assimilate species ! Aceor- 430 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. dinglj, it is only necessary to remove the South American tapir to Africa, in order to establish its identity with the elephant ! But let the tapir be extinguished, and its bones be scattered in caves and alluvial silt, and then bring the elephant to South America, it will be easy to show, (by this kind of reasoning,) that the tapir was the " predecessor" of the elephant ; and, agreeably to the de- velopment hypothesis, (or vice versa, the degradation theory,) it would follow that the one was preceded by, and descended /ro77i the other 1 Having already referred to and briefly described all these animals, it would be a useless repetition to perform the same task again. The armadillos bear considera- ble resemblance to the manis, a lizard-like ant-eater, though they themselves also eat roots and vegetables. They are distinguished as hurrowers in the ground, a characteristic utterly incompatible with the extinct Glyp- todon, in consequence of its enormous dimensions. The Sloth, on the contrary, lives on trees, and travels in its native forests, from one to the other, by means of the in- terlacing branches ; but unlike squirrels and other climb- ers, it suspends itself from the limbs of trees, and travels like a fly suspended from a ceiling / It is a compara- tively small animal, covered with long hair, and present- ing some remote resemblance to a baboon ! Yet this is the worthy descendant of the great 3Iegafherium and 3Iylodon — animals that were fully as large as existing elephants and rhinoceri ! They would make a very beautiful figure in traveling through the forests upside down, suspended from the bending limbs of trees ! The resemblance in habit and structure of the armadillo to the extinct Glyptodon, is equally striking and pleasing to contemplate ! The bones of the Glyptodon are so enor- mous that they were long supposed to be those of the Megatherium. We can accordingly imagine how it EXTINCT AND LIVING ANIMALS. 431 would burrow in the ground, and bury itself, like its supposed pigmy descendants, in the bowels of the earth ! The resemblance between the living animals and the extinct species is about as striking as that between the hog, the tapir, and the elephant. The hog has a thick skin ; — so has the elephant. The tapir has a proboscis ; — so has the elephant ; — ergo, they all belong to the same general family. The Glyptodon, like the existing arma- dillo and the manis, was covered by a scaly coat of mail, but in this respect they all resemble alligators or marine turtles as much as they do each other ! Their anatomical structure exhibits few features in common ; and it would require the highest powers of the imagination to detect the smallest identity between any of them, either as re- spects instincts, habits, or structure ! From these simple facts, the reader will perceive how extremely obscure are the inferences of comparative anatomists and zoologists when dealing with the scattered remains of extinct ani- mals ; and how perfectly unauthorized and reckless some writers are in predicating the most stupendous specula- tions upon such unsubstantial data. The classifications of anatomists, botanists, and geologists, we have already shown, are very arbitrary and diverse — based as they are, upon dental formula, or that of the hoof, the skin, the skull, or other general or specific features. But notwith- standing this, a certain class of writers, whenever the Bible is to be assailed, rear theories high as heaven — em- ploying no other basis than an old tooth, a jawbone, a fossil fern, or the tail of a fish or a serpent ! Under the technical flummery of science, the most monstrous absurdi- ties — (absurdities, in the present case, only equaled by the giant proportions of the extinct animals,) pass current in the world, and are as eagerly swallowed and believed in as the panaceas, sarsaparillas, and life-pills of the med- ical empirics ! They are all gulped down with avidity, 28 482 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. and the only diflPerence between them is, that while one disorders the body, the other corrupts the mind; — one spreads contagion in the blood, the other diffuses it into the very soul / But did the extinct species really live before the flood, in. the several localities where their fossil remains are found ? Miller intimates very broadly that they did, by saying that " their gigantic remains are locked up in their soils and caves." After the examples we have had of loose- ness and recklessness of expression, leading to erroneous conclusions, it is absolutely necessary to be on our guard. "Locked up in their soils and caves." What, "in the names of all the gods at once," can this mean ? Can any human being determine what particul-ar soils are here meant ; and as for caves, he may as likely contemplate those of the Paleozoic as the Secondary or Tertiary, and either of them would be equally theirs. But were they locked up in caves of any kind ? If so, they must have been enormous ones, with openings infinitely larger than a Pennsylvania barn-door ! But as Mr. Miller has not pointed out the kind of soil and caverns in which their fossils are locked up, we shall have to consult some other writers, who may have been a little more explicit. Prof. Richardson, in his " Introduction to Geology," Buckland, in his " Bridgewater Treatise," and Lyell, in his " Ele- ments," may throw a glimmer of light on the subject, or lend us a key by which to unlock these mysterious " caves" and " soils" of Geology. From these respectable writers we learn that not only the Megatherium and Glyptodon, but the Ghlamydotherium, Eoplophorus, Pachytherium, Euryodon, and Xenurus, as well as the Soelidotherium, and Flatyonyx, and the Coeladon, Spheno- don, are all " locked up," some of the smaller animals in the caverns, and the larger ones in the soils of South America, answering to the upper strata of the sub-apen- EXTINCT AND LIVING ANIMALS. 433 nine group of the Mediterranean. The sub-apennine group is a term bestowed by Brocchi, an Italian geologist, who investigated the argillaceous and sandy deposits, replete with shells, which form a low range of hills, flank- ing the Apennines on both sides, fpom the plains of the Po to Calabria. The deposits embrace strata of different ages, the oldest of which are newer than the Tertiarj^ basins of London and Paris. The upper strata, as well as some intermediate, contain shells of recent species, both of marine and fresh-water origin. The shores of the Mediterranean often exhibit the ivashings and silt of rivers, intermixed with the debris of the sea. In South America, the same formation is represented along the great rivers dis- charging into the Atlantic and the Pacific, like the adjacent plains of the Mississippi, in North America. " The sevcfi hills of Rome are composed partly of marine tertiary strata of the older Pliocene period, and partly of superimposed volcanic tufa, on the top of which are usually cappings of a fluviatile and lacustrine deposit. Thus, on Mount Aventine, the Vatican, and the Capitol, we find beds of calcareous tufa with incrusted reeds, and recent terrestrial, shells, at the height of two hundred feet above the alluvial plains of the Tiber. The tusk of the mammoth has been procured from this formation, but the shells appear to be all of living species.""^ It is a singular coincidence that, be- fore the building of Rome, the Almighty should have strewn the humble but highly sculptured shells of the sea, and the remains of terrestrial life upon the spot since made famous and classical with the works of man I Be- neath the broad dome of St. Peter's and the massive walls of the Vatican, with its five hundred grand stairways, its spacious saloons, and wide avenues — its walls animated with the chef d^oeuvres of ancient art, and its niches glit- * Lyell's Elements of Geology. 434 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. tering with statuary and anaglyphs of marble, and brass, and gold ; — beneath all this, the Creator had written his sermons in stones, as if to teach his vicegerent a practical lesson in Natural Theology. The very rock upon which the Church of Peter was built, is a rock full of cosmical witnesses — all of which can bear testimony more ancient than the bulls of the Popes, to the goodness, grandeur, power, and unbounded wisdom of the great Creator. Prof. Lyell, after stating that an analogy exists between the skeletons of the Megatherium, Megalonyx, Grlyptodon, Toxodon,* and other extinct forms, and the living sloth, armadillo, cavy, capybara, and lama of South America (from which stat-ement Miller undoubtedly borrowed his ideas, and took the liberty of enlarging very considerably upon them), goes on to remark : " That the extinct fauna of Buenos Ayres atfd Brazil was very modern, has been shown by its relation to deposits of marine shells, agreeing with those now inhabiting the Atlantic; and when in Georgia, in 1845, 1 ascer- tained that the Megatherium, Mylodon, Harlanus Americanus (Owen), Equus Curvideus, and other quadrupeds allied to the Pampean type, were posterior in date to marine shells helovging to forty-five recent species of the neighboring sea. Hoxoever modern, in a geological point of view, we may consider the Pleistocene epoch, it is evident that causes more general and powerful than the intervention of man have occasioned the disappear- ance of the ancient fauna from so many extensive regions. Not a few of the species had a wide range: the same Megatherium, for instance, extended from Patagonia and the river Plata, in South America, between latitudes 31° and 39° south, to corresponding latitudes in North America, the same animal being also an inhabitant of the intermediate country of Brazil, where its fossil bones have been met with in caves [of the modern era). The extinct elephant, likewise of Georgia {Elephas primigenius), has been traced in a fossil state northward from the river Alatamaha, in latitude 33° 50' north to the polar regions, and then again in the Eastern Hemisphere from Siberia to the south of Europe. If it be objected that, notwithstanding the adaptation of such quadrupeds to a variety of climates and geographi- cal conditions, their great size exposed them to extermination by the first ♦ LyeU's Elements of Geology, and Principles of Geology. THE ANTI-NOACHIANS ANSWERED. 435 hunter tribes, we may observe that the investigations of Lund and Clausen in the ossiferous limestone caves of Brazil have demonstrated that these largo mammalia were associated with a great many smaller quadrupeds, some of them as diminutive as field mice, lohich have all died out togethery while the land shells, formerly their cotemporaries, still continue to exist in the same countries. As we may feel assured that these minute quadrupeds could never have been extirpated by man, so we may conclude that all species, small and great, have been annihilated one after the other, in the course of indefinite ages, by those changes of circumstances in the organic and inorganic world, which are always in progress, and are capable, in the course of time, of greatly modifying the physical geography, climate, and all other conditions on which the continuance upon the earth of any living being must depend." I have thus taken the pains to contradict the ud au- thorized inferences contained in the propositions of Mr. Miller, hy the very authority fro7)i which he seems to have drawn his ostensible facts to destroy the idea of the uni- versality of the flood ! It will be seen that not only are the remains of these extinct animals found in the modern alluvial strata, but that Prof. Lyell deems it necessary to dispute the theory of their extinction by man — a supposi- tion which is by no means groundless, as I shall soon demonstrate. The evidences of the flood are found in nearly every instance intermediate between these strata — that is to say, between the post-Pliocene and the more modern of the geologists. The fact is, that nearly all the extinct animals that ever breathed upon the land are em- braced within these very strata ; and as the boulder for- mation, or the deluge, occurs during this period, the fact is sufficient and irresistible in establishing the universality of its prevalence. Sir Charles Lyell wrote without an}'" reference to theological bearings ; but he has uncon- sciously accumulated an amount of evidence which tends powerfully and directly to the phenomena of the Noachian deluge, notwithstanding the perversions to which cotem- porary writers have diverted his facts. 436 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. Whether man had any agency in the extinction of the race of giant animals which inhabited the earth in the more remote ages, is a question upon which we can do little more than speculate. One thing, however, is cer- tain, that the aborigines of America have traditions, handed down from father to son, of the existence of a race of quadrupedal monsters. I have in my library Jefferson's " Notes on Yirginia, for the use of a Foreigner of Dis- tinction" — being a copy of the original edition as printed for private circulation. I need not say that I value this book highly, in consequence of its direct emanation from one of the greatest patriots and sages that the world has ever produced. Jefferson, while President of the Ameri- can Philosophical Society, made a collection of the bones of the Mastodon, as found on the banks of the Ohio, and, conjointly with Dr. Franklin and a few others, may be said to have been the pioneer in planting the Natural Sciences in the New World. On page 69 he says, " Our quadrupeds have been mostly described by Linnaeus and Mons. de Buffon. Of these, the Mammoth, or big buffalo, as called by the Indians, must certainly have been the largest. Their tradition is, that he was carnivorous, and still exists in the northern parts of America. A delega- tion of warriors from the Delaware tribe, having visited the Governor of Yirginia during the present revolution, on matters of business, after these had been discussed and settled in council, the Grovernor asked them some ques- tions relative to their country, and among others, what they knew or had heard of the animals whose bones were found at the Salt Licks, on the Ohio. Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude of oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the elevation of his subject, informed him that it was a tradition handed down from their fathers, ' That in ancient times, a herd of these tremendous animals came to the Big-bone Licks, TRADITIONS OF THE INDIANS. 43t and began a universal destruction of the bear, deer, elks, buffaloes, and other animals which had been created for the use of the Indians : that the Great Man above, look- ing down and seeing this, was so enraged that he seized his lightnings, descended on the earth, seated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a rock of which his seat and the print of his feet are still to be seen, and hurled his bolts among them, till the whole were slaughtered, except the big bull, who, presenting his forehead to the shafts, shook them off as they fell ; but missing one at length, it wounded him in the side ; whereupon, springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, over the Wabash, the Illinois, and final]}' over the great lakes, where he is living at this day.'" The bones of the Mastodon, thus referred to, occur in the same relative formation as those of the Megatherium, Glyptodon, and the other extinct species of South America. They are found scattered along the alluvial beds of rivers, in meadows and salt marshes, — sometimes covered over with sand, mud, and decayed leaves and mould to the depth of from three to ten and twenty feet. It was the opinion of Mr. Jefferson, after careful inquiry, that the Mastodon was still living, and inhabiting the northern regions of America. Several persons of intelli- gence, who had been taken prisoners by the Indians, and in their travels discovered bones of the Mastodon in re- mote regions of the countr}^, learned from them that the living animals had been seen by their ancestors, and from their descriptions supposed it to present a close resem- blance to the elephant or the hippopotamus. Mr. Jeffer- son also shows, with Mr. Lyell already quoted, that the remains of the animal have been found strewn over the earth very far to the nortli and west. That all these animals lived within the recollection of the aboriorines of America, is sufficientlv clear in the fact 438 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. that human bones and specimens of human art have been found in cotemporary geological formations — namely, the post-Pliocene and alluvial. In the West Indies, in the Island of Guadaloupe, human skeletons have been found imbedded in solid limestone. The stone is extremely hard, and chiefly composed of comminuted shells and corals, of species now living in the adjacent ocean. The coral reefs around the island are worn down by the action of the waves, and the detritus thus produced is swept upon the shore in the form of plastic mud, which after- ward hardens on exposure to the atmosphere, or by a union with the waters of streams and rivers holding car- bonate of lime in solution. The skeletons, strewn over or washed out of the land adjacent to the rivers and the ocean, have been thus infiltrated with the coralline mud and limestone, and in process of time the whole mass be- came hard and solid. The skeletons, from certain pecu- liarities of the skull, have been pronounced to be those of ancient Peruvians ; and some of them have been found in a sitting posture, which was the usual mode of interment adopted by that race. With the skeletons, and around them, are found arrow-heads, fragments of pottery, and other articles of human workmanship. A limestone, with similar human contents, has been formed, and is still forming, in St. Domingo ; and Prof. Lyell says that rocks still more ancient, referable to the Post-pliocene, are also to be found in the West Indian Archipelago, as in Cuba, near Havana, and in other islands, in which the shells are identical with those now living in corresponding latitudes. The mounds so profusely scattered over the plains of the West, especially in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, bespeak a race of great antiquity, and of some mechanical skill, but of which the present race of Indians profess to be altogether ignorant. Some of these mounds, THE MOUNDS OF THE WEST. 439 and the ancient fortifications near them, I have examined. One of the largest on the Ohio stands on a broad terrace of that river, twelve miles below the city of Wheeling, in Virginia. The borough of Moundsville derives its name from it. It is sixty-nine feet in height, and nine hundred in circumference at the base. It stands perfectly isolated, like a vast dome. It was overgrown with trees, one of which, according to the annual rings of growth, betrayed an age of over five hundred years. It was a white oak, and occupied a place on the very summit of the mound, which has a flat area of fifty feet in diameter. In driving drifts through the mound to ascertain its contents and the nature of the work, several chambers were found, in which were human bones. The necks of the skeletons were surrounded by many hundreds of ivory beads, and the wrists by copper bracelets. Sea-shells of the involute species were also strewn around, and were probably worn as ornaments. Isinglass or mica, in large plates, also oc- curred around and over the skeletons. Besides the bones, there were large deposits of what seemed to be the burned remains of bodies — indicating that the great bulk of those deposited therein had been consumed by fire before inter- ment. In addition to the relics in this mound, a number of others have been found in the neighborhood and all over the western country, many of them associated with bones and skeletons more or less decayed. The proprietor of the mound land found, about two miles from it, a num- ber of porcelain beads, in substance much resembling the artificial teeth of dentists. He had also an image carved in stone, which he found with other relics some eight miles distant. It is in human shape, sitting in a cramped posi- tion, the face and eyes iDrojecHng ujnuard. The nose is what is called Roman. On the crown of the head is a knot, in which the hair is concentrated and tied. It is eleven inches in height, but, if it were straight, would be 440 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. at least double that length. The head and features evince no inconsiderable skill and ingenuity, and, as a work of art, it far surpasses any similar efforts of the modern Indian. But the most interesting object of antiquarian research, is a small flat stone, inscribed with alphabetic characters, which was disclosed on the opening of the mound. These characters, Mr. Schoolcraft believes, are in the ancient rock alphabet, of sixteen right and acute-angled single strokes, used by the Pelasgi, and other early Mediter- ranean nations, and which is the parent of the modern Kunic, as well as the Bardic. The existence of this ancient art here, could hardly be admitted otherwise than as an insulated fact, without some corroborative evidence in habits and customs, which it would be reasonable to look for in the existing ruins of ancient occupancy. It is thought some such testimony has been found. Rude towers of stone, commanding a view of the adjacent plain and river, are to be found within the distance of a few miles back of the mound. They were, no doubt, used for look-outs to descry the approaches of an enemy. The towers were surrounded with circular walls, all of which have long since fallen to the earth, leaving only the merest traces of the ancient fortifications. Several polished tubes of stone have been found in one of the lesser mounds, the use of Avhich is not very apparent. One of these is twelve inches long, one and a fourth inches wide at one end, and one and a half at the other. It is made of a fine, com- pact, lead-blue, steatite mottled, and has been constructed by boring, in the manner of a gun barrel. This boring is continued to within about three-eighths of an inch of the larger end, through Avhich but a small aperture is left If this aperture be looked through, objects at a distance are more clearly seen. Whether it had telescopic, or other powers, the degree of art evinced in its construction THE MOUNDS OF THE WEST. 441 is far from rude. By inserting a wooden rod and vaJve, this simple siphon would be converted into a powerful syringe. Besides the mounds, numerous remains of ancient fortifications occur in various places in the West, especially near the city of Portsmouth, in Ohio, and on the upper Monongahela, in Virginia, and throughout the State of Illinois, They indicate a race of great antiquity, and of much higher cultivation than the Indians, who really appear to have no knowledge or traditions con- cerning them. But one of the most interesting antiquarian discoveries of the present age, is that of the ancient burial grounds in Chiriqui, in the State of New Granada, on the narrow isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. With the bones of an ancient, and perhaps unknown race, this discovery reveals at once an apparently very rich aurifer- ous and archaeological treasure. A year since, the news- papers teemed with accounts of the curious golden images and metallic anaglyphs found interred with the bodies. The discovery was made in the month of June, 1859, and is thus described : "A native of Bugnlita, a small town in the district of Boqneron, in the province of Chiriqui, in New Granada, while wandering through the forest in the vicinity of his cabin, encountered a tree which had been prostrated by a recent tempest, and underneath its upturned roots he perceived a small earthen jar. Upon examination, this proved to contain, wrapped in swathing of half-decayed clofh, divers images, of curious and fantastic ehape, and of so yellow and shining a metal that he at onco suspected them to be gold. Knowing that he was in the midst of an ancient Indian huaca, or burial ground, he immediately commenced an exploration of the little burial mounds which were on every side, suspecting that they also might contain treasures of a liiie character. The result was that in three or four days, he succeeded in exhuming no less than seventy-five pounds weight of these golden images. Not entirely confident as to the quality and value of the metal, he disclosed his discovery to his neighbors, and in less than a fortnight, over a thousand persons were at work, and ob- 442 THE SB"VENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. tained over nine arrobas (or 225 lbs.) of images, most of which proved to be of the finest gold." As yet, the antiquity of these sepulchral remains is involved in obscurity. That they date back to a very early period, there can be no question ; for the present tribes of Central American Indians have no knowledge whatever of the huacas which abound throughout the whole country, and are alike ignorant of the art of making the images, or of the source from which the gold was obtained. In a history of New Granada, by Colonel Joachim Acosta, mention is made of a similar discovery by the Spaniards in the fifteenth century. This was at Zenu, in the province of Antiochia, in New Granada — the golden images being in all respects similar. After speaking ot the riches of the Indian burial grounds at Zenu, the his- torian observes : '' The cemetery of Zenu was composed of an indefinite number of mounds of earth, some of a conical form, and others more or less square. When an Indian died, it was the custom to dig a hole capable of containing his arms and jewels, which were placed in the left-hand side of his grave, looking toward the east; and around these were placed earthen vases containing chichi and other fermented drinks ; also Indian corn, and stones to pound the same ; also his wives and slaves (if he was a principal man), which last thoroughly intoxicated them- selves previously to the interment ; and then the whole was covered over with a species of red earth brought from a distance. Then the mourning commenced, which lasted as long as there remained any thing to drink ; while, in the mean time, the mourners continued to throw earth upon the grave ; thus it was elevated according to the ability of the individual or family to provide a greater or less quantity of liquor." Jewels of gold, in large or small quantities, were found in all the tombs. In some were ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 44,3 golden figures representing every species of animals, from man to the ant, and sometimes to the value of ten or twenty thousand dollars. Mr. E. Q. Squiers, who formerly represented the United States as Charge dfAffaires, in some of the Central American states, and who is well known for his learning and antiquarian researches, has written a book on the antiquities of that remarkable region. In a recent com- munication, he says that it "is a mistake to suppose that the occurrence of these images, in considerable numbers, in the Indian graves of that district, is a late discovery. Large quantities have been taken out, from time to time, for many years past ; and he was informed by the late Governor of the Bank of England, that several thousand pounds' worth were annually remitted from the Isth- mus, as bullion, to that establishment. Most of the figures which he saw at the bank were exceedingly rude, but there were a few among them of relatively fine design and good workmanship. None, however, were quite equal in either respect to some relics dug up during the construction of the Panama railway, and which were found about seven miles from Panama, on the left bank of the Rio Grande, six feet below the surface of the ground. Trees between two and three feet in diameter were growing over them. As to the origin and date of the golden relics of Chiri- qui, Mr. Squiers thinks there can be no doubt. Colum- bus, when he discovered Chiriqui Lagoon, in his fourth voyage, found all the chiefs aud important people deco- rated with these and similar ornaments, which, he says in his relation, gave him " great promise of the richness of the country in gold and silver." Hence he named the district Castilla del Oro ; and hence the coast came to be known as Costa Rica, or rich coast — a name still pre- served as that of the State of Central America adjoining 444 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. the Istliraus. He mentions particular!}^, among the orna- ments worn bj the chiefs, great plates or mirrors of gold, suspended on their breasts, " which they would neither sell nor exchange." Columbus adds, that the Indians cast gold with some degree of skill, " but in no way equal to the Spaniards." He says also, that "in all the regions around Yeragua, the Indians inter with their chiefs, when they die, all the gold which they possess. " Thus it is," he continues, in a moralizing strain, '' that all men seek gold ; they barter all they can spare of their produce for gold ; gold is excellent ; with it they lay up wealth here ; and they even take it to their grave, as a comfort to their souls hereafter. Alas ! for the follies of men who know not that gold is only valuable in its use, not in its accu- mulation. " The images and anaglyphs thus far brought to light, amount to several thousand. In their general character they bear a very striking resemblance to the designs and figures of the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Baby- lonian s^such as are found rudely carved in relief upon their obelisks, or on the alabaster slabs with which they paneled the apartments and broad avenues of their pal- aces. The fact of nearly all their artistic designs being based upon the animal creation, instead of the varied phases of the human countenance, and symbolical of hu- man thoughts, acts, and events, seems to imply that, like the Egyptians and some other nations of the remote antiquity, most of the animals were held in religious veneration, and embodied some of the functions attributed to gods — hence they may have served as household idols, and were buried with the heads of the families who possessed them. We thus find the body of the South American tapir mounted on a bell ; the snout of a shark furnished with the claws of a crab ; the dog represented with a gigantic head, and a tail terminating in another head, partly canine and INDIANS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 445 partly serpentine ; the body of a crab having the arms of a man ; beetles with human head and arms ; vultures with outstretched wings, mounted on a pyramidal pedestal, etc. Besides these, there are unmutilated or uncombined figures of men, of toads, crocodiles, serpents, dogs, birds, etc. Judging from the specimens already found, there is scarcely an animal now living that has not been intro- duced into the curious religious mythology of this race. The resemblance between their works and those of the aborigines of North America is also peculiarly striking — though the latter would appear to have been inferior. But the accounts given by Col. Joachim Acosta, in his history of New Granada, of the mode of burial pursued by the Indians of Zenu, previous to the conquest of the Spaniards, would appear to be equally applicable to the predecessors of the present North American Indians. The graves, in both cases, were usually conical or pyrami- dal, and were large or small in proportion to the wealth, or the social, official, or religious standing of the deceased. The mound on the Ohio, must therefore have contained the remains of a person of the highest distinction, from its enormous dimensions ; and this inference derives strength from the circumstance that but a few bodies were discov- ered in it — the first, or lowest skeleton, having been sep- arated from the others by a considerable stratum of earth. It is probable that all the bodies in this mound were members of the same family, or held a similar official pos- ition in the community. Col. Acosta also mentions that the bodies in Zenu were surrounded by a peculiar red earth, brought from a distance ; and it is singular that large quantities of such red earth are found in the graves of the Ohio mounds. The beads, pottery, images, inscrip- tions, and other works of art accompanying the remains of the bodies in the mound, are of a similar character to those of Chiriqui ; but, instead of gold, they are fabricated 446 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. of copper and other baser material. The ancient mining operations of Lake Superior were possibly prosecuted by these people, and furnished the supplies of that mineral, by which they wrought the trinkets and bracelets found in their graves. There can be no doubt, I think, of the identity of the two races ; for, in addition to a similarity in their habits and works, the Indians that succeeded them are in both cases perfectly ignorant of their prede- cessors, and have no knowledge of the mechanical arts which distinguished them. The ancient race was, in every point of view, the superior of the existing Indians ; and have left behind works that bespeak a considerable degree of civilization. The palaces and works of art discovered by Stephens in Central America, (especially at Pelenque, and Cazmel, off the coast of Yucatan,) appear to belong to a similar race of people, but of a still higher degree of civilization. Among these ruins are gigantic pyramids and figures in bas-relief, together with hieroglyphic inscriptions. The pyramids are capped with buildings, leading to the infer- ence that they may have been used for terrestrial or astronomical observations : but in this respect differ from those of Egypt. Mr. Stephens is of opinion that there is no identity between the Central American aborigines and the Egyptians, notwithstanding the similarity of their style of architecture, and especially in their sculptured figures. In this opinion, however, he stands alone ; as nearly every other traveler who has described them, as- signs an Egyptian origin to the race that produced them. As to their antiquity, no doubt is entertained on that point, some persons having even attributed to them an antediluvian origin. However this may be, there is no question as to the development of the race in the fine and useful arts ; and all the works left behind attest the Egyp- tian aspect of their civilization^ manners, and idiosyn^ DISCOVERY OP AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 447 crasies, to a greater extent than those of any other peo- ple, ancient or modern. The present race of Indians was in existence at the first colonization of North America. Although it was succes- sively explored by the French, Dutch, Spanish, and Eng- lish, not a trace of the previous inhabitants could be found. The existing Indians were everywhere masters of the soil, and their habits and customs of life were such, that they presented no identity whatever with the extinct race interred in the mounds. And that it was at one time very populous, and spread over a vast extent of country, is sufficiently manifest in the number and geo- graphical distribution of the mounds themselves, and the evidences of their mining operations. Their antiquity in North America is thus carried back beyond the fifteenth century, during which time the country was settled by missionaries, and explorers from several European gov- ernments ; while in South America it was, at least, far anterior to the period of Columbus' visit to Costa Rica, shortly after which it appears to have degenerated, and been superseded by the present Indian natives. It is probable that those of South America, attracted by its gold, silver, and precious metals, absorbed the race from North America, and under the stimulus of such discov- eries, it may have attained a somewhat higher civilization. This, however, is questionable ; as it may be doubted whether the golden anaglyphs of Chiriqui exhibit more skill than the beads, pottery, and other ornaments of stone and copper found in the western mounds. But many centuries before Columbus visited Souih America, portions of North America had been seen, and afterwards colonized to some extent, by 'the Northmei^, via Greenland and Iceland. "America was discovered in the year 1000, by Leif, the son of Eric the Red, by the northern route, and as far as 41° 30' north latitude. (ParU 29 448 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. of America were seen, although no landing was made, fourteen years be- fore, in the voyage which Bjarne Hevpelfsson undertook from Greenland to the southward, in 986. Leif first saw the land at the island of Nan- tucket, 1° south of Boston ; then in Nova Scotia, and lastly in Newfound- land, which was subsequently called ' Litla Kelouland,' but never * Vin- land.' The gulf, whieh divides Newfoundland from the mouth of the great river St. Lawrence, was called by the Northmen, who had settled in Ice- land and Greenland, Markland's Gulf.) The first, although accidental incitement toward this event, emanated from Norway. Toward the close of the ninth century, Naddod was driven by storms to Iceland, while at- tempting to reach the Faroe Islands, which had already been visited bj the Irish. The first settlement of the Northmen was made in 875, by Ingolf. Greenland, the eastern peninsula of a land which appears to be everywhere separated by the sea from America proper, was only seen, although it was first peopled from Iceland a hundred years later, (983.) The colonization of Iceland, which Naddod first called Snowland, was carried through Green-lan 1 in a southwestern direction to the New Conti- nent. Notwithstanding .nd proximity of the opposite shores of Labra- dor, 125 years elapsed from the first settlement of the Northmen in Ice- land, to Leif's great discovery of America. So small were the means possessed by a noble, enterprising, but not wealthy race, for furthering navigation in these remote and dreary regions of the earth. The littoral tracts of Vinland, so called by the German Tyrker, from the wild grapes which are found there delighted its discoverers by the fruitfulness of the soil and the mildness of its climate, when compared with Iceland and Greenland. This tract comprised the coast line between Boston and New York, and consequently, parts of the present States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. This was the principal settlement of the Northmen. The colonists had often to contend with a very warlike race of Esquimaux, who then extended further to the South, under the name of the Skralingere. The first Bishop of Greenland, Eric Upsi, au Icelander, undertook, in 1121, a Christian mission to Vinland, (the name of this settlement at that time,) and the name of the colonized country has even been discovered in old national songs of the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands. "'*■ The discovery and settlement of America by the x^orth- men, thus carries our knowledge of it back to the year 986. At that time there appears to have been two distinct races inhabiting it, besides the Norwegians themselves. The * Baron Von Humboldt, quoting Caroli Christiani Rafu, Antiquitate* Americance, — Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 230. COLONIZATION OP AMERICA. 449 Skralingers, (whom they supposed to be Esquimaux,) told them of another race, living still further southward^ beyond the Chesapeake bay. They were described as " white men, who clothed themselves in long white gar- ments, and carried before them poles to which cloths were attached, and called in a loud voice." This account was interpreted by the Christian Northmen to indicate proces- sions, in which banners were borne, accompanied by singing. "An opinion," says Humboldt, "has been advanced by some northern antiquaries that, as in the oldest Icelandic documents the first inhabitants of the island are called West Men, who had come across the sea, Iceland was not at first peopled directly from Europe, but from Yirginia and Carolina, (Great Ireland, the American White Men's Land,) by Irishmen who had earlier emigrated to America. The important work, De Mensura Orbis Terrce, composed by an Irish monk, Dicuil, about the year 825, and there- fore thirty-eight years before the Northmen acquired their knowledge of Iceland from Naddod, does not, however, confirm this opinion." Humboldt makes various other suggestions to show the fallacy of this opinion, — which apply equally to the theory of Catlin of the descent of the Tuscaroras from the Welsh, or of those of various other antiquaries who, by linguistic characters, seek to ally the Indians with English, French, or other European na- tions. " That the first discovery of America," adds Humboldt, "should not have produced the important and permanent results yielded by the re-discovery of the same continent by Columbus, was the necessary consequence of the un- civilized condition of the people, and the nature of the countries to which the early discoveries were limited. The Scandinavians were wholly unprepared, by previous scientific knowledge, for exploring the countries in which 450 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. they settled, beyond what was absolutely necessary for the satisfaction of their immediate wants. Greenland and Iceland, which must be regarded as the Northern coun- tries of the new colonies (in America), were regions in which man had to contend with all the hardships of an inhospitable climate. The wonderfully organized free state of Iceland, nevertheless, maintained its independence for three centuries and a half, until civil freedom was annihilated, and the country became a subject of Norway. The flower of Icelandic literature, its historical records, and the collection of the Sagas and Eddas, appertain to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries."* The accounts which th,e Northmen give of the people called Skralingers, although represented as warlike, forbid the idea tliat they erected the western mounds, or that they dug copper, and wrought utensils and sculpture. The allusion to the white people south of them, is, how- ever, significant ; for all the relics hitherto found, betray- ing the least degree of civilization, are south and west of the Chesapeake Bay: It has been suggested by some antiquaries that the original aborigines of America were derived from Asiatic stock, and that they effected an easy passage from one continent to the other at Behring's Straits, by means of the ice which generally blockades the channel during winter. These straits, at the narrowest points, are not over forty miles in width. If a passage was effected in vessels, it is equally probable that they may have crossed further south, from the coast of Japan, or from the Ku- bile Islands to those of the Aleutian, which stretch several hundred miles into the ocean from the Pacific coast of America. In this latter case, the distance from one island to the other would hardly exceed from fifty to one * Humboldt's Cosmo?, vol. ii. p. 237. ANCIENT INHABITANTS OP AMERICA. 451 hundred miles, except in the main channel of the ocean where it would perhaps exceed two or three hundred. But as all the islands from Kamtschatka to, Borneo, on the one side, and from Behring's Straits to the Cordilleras :)f South America, on the other, are volcanic, it is at least possible that the Aleutian chain at one time extended all the way across the ocean — leaving but a few miles of dis- tance intermediate between them. It is equally probable, however, that Behring's Straits, at a period not very remote, may have had no existence in fact — that it afforded a narrow isthmus which connected the two continents. The formation on both sides is the same — that of the hypozoic rocks, some of which, in the form of huge boulders or fractured masses, etill lie scattered in the narrow channel in the form of ragged peaks and ice-clad islands. If the straits were thus traversed by an isthmus (or whether they were or not), there is little difficulty in referring the origin of the American aborigines to an Asiatic source ; for they naturally resolve themselves into the Mongolian group. And we might, with equal pro- priety, fuse the Malayan into the African type, after which we should have but three leading divisions of the human species, corresponding with the three great continents of the old world, viz., the Caucasian, the Mongolian, and the Ethiopian, and with the descendants of the three sons of Noah, — Ham, Shem, and Japheth. But, with the limited knowledge thus far obtained of these ancient people, it would be idle to speculate upon their origin, the probable date of their arrival, and the means by which they reached the American continent. The whole subject, as yet, is too obscure to justify lengthy antiquarian disquisitions. But it is nevertheless a very pertinent fact, that the characters inscribed on a stone slab, interred with the bodies in the mound at Mounds- ville, present a striking resemblance to the cuneiform or 452 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. wedge-shaped letters of the ancient Pelasgians and As- syrians. Mr. Layard remarks, that it is not improbable that the cuneiform letters were originally formed by lines, I'or which the wedge was afterward substituted as an embellishment; and that the character itself may once have resembled the picture writing of Egypt, though all traces of its ideographic properties have been lost. The Assyrians, like the Egyptians, possessed at a later period a cursive writing, resembling the rounded character of the Phoenicians, Palmyrenes, Babylonians, and Jews, which was probably used for written documents, while the cuneiform was reserved for monumental purposes. There is this great difference between the two forms of writing, which appears to point to a distinct origin ; — the cunei- form runs always from left to right, the cursive from right to left. The cuneiform, under various modifications, the letters being differently formed in different countries, pre- vailed over the greater part of Western Asia to the time of the Qverthrow of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great. The inscription on the Moundsville stone, I believe, has never been deciphered. Mr. Schoolcraft, however, identifies the letters as belonging to the alphabet of the ancient Pelasgi, and other early tribes inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean. Their alphabet consisted of sixteen letters, formed by right and acute-angled strokes, and was no doubt derived, as they themselves were, from the Assyrians or Babylonians. If Mr. Schoolcraft is correct (and we know of nothing to impair his testimony since the time it was rendered), the people interred in the mounds were among the earliest generations of the earth, and must have reached this continent about the time that the Egyptians, under Cecrops, founded the Kingdom of Athens, which occurred \^b% years before the birth of Christ. Previous to this period, the southern corner of Europe, DISTRIBUTION OP THE ANCIENT RACES OE MAN. 453 comprehended between the 36° and 41° of latitude, bor- dering on Epirus and Macedonia toward the north, and on other sides surrounded by the sea, was inhabited, above eighteen centuries before the Christian era, by many small tribes of hunters and shepherds, among whom the Pelasgi and Hellenes were the most powerful and nu- merous. " The barbarous Pelasgi venerated Gracchus as their founder; and for a similar reason the more humane Hellenes respected Deucalion. From his Bon Hellen, they derived their general appellation, which originally de- noted a small tribe in Thessaly ; and from Dorus, Eolus, and Ion, his more remote descendants, they were discriminated by the names of Dorians, Eolians, and lonians. The Dorians took possession of that mountainous district of Greece, afterward called Doris; the lonians, whose name was in some measure lost in the illustrious appellation of Athenians, set- tled in the less bar^^ parts of Attica; and the Eolians peopled Elis and Arcadia, the western and inland regions of the Peloponnesus. Notwith- standing many partial migrations, these three original divisions of the Hellenes generally entertained an aflFection for the establishments which had been preferred by the wisdom or caprice of their respective ancestors; a circumstance which remarkably distinguished the Hellenic from tho Pelaegic race. While the former discovered a degree of attachment for their native land, seldom found in barbarians, who live by hunting or pasturage, the latter, disdaining fixed habitations, xcandered in large bod- ies over Greece, or transported themselves into the neighboring islands ; and the most considerable portion of them gradually removing to the coasts of Italy and Thrace, the remainder melted away into the Doric and Ionic tribes. At the distance of twelve centuries, obscure traces of the Pelasgi occurred in several Grecian cities ; a district of Thessaly always retained their name ; their colonies continued, in the fifth century before Christ, to inhabit the southern coast of Italy, and the shores of the Hellespont; and in these widely-separated countries, their ancient affinity was recognized in the uniformity of their rude dialect and barbarous manners, extremely dissimilar to the customs and language of their Grecian neighbors.'^ The Noachian deluge occurred 1656 years after the creation of Adam. In less than 150 years after the flood, Nimrod, the son of Chus, grandson of Ham, and great- * Dr. Gillas, History of Ancient Greece, p. 12. 454 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. grandson of Noah, founded the empire of Assyria, and ^ built the city of Babylon, and afterward that of Nineveh. Moses speaks of him as a "mighty one in the earth," and as having distinguished himself as a hunter. Only six years after the founding of Babylon, (A. M. 1816,) Menes or Misraim, a son of Ham, settled in Egypt ; and in six and a quarter centuries thereafter, (A. M. 2448,) colonies from Egypt, under Cecrops, founded Athens. Now, it is a very remarkable circumstance that, from the reigns of Semiramis and Ninyas, the third and fourth successors of Nimrod, to that of Phul and Sardanapalus, a period of over fourteen centuries, absolutely nothing is known of the ancient empire of Assyria. Although the ruins of Nine- veh have been exhumed, and its buried sphinxes, human- headed bulls, winged animals, and sculp tjjired panels, have been redeemed from the oblivious dust of centuries, but lit- tle has been added to our previous knowledge of its more an- cient history. Some two or three centuries after the found- ing of Babylon, and the confusion of languages in the tower of Babel, we find the country overrun with roving tribes of hunters and shepherds ; and under the circumstances, we are bound to infer that all or most of them were off- shoots from the kingdom of Nimrod, and that they car- ried with them some of the principles, habits, and arts, which distinguished his race. Among these we include the Pelasgi — a people of varied habits, but like Nimrod, their ancestor, especially distinguished as hunters, and for their more barbarous, roving, and adventurous disposition as compared with the Hellenes. When, however, after the lapse of three or four more centuries, the territory of these roving tribes was invaded by colonies of Egyptians, and the kingdom of Cecrops founded, it is highly probable that their religion and habits were gradually absorbed into those of the more enlightened, enterprising, and powerful races. If this supposition be correct, — (and all the ANCIENT COLONIZATION OP AMERICA. 455 facts of history tend to confirm it in .a most rema/kable manner,) we at once obtain a key to the origin and mean- ing of the images and other works of art strewn over the American continent by its aborigines. They were the work of the Pelasgic descendants of the* Egyptians. Moved with* the spirit of emigration and colonization which prevailed at that early period, they carried with them to the new world the religion of the Egyptians, with the original instincts for hunting and adventure of the Pelasgi. Being thus a race of hunters, and moving about from place to place in quest of novelty, adventure, and game, they built but few cities or palaces, and hence have left little else behind except their conical mounds and pyramids ; their rude towers and walls ; their ornaments and idols of gold and brass ; their utensils of stone and earth. The Egyptians had a great number of gods, but only two of them were universal, viz., Osiris and Isis, supposed to represent the sun and moon. Both of these are typi- fied in the Chiriqui anaglyphs, but in a manner somewhat obscure. But besides these, they worshiped nearly every known animal, as well as certain vegetables. Among those most popular were the ox, the cat, the wolf, the dog, the hawk, the owl, the crocodile, the ibis, the ichneumon, etc. While some of these were held in the highest estimation by certain tribes or cities, they were the superstitious abomination of others, and not unfrequently were the un- conscious means of fomenting fraternal dissensions and bloody hostilities between tribes. Juvenal satirized these varied gods in the following lines : "Who has not heard where Egypt's realms are named, What monster-gods her frantic sons have framed ? Her© Ibis, gorged with well-known serpents, there The crocodile commands religious fear. Where Memnon's statue magic strings inspire With vocal sounds that emulate the lyre; 456 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. And Thebes, (such, Fate, are thy disastrous turns !) Now prostrate o'er her pompous ruins mourns; A monkey-god, — prodigious to be told ! — Strikes the beholder's eye with burnished gold. To godship here blue Triton's scaly herd, The "fiver progeny is there preferred ; Through towns Diana's power neglected lies. Where to her dogs aspiring temples rise; And should you leeks or onions eat, no time Would expiate the sacrilegious crime. Religious nations sure, and blest abodes, Where every orchard is o'erruu with gods I" Nearly every. nation of antiquity liad a superstitious veneration for certain animals or idols, wliich they wor- shiped under the pretext of symbolical gods. " Philoso- phers," says Plutarch, ''honor the image of God wherever they find it, even in inanimate beings, and consequently more in those which have life. We are therefore to ap- prove, not the worshipers of these animals, but those who,, by their means, ascend to the Deity ; they are to be con- sidered as so many mirrors, which Nature holds forth, and in which the Supreme Being displays himself in a wonderful manner ; or, as so many instruments which he makes use of to manifest outwardly his incomprehensible wisdom. " " Among us," says Cicero, " it is very common to see temples robbed, and statues carried away ; but it was never known that any person in Egypt ever abused an ibis, a crocodile, or a cat ; for its inhabitants would have suffered the most extreme torments rather than be guilty of such sacrilege." It is supposed that the celebrated Pythagoras derived his doctrine of the transmigration of the soul from the Egyptians ; for their attachment and veneration for animals would appear to have been founded on the belief that, at the death of men, their souls trans- migrated into other human bodies ; but that, if they had been vicious during life, they were imprisoned in the DISPERSION OF THE NOACHIAN FAIVIILY. 457 'bodies of unclean animals, to expiate in them their past transgressions. Who can doubt but that this idea formed the basis of the religion, whatever it may have been in other essentials, of the American aborigines, and espe- cially of the Central American race, whose relics have been exhumeci ? Why surround their dead with the im- ages of animals, unless, during life, they were regarded with superstitious veneration ? Why repeat the follies of the Egyptians ? — why rear gigantic mounds and pyramids, and carve in gold, and brass, and stone, the forms of dogs, and vultures, and crocodiles, and crabs, if there was not a connection, more or less direct, with the prevailing idio- syncrasies and superstitious religion of the original inhab- itants of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Mediterranean ? But we obtain, in the religion, and superstition, and the artistic works and evident hunting proclivities of the Pelasgic- Egyptian race, not only a clew to the origin of the American aborigines, but also to the introduction on the American continent and the various islands of the ocean, of many of the animals belonging to the original Adamite creation ; but more especially those of the domes- tic kind, as the hoi^e, sheep, cattle, goats, dogs, cats, etc. The remains of these animals, wherever found, are cO' temporary with man, and none of them — no, not one of them — existed here before the Noachian deluge ! It would be foreign to the main purpose of this work, and would absorb altogether too much space, to trace the diffusion of the human race, after the flood, from Noah and his sons. After the landing of the ark on the moun- tains of Ararat or Armenia, the family of Noah remained for some time in that country, ranging between the Cas- pian Sea on the north, Asia Minor on the west, and the Red Sea on the south. The centre o.' population was doubtless in the vicinity of the Euphrates, which empties into the Persian Gulf. When God commanded them to 468 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. disperse, and to replenish the earth, Nimrod, and the de- scendants of Ham, migrated northward, into what after- ward became the Assyrian and the Babylonian empire. Shem and his descendants moved south, toward the Nile and along the Ked Sea and the Mediterranean ; while Japheth and his descendants settled along the northern slope of the Mediterranean, in Greece, Turkey, and the mountains of Caucasia. For many centuries, the human family, or rather, the great bulk of it, led a migratory and roving life — either subsisting by hunting, or by grazing sheep and cattle. As families increased, governments were instituted ; and when, by marriages and social rela- tions, families and tribes united for the common protec- tion, governors were clothed with authority to regulate their domestic concerns. These little communities, by the natural law of increase, expanded into nations^ and with such expansion came the ambition to build cities, and to surround themselves with the more permanent appliances and conveniences of life. With the increase of population and the growth of cities, the authority of rulers extended itself, whereupon new religions were adopted, new principles inculcated, and new and varied avocations pursued. Jealousies between tribes and nations were aroused ; wars were carried on, and, in short, in a few centuries from the dispersion of Noah's family, millions of people were scattered over the vast region of country ex- tending from the Atlantic coast of Britain eastward through Europe, Asia, and Africa, to the distant shores of India, China, and Japan. Nation after nation arose, some distinguished for their wonderful mechanical genius, as the Egyptians ; some for their commercial enterprise, as the Phcenicians, and Carthaginians ; some for their literature, poetry, and fine arts, as the Grecians and Romans ; and all, more or less, for their wars, conquests, colonies, forms of government, science, philosophy, archi- ANCIENT INHABITANTS OP THE EARTH. 459 tecture, religion, etc., etc. They rose and fell, one after the other, until there is now little left of them, outside of Europe, but the sculptured remains of their ruined palaces, their superstitious idols, their works of art, and the names of their great kings, generals, poets, and philosophers. In glancing over the history of the ancient nations thus distributed over Africa, Asia, and Europe, one fact will strike the reader with irresistible force, viz. , that the human species, four thousand years ago, possessed mental and physical properties fully equal, if not superior in many respects, to the people of the present age. All their works were on a grand and magnificent scale, and have excited the wonder and admiration of all succeeding ages. Some of the palaces and temples of Thebes, presented a forest of lofty marble pillars, stretching out in long avenues and porticos, lined with innumerable sphinxes. A single hall, in one of these stupendous edifices, was supported by one hundred and twenty pillars, six fathoms round, of a proportionate height, and intermixed with obelisks which so many ages have not been able to de- molish. Painting, too, had displayed all her art. " The colors themselves, which soonest feel the injury of time, still remained amidst the ruins of this wonderful structure, and preserved much of their original beauty and lustre — so happily could the Egyptians imprint a character of im- mortality on all their works."* Every portion of Egypt abounded in obelisks. They were for the most part cut in the quarries of Upper Egypt, where some were left half-finished. But the most wonderful circumstance is, that the ancient Egyptians should have had the art and contrivance to dig canals, from the very quarries to the river Nile, by means of which, during the high inundations ot that river, they floated the obelisks to different parts * RoUin, Tfho also quotes Strabo. 460 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. of the country. This was accomplished by rafts or air- inflated skins ; but when we consider the enormous pro- portions and weight of the obelisks, thus cut out of the quarries, the means would seem utterly disproportioned to the task. Thus, Sesostris erected in Heliopolis two obelisks of extremely hard stone, brought from the quarries of Syene, each one hundred and eighty feet in length. This, be it understood, was a single mass of rock, cut into a quadrangular shape, raised perpendicularly, and in- scribed with hieroglyphics or mystical characters. The Emperor Augustus, after he made Egypt a province of the Koman Empire, caused these obelisks to be transported to Kome, one of which was broken into several pieces. Constantinus afterward removed a third one, even larger than the first. The pyramids also constituted a very re- markable feature among the monuments of the ancient Egyptians, and were scattered all over the empire. Those near Memphis, however, were the most considerable. The largest was built on a rock, having a square base, cut on the outside as so many steps, and decreasing gradually to the summit. It was built with stones of a prodigious size, the least of which were thirty feet, wrought with wonderful art, and covered with hieroglyphics. Ac- cording to several ancient authors, each side was eight hun- dred feet broad, and as many high. The summit of the pyramid, which to those who stood below, seemed a point, was a fine platform, composed of ten or twelve massive stones, and each side of that platform sixteen or eighteen feet long. It is said that one hundred thousand men were constantly employed about this work, and were relieved every three months by the same number. Ten years were spent in hewing out the stones, either in Arabia or Ethiopia, and in conveying them to Egypt; and twenty years more in building this immense edifice, the inside of which contained numberless rooms and apartments. ■WORKS OP ART OP THE EGYPTIANS. 461 These pyramids were tombs, and there is still to be seen, in the middle of the largest, an empty sepulchre, cut out of one entire stone, about three feet deep and broad, and a little above six feet long. Such were the pyramids, which, by their figure, as well as size, have completely triumphed over the injuries of time and the barbarians. Pliny gives us a just idea of their object, when he calls them a foolish and useless ostentation of the wealth of Egyptian kings, and adds, that by a just punishment, their memory is buried in oblivion — the historians them- selves not agreeing about the names of those who first raised these vain monuments. Diodorus judiciously observed that the industry of the architects is no less valuable and praiseworth}^, than the designs uf the Egyptian kings are contemptible and ridiculous. But what we should most admire in these ancient monuments is, the true and standing evidence they give of the skill of the Egyptians in astronomy. M. de Chazeller, when he measured the great pyramid, found that the four sides of it were turned exactly to the four quarters of the world, and consequently showed the true meridian of the place. What has been said concerning the judgment we ought to form of the pyramids, may also be applied to the laby- rinth. This was not so much one single palace, as a magnificent pile composed of twelve palaces, regularly disposed, which had a communication with each other. Fifteen hundred rooms, interspersed with terraces, were ranged round twelve principal halls, and discovered no outlet to such as went to see them. There was the like number of buildings under ground. These subterraneous structures were designed for the burial place of kings, and also for keeping the sacred crocodiles, which a nation so wise and powerful in other respects, worshiped as gods ! But, in the estimation of many, the noblest and most 462 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. ~ wonderful work of all the kings of Egypt, was the lake of McEris. Its exact dimensions have been disputed ; but ac- cording to modern travelers, it was twenty thousand paces, or over seven French leagues in circumference. Some of the ancient authors made it more than one hundred and eighty French leagues, but this is evidently an exaggera- tion. Two pyramids, on each of which was placed a colossal statue, seated on a throne, raised their heads to the height of three hundred feet in the midst of the lake, while their foundations took up the same space under the water. This lake had a communication with the Nile by a great canal, and was intended to store water for the supply of the country during seasons of drought, or when the river failed in its customary annual over- flows. We have cited these familiar examples of the works of ancient art, merely to remind the reader of the almost un- limited resources, power, and mechanical skill of the earlier races of mankind, and to support the proposition pre- viously advanced, viz., that in many respects they far sur- passed any subsequent age or nation. But we might cite many other examples — nations that equally surpassed the moderns in science, literature, and the fine arts ; in mining, manufactures, and commerce ; or in government, philo- sophy, and statesmanship. The present has the benefit of the discoveries of previous ages. It can detect the follies of the past, and improve upon' the good that has descended from it. It enjoj^s the rich legacy bequeathed by its fathers, and nearly every thing that it accom- pUshes, is but the reflex of past ages, from whence our modes of thought and action were, in a great measure, derived. They were our predecessors in poetry, music, the drama — in war, the arts, sciences — in architecture, statuary, painting — and although we may, in some cases, have improved upon the original models, according to the FIRST SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. 465 idiosyncrasies of particular nations and ages, yet, upon the whole, we have never surpassed them, and probably never will. Now, is it likely that nations thus distinguished — na- tions which, like the Phoinicians, Carthaginians, and Gre- cians, sent their fleets to every sea, and planted colonies in the most distant points, should, for more tKan three thou- sand years, remain ignorant of the American continent ? Or is it to be supposed that, after their downfall, one follow- ing fast upon the other, it was finally reserved for Spain, (which had previously been but a colony of Carthaginia, from whose bowels she mined her gold, silver, copper, lead, and other minerals,) emerging from a long-protracted era of ignorance, superstition and darkness ; — that it was reserved for her alone, in the fifteenth century, to make the discovery of America ? I repeat : Can any one, after con- templating the extraordinary resources, enterprise, and learning of the previous ages, suppose that America re- mained unknown to the world until the discovery of Columbus ? The idea is preposterous. The knowledge of this continent may indeed, have died out with the extin- guishment of the ancient Asiatic and African nations themselves, as it did with the Icelanders, and in the dark- ness which enshrouded Europe during the middle ages, may have been completely lost to those people, if indeed, any knowledge of it had previously existed among them ; — ^but it is utterly. inconsistent with any estimate that we can form of the power, nautical enterprise, and learning of the previous ages, to suppose that they should have remained ignorant of it, when in an after age, notoriously effeminate and destitute of means, the discovery should still have been made, upon geographical grounds, supposed to be original and independent, but really far otherwise. Columbus derived his theory of the New World from the Icelanders, colonists from Norway, who had previously 30 <-*^ 464 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. settled the Atlantic Coast from Boston to New York, as early as the tenth century, and it is well known that, when he actually landed in South America, four centuries after, he could not persuade himself that it was a new continent — every thing induced him to regard it as a por- tion of the far-off Indies, and hence the name which por- tions of it bear to this day ! There are so many things in the history and works of the more ancient races that we cannot comprehend, and so much to challenge our admiration and wonder, that it would be contrary to all reason and analogy to presume upon their geographical ignorance, in the face of monu- ments which our own continent is now revealing of an absolute identity between them and our aborigines. Such a presumption would not only be unreasonable, but it would be the sheerest folly when we remember that, while the works, physiological features, languages, and inscrip- tions of the aborigines bear no resemblance whatever to the nations of Modern Europe, there is in everything a most remarkable similarity to the ancient inhabitants of the Mediterranean, and of the adjacent countries around the original seat of the ISToachian race. "The compara- tive study of languages," says the great and profound Alexander Von Humboldt, who maintains the unity of races, " shows us that races now separated by vast tracts of land are allied together, and have migrated from one common primitive seat : it indicates the course and direc- tion of all migrations, and, in tracing the leading epochs of development, recognizes, by means of the more or less changed structure of the language, in the permanence of certain forms, or in the more or less advanced destruction of the formative system, which race has retained most nearly the language common to all who had migrated from the general seat of origin. The largest field for such in- vestigations into the ancient condition of languages, and, ALTERNATION OP ANIMAL RACES. 465 consequently, into the period when the whole family of mankind was, in the strict sense of the word, to be re- garded as one living whole, presents itself in the long chain of Indo-Germanic languages, extending from the Ganges to the Iberian extremity of Europe, and from Sicily to the Iforth Cape. The same comparative study of languages leads us also to the native country of certain products which, from the earliest ages, have constituted important objects of trade and barter. The Sanscrit names of genuine Indian products, as those of rice, cotton, spike- nard and sugar have, as we find, passed into the language of the Greeks, and to a certain extent, even into those of Shemitic origin."* But the theory of the ancient colonization of America, is not only supported by the similarity existing between the trans-oceanic races and their works, but is strikingly corroborated by the animal creation. Cuvier, and other distinguished anatomists, from whom we have already quoted, pointed out the fact that each continent appears to have a fauna peculiarly its own ; and that in America, the animals invariably belonged to a class very ancient in the scale of creation. When the " Spaniards first visited South America, they did not find a single species of quadruped the same as any in Europe, Asia, or Africa — the puma, jaguar, tapir, lama, sloths, armadillos, opossums, etc., were to them entirely new animals." He might have added that ^en the natives whom Columbus met, were an entirely new race — not different in species, for that was impossible ; but like the animals themselves, new and unknown. And why was this ? The races whom the Indians most resembled, had long before died out ; and so even the animals had no longer any known representatives in Asia, Africa, or Europe. But on ^ Humboldt, Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 111. 466 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. digging up the eartli, wliat do we find? First, the ancient progenitors of the American aborigines, and then, one by one, the ancient progenitors of the American animals ! It is a singular and extraordinary coincidence, that, while nearly every leading naturalist points out this remarkable feature in the faunas of America, Australia, and New Zealand, not one has the temerity to suggest their common origin, as if science should be compromised if found to add aught to the simple facts of the Bible ! It is not worth while here to again go into particulars, for if I did, fifty pages of my book would be occupied with the details. Sufi&ce it to say, that so far have all geologists carried this proposition, (of the faunas of America, Austra- lia and numerous oceanic islands being of greater antiquity than the existing faunas of Europe, Asia, and Africa,) that some of them have even assigned a similar antiquity to the vegetation. " It is a circumstance quite extraordinary and unexpected," says Prof. Agassiz, in his work on Lake Superior, " that the fossil plants of the Tertiary beds of CEningen resemble more closely the trees and shrubs which grow at present in the eastern parts of North America, than those of any other parts of the world ; thus allowing us to express correctly the difference between the opposite coasts of Europe and America, by saying that the present eastern American flora, and, I may add, the fauna also, have a more ancient character than those of Europe." The mastodon, once so numerous in America, had previously flourished in Europe and Asia, and its bones are there found in strata older than those which contain them here. The South American tapir, the hog, the puma, the lama, armadillo, (in short, all the animals now existing here), had their analogues in the Old World ; and many of the species became extinct there about the very time that we can suppose them to have been introduced here. In like manner, the marsupials of Australia are no ALTERNATION OF ANIMAL RACES. 467 longer found in the old world, and are represented in America by the opossum and pouched rats ; but extinct genera of these animals are found all over the earth, and are not confined to any particular localities, as the living species now appear to be. As the a,nimals ran out in the old continents, they made their appearance in the new ones ; and the very same fact holds good with the races of man. Many animals, especially those valuable for their fur, their hides, or their flesh, or those obnoxious to the lords of creation, have already become extinct during the present brief settlement of America ; while the Indians themselves are gradually disappearing with them. The bones of the one will mingle with those of the other ; .as those of their predecessors are now found side by side with the Mastodon, Megatherium, the Paleotherium, etc. For more than three centuries, Europe, Asia, and Africa have been emptying their overflowing population on our shores ; and the effects thus produced on the physical aspect of the continent need not be pointed out. Old things are eradicated — new ones introduced. The wild animals give place to the domestic ones. The aborigines fade away before the white man, like flies nijTped by autumnal frosts. Nature works slowly and mysteriously ; but always on the same general plan. What we see going on now, has occurred before, and will occur again. One race of animals must give way to another, as one race of man is superseded by another. The seat of ancient art and population in Asia and Africa, has long been little else than a barren waste. The time will come when it will again attract a superior population, and the semi- barbarous people now inhabiting it vjill die out, as the American Indian 2.s trampled down beneath the advancing march of civilization! The lion and the tiger will give way to the sheep and the ox ; and the school -house and the church spire will smile on plains now traversed by 468 THE SEVENTH DAY— THE SABBATH. wandering caravans, or dotted with fragile tents and with temples of heathen gods. All the smaller animals, including the deer, the horse, the buffalo, the tapir, the sheep, the lama, and many others, were brought here by the earliest colonies, and their hides, and wool, or fur, constituted then, as they have since, a profitable article of commercial traflQc. The increase of population in the old world prevented their mature development there. Among nations who could go to war with a million soldiers under arms, as was re- peatedly the case with Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Car- thaginia, Persia, and Greece, (that of Xerxes, when he lay before Thermopylae, was estimated at several millions,) it may readily be surmised that the inferior animals, if not absolutely extinct, would soon become so ; and hence the policy of transplanting them to the new world would sug- gest itself as a scheme worthy the sagacity and unlimited enterprise of those great nations. But, independent of the commercial aspect, of the scheme, the religion of the Egyptians, and other nations, was such that their people would natur^ly take with them animals which they were taught to regard with superstitious reverence. The dog, the cat, the oxen, and many others, were absolutely insep- arable from them, — they were household gods. And who can doubt but that the Almighty suffered this abominable superstition to prevail, for the purpose of effecting some ultimate and unseen good ? He seems to have used these very idolaters for the express purpose of transplanting his creation to other worlds ; while he suffered them to rear up their everlasting monuments of folly, merely to exhibit to succeeding generations the ineffaceable gloom and deso- lation that now brood over tbem. In the very height of their power and glory, and at a time when the true God had been utterly forgotten, they were yet unconsciously car- ryiyig out his decrees ! They were allowed strength that ALTERNATION OP ANIMAL RACES. 469 they might the better work ; they were allowed indomitable enterprise that the whole world might be subdued; they were allowed exalted learning to show how contracted was their vision, when, unable to fathom the works of the Creator, they bowed down to beasts and sculptured idols. All this, I repeat, was tolerated that ultimate good might flow from it ; for every seeming evil in the plan of creation, invariably carries with it a compensating virtue. Poison has its antidote ; affliction brings consolations ; and the terrors of death itself vanish before the angels of hope, which bear away the undying soul* I now come to the direct consideration of the seventh day or Sabbath. God rested the seventh day for the pur- pose of showing that his work was done. Had he not designated such a period of rest, it would have appeared that his creative work was continuous ; but we know that such is not the fact. Changes occur on the surface of the earth, both in organic life and in organic forms ; but there are no new and special creations. All the effects now pro- duced are the results of laiv, not of new creative ads. When, therefore, God finisJied his creation, its successive stages were symbolized by the days allotted to man, and * We had no idea, at the outset, of lingering so long on this branch of the subject. We have many other suggestions which might properly be introduced, but the bulk of manuscript already accumulated, admonishes me of the necessity of leaving it, at least for the present. Many of the views that I have presented are new — some of them novel. I do not know what the world may think of them, if, indeed, anybody shall even think of them at all. But I indulge a hope that I, or some one else, may be able, at some future time, to set them forth in a better light. The truths of nature are like game — they must be hunted for; and even when found out, it is not every marksman that can " ahnnt folly as it flies, or catch the manners, living, as they rise." If my friend, the reader, should coincide with me, and bo amused and entertained by the facts and positions I have presented to his consideration, I shall be well rewarded for all the paper, ink, candles, and so forth, that have been consumed ! .410 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. he hallowed the seventh, for the purpose of saving him from the evil effects of continuous labor. No one could understand the complicated and delicate mechanism of man better than the Creator himself. He knew evei^ artery and bone ; every little treacherous nerve and vessel, and how easily they could all be unstrung, disorganized, and ruptured. He knew the delicate sensations of the brain — the inimitable fibres of the eye — the drum-like caverns of the ear — the pendulum vibrations of the heart, (like " mufiled drums, beating funeral marches to the grave.") Knowing man's constitution and physical or- ganization, the Creator saw the necessity for periods of alternate rest from toil ; and experience has demonstrated that the seventh day is as essential to his health, and to the maintenance of vigor of body and mind, as sleep and regular periods for meals. And not only is this requisite for man and all laboring animals, but it applies with nearly equal propriety to machinery, especially locomo- tives and steam engines. When these are kept constantly employed for long periods, the iron loses its polish, elasti- city, and strength ; there is an inequality between the active working parts, and those less occupied — between those exposed to the action of heat and steam, and those more exempt. To preserve such machines in good run- ning order, they require occasional relaxation, during which time their surfaces may be cleaned, polished, and lubricated. But if this be true of inanimate machines, it has ten times the force when applied to animals. No one need be told that a horse, driven consecutively on a long journey, without Sabbath-rests, would soon become weakened and exhausted. The animal requires fixed times to recuperate his system. A bow, when it remains bent for a considerable time, cannot relax its fibres so as to resume its originally straight form ; — but if, after use, the string be removed, it will resume its natural form, and NECESSITY FOR SABBATH RESTS. 411 ^hus preserve all its strength and elasticity. After a man works during the day, sleep will restore him in the night ; but if he continued on, without giving his mind and body an opportunity to recuperate on the seventh day, he would soon degenerate, and the human family, in a few genera- tions, would become a race of enervated, over-worked pigmies — a race of parched, dried-up mummies, devoid of vitality and manly energy of body and mind. God knew this, and hence hallowed the Sabbath. But while he hallowed the seventh day, he appointed all the others for labor. " Six days shalt thou workP^ — not six days shalt thou fritter away in idleness, dissipa- tion, and sin ! Some people, of late, have manifested a great deal of zeal in behalf of the Seventh day, (or rather, in behalf of the Christian Sabbath, which, however, is all the same,) but seem entirely to overlook the^rs^ part of the command. Many of them would appear to think that they are obeying the injunction by keeping the one day, when, in fact, they are equally bound to keep all of them. The Creator never contemplated man as an idler. He made him for work ! — he put him on the earth to cul- tivate, and embellish, and subdue it. And speaking of cultivation : The wisdom of the Al- mighty is demonstrated in another way, in connection with this very subject. He has not only enjoined a Sab- bath upon man, but has applied it in a somewhat similar manner to the very ground whereon we tread. The twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus opens with these re- markable words : " "And the Lord spake unto Moses, on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof: But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord ; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of 412 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed ; for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you ; for thee and for thy ser- vant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee. And for 'thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat." The recent progress made in agricultural science has established, in the most overwhelming manner, the wis- dom of this law ; which, like ten thousand others, tends to elevate the Bible so high in the philosophy of life and nature, that nothing short of direct inspiration can account for its authenticit}^ The science of chemistry was un- known at the time Moses lived — but more particularly agricultural chemistry. Even the art of compounding medicine, if it extended beyond the admixture of the juices of roots and vegetables, was not based upon the fixed principles of chemistry, and had no systematic application to any of the arts. And yet these instructions of Moses are based upon true chemical principles — principles which man has been more than four thousand years in finding out. His practical experience never would have revealed the cause of the exhaustion and impoverishment of soils, and the means to be applied for their restoration, had it not been for the demonstrations of chemistry ; — chemistry, a modern science. Why does the farmer rotate his crops? "Why does he divide his farm into seven or eight principal fields, and then observe a systematic change and "alterna- tion of crops from one to the other ? Because the earth is made up of various mineral substances, derived from the decomposition of rocks and organic matter, which, attracting the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen of the atmosphere, unite in ever varying proportions, and as they erect vegetable tissues, ^pply to it sugar, gum, starch, and the various acids, salts, alkalies, and oils. All plants are mainly made up of potassa, soda, lime, mag- CHEMICAL LAW OF VEGETATION. 473 nesia, and sesquioxyd of iron, which are invariably com- bined in greater or less proportions with carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, silicic acid, phosphoric acid, and various chlorids. The chemical combinations thus formed be- tween the elements of the earth and of the air ; the power they exert of precipitating chemical acids, and of stimu- lating vegetable vitality, in all its wonderful forms, is derived mainly fro')n the soil. For if the mineral iiigre- dients necessary to attract the elements of the air, are wanting in the soil, no vegetable acids can be evolved, and consequently crops cannot be raised. This is es- pecially the case when a succession of crops of the same kind are planted in the same soil — the particular elements which enter into such crops being exhausted, there is no longer remaining sufficient strength in the mineral par- ticles of the soil to attract the carbon, oxygen, and hydro- gen of the air, and form vegetable acids with them. Wheat usually contains an average of 56 parts of starch, 14 of gluten, 8 of sugar, 5 of gum, 2 of bran, and from 10 to 13 of water. The bran generally occupies about one- fourth of the entire weight of the grain, and is even more nutritious (in gluten) than the white flour. When the grain is burned, there is left behind about 2 per cent, of ash, nearly one-half of which consists of phosphoric acid, the other constituents being potash, silica, magnesia, soda, oxyd of iron, lime, etc., etc. These mineral substances are minutely diffused throughout the whole seed, but the bran contains the most. The quantity of starch in corn meal varies from 70 to 80 per cent. ; in rye flour, from 50 to 60 ; in buckwheat, about 50 ; in peas and beans, 42 ; and in potatoes, from 13 to 15 (with the addition of nearly 70 parts of water). All the cereals are thus distinguislied for the production of starch and gluten ; while in otlicrs the leading element is sugar ; in others, gum, resin, and mineral oils ; in others, alkalies, poisonous extracts, color- 4t4 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. ing principles, etc., etc. Over two hundred distinct acid compounds, the products of vegetation, have been isolated and described by chemists. They are all composed (but in ever-varying degrees of combination) of carbon, hydro- gen, and oxygen, vs^ith the latter generally in excess. They are almost invariably found in combination with the varied mineral bases of the soil, as potash, soda, lime, etc. Now, it is plain that as all the cereal crops absorb a large amount of starch and gluten, the mineral particles in the soil which elaborate these substances would ultimately lose their vitality, and the ground become impoverished by uninterrupted succession of such crops. To overcome this tendency to exhaustion, all farmers find it absolutely necessary to return to the ground some of the elements thus absorbed from it, and to enable it anew to attract moisture and heat by which to maintain the fermenting and acid principle of vegetation. Animal manures, bone- dust, lime, wood-ashes, straw, and decomposed vegeta- tion accomplish this office in a great measure, not only by their acids dissolving the coherent particles of earth and rock, and rendering the soil porous and open to the ope- ration of the air and moisture, but to enable it to attract from the air the particular qualities demanded for the support of the crop. The substances which make up the great bulk of the structure of all plants — cellulose, lignine, starch, sugar, and gum — contain oxygen and hydrogen in exactly the same proportions as they exist in water, and they may in fact be regarded as water in combination with carbon. Plants absorb through their roots much more water than is applied to the enlargement of their structure, and in such cases a constant evaporation takes place from their leaves. By this process all the solid parts of the plant are assimilated from the sap, which is itself ren- dered liquid by the water. But the carbonic acid which CHEMICAL LAW OF VEGETABLE GROWTH. 4T5 plants absorb is mainly received through their leaves — all of which are furnished with innumerable pores to effect this object. "These pores are found mainly upon the under side of the leaf. In the white lily, where they are unusually large, and are easily seen by a simple micro- scope of moderate power, there a^e about 60,000 to the sq^iare inch on the epidermis of the lower surface, and only about 3,000 in the same space upon the upper sur- face. Direct sunshine being unfavorable to their opera- tion, they are more commonly found on the lower surface of leaves. Although but two measures of carbonic acid gas are contained in 5,000 of air, its aggregate supply, by reason of the great extent of the atmosphere, is very large, and has been estimated to exceed seven tons for each acre of the earth's surface. The immensely-extended sur- face presented by the leaves of plants enables them to withdraw carbonic acid from the atmosphere in a very rapid manner. But carbonic acid, when the soil is rich in decomposing vegetable matter, is also evolved in the ground, and is fed to the roots of the plants in the form of a solution. The acid is decomposed, and its carbon constituents being retained by the plant, the oxygen originally combined with it is restored to the atmosphere. Thus, plants will grow in proportion to the power of the soil to supply such carbon ; and this is primarily depen- dent on the amount of material furnished to it so as to enable it to attract, and then to assimilate, the elements when obtained."* Now, the experience of farmers in all ages has demon- strated that, notwithstanding all the manures annually returned to the soil, and in addition to the regular alter- nation of crops, it is yet absolutely essential to let one of the fields lie fallow every year, and thus, by a system of * Wells' Chemistry. 4T6 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. rotation, all of them obtain, in their turn, a Sahbath if rest every seventh year, agreeably to the Mosaic requirement, It will thus be seen that the institution of the Sabbath is founded upon a direct law of Nature, and, in the case of the ground, involves the nicest and most complex princi- ples of chemistry — the whole phenomena of earthy con- stituents, air, water, chemical combinations and acids, and the functions and secretions of all plants. As these things were unknown to Science during the age that Moses lived, it follows that, like many other laws founded on similar philosophical knowledge, they must have been revealed to him by the Creator himself, who, as we have before remarked, was in closer intercourse with the early races of mankind than he has been at any time since, except during the holy mission of the Saviour. If civil- ized man kept no Sabbath of rest, it is not too much to infer that he would, in the course of a few generations, relapse into a savage or barbarous condition, respecting neither the laws of nature nor the governmental institu- tions of man, framed for the common decorum and pro- tection of society. Nearly all the laws of Moses, which, at this remote age, appear so anomalous and singular, were based upon the peculiar habits and principles of mankind at that early day, and were doubtless the best that could have been devised to lead the Israelites from the superstitions and worship of idols with which, during their long sojourn among the Egyptians, they had become prepossessed. This is evinced from the fact that, on their return from that God-afflicted land, during the temporary absence of Moses on one of his missions to receive new instructions from God, they compelled Aaron to set up a golden calf, which they immediately fell down and worshiped in the true Egyptian spirit. This shows very conclusively the necessity for the adoption of forms and sacrifices, that their minds might be constantly directed to God, and that THE HARMONY OF NATURE. 477 their whole study and their worldly possessions should, as it were, be devoted to the service of the true God, in- stead of the absurd and demoralizing worship of images and animals. And the experience of modern nations and communities has proved the fact, that wherever the Sab- bath, both for man, beast, and the soil, has been observed in religious purity, the land and the people have been rendered prosperous in the highest degree ; and that, wherever it has not been observed, the land has sunk into barrenness and the people relapsed into semi-barbarism. The brief experience of our own country has already suf- ficed to demonstrate this unerring law. God has thus not only directed man in the true way to domestic happiness, health, and prosperity, individual as well as national, as based upon the cultivation of the earth; but he has also anticipated the future multifarious wants of the human family, by providing underneath the plow- share, seams of fossil coal, of mineral ores, and earthy substances for building and the useful arts, besides gems and jewels, and elevating them in advance, by volcanic agency, so as to render them conveniently accessible. While there sometimes seems to be a confusion and un- necessary complication in the stratification of the earth, a benevolent design may be thus observed in the plan — the wise forethought and provision of a good father for his dependent and erring children. For, it is hardly worth while to suggest, had these varied mineral substances been suffered to remain in the horizontal position in which they were originally deposited, nothing is more certain than that they could not have been available to man, and that the surface would not have presented that diversity of valley and mountain which now distinguishes the greater portion of it, and effects the most essential benefits in the diversification of the atmosphere. Where- fore, exclaims Milton, with more than poetic inspiration : 4Y8 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. "Wherefore hath Nature poured her bounties forth With such a full and un with drawing hand; Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks — Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable, But all to please, and sate the curious taste, And give unbounded pleasure unto man ?" Every portion of the globe is thus supplied with some peculiar mineral, agricultural, commercial, or industrial resource, and he must be blind indeed that cannot see in the arrangement, not only a geological order, but a geogra- phical distribution well calculated to enable man, agree- ably to the divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth, and to exercise his humane dominion over all its creatures. The whole fraternity of man and creation is thus drawn together in a common chain of union — " We are but parts of one stupendous whole. Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. All Nature is but art, unknown to thee ; All chance, direction, which thou can'st not see ; All discord, harmony, not understood ; All partial evil, universal good." But there is, in the whole creation of the earth, not only a pre-arranged order of Nature in the distinct and successive cosmogonal eras, as we have attempted to show ; but there is a continuous development, from first to last. Organic forms and structure invariably proceed according to fixed laws of proportion and number. Had there, indeed, been no law of progression, the work of creation would have been stationary, without power of change or of recuperation. Without progression, the work of six eras might have been confined to one — to a day — an hour — a minute. But it happens that the same principle of progression which impels forward the human family, also impels, though in a modified degree, every other species of organic life. Herein man resembles THE HARMONY OP NATURE. 419 his Maker, whose works continually attract him coward and upward. Hence it is that the beautiful in the arts of design, in sculpture, architecture, painting, mechanics, and the law of mathematics, is only attainable according to the preexisting models of Nature. The mind of man, in other words, is directed by the works of God, and in following and fathoming those works, he merely imitates his Creator, and becomes God-like as he improves upon their teachings and purposes. The elaborately-carved frieze or cornice that we so much admire in the capitals of ancient art, are mere copies of the sculptured and ornate shells of the still more ancient Ammonites and Trilobites, who erected their marble palaces in the bottoms of primitive seas. The scars and ribs of the Sigillaria, the oval canopy and pendant tassels of the Lepidodendria, the stellar net-work and rounded dots of the Stigmaria — all these, in their in- numerable varieties, form figures which the printers of calico and paper-hangings may imitate, but not surpass. Even the speaking marbles of Phidias ; the eloquence of Demosthenes ; the graceful figures and gorgeous coloring of Raphael ; the poetic anthems of Milton ; the dramatic worldlings of Sh^kspeare ; the mathematical demonstra- tions of Newton ; the great laws of Copernicus, Kepler, and Leverrier; — what, in fact, are all these but reflected msions or harmonies of Nature — reflected on minds which, like the prints of the sun upon the daguerreotype, were sufficiently transparent to retain them. What is thought but the reflected or embodied idea which God has imprinted on Nature I Our senses thus detect beauty of foi'm and structure, of curved line and coloring mixture, in all the shells of the sea, and in all the trees, flowers, and fruits of the land. There is beauty everywhere ! — Jiothing but beauty and harmony. The papered walls of our houses, the figured carpets we sometimes /ear to tread upon, the printed de- 31 480 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. laines and rustling silks so gracefully expanded around the human form divine — these are only tolerable imita- tions of things and pictures which the Almighty sketched mil-ions of years ago. Even the delicately-wrought laces of the ladies — the Chantilly and Honiton fabrics which it affords husbands so much pleasure to buy at ten or jBfty dollars per yard ; why, really, these are little more than the gossamer webs of the spider, and it would be difficult to tell which of them catches the largest number of flutter- ing victims ! St. Peter's has a laige dome ; but who can paint one like that visible over our heads on a starlight night, or during the meridian of the sun, or when he sinks down beyond the western hills to take a peep at the in- habitants of the antipodes ? Our minds are God-like be- cause we can admire God's works. Sometimes Nature teaches us what we have the effrontery to regard as 07'ig- inal designs ; but experience always proves that God has preceded us. There is, in fact, no such thing as origin- ality in man. Even sin, in which he excels, is not original with him ! In the arts of government, in domestic thrift, industry, and order, the " little busy bee" gives us signi- ficant lessons. What nation, or statesman, or philosopher, from Lycurgus to Buchanan, has laid down a nicer scheme of governmental order and decorum than that which they illustrate in their little pendant worlds of woven paper. " They Lave a King, and officers of sorts, Where some, like Magistrates, correct at home ; Others, like Merchants, venture trade abroad; Others, like Soldiers, armed in their stings. Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds, Which pillage, they, with merry march, bring home To the tent-royal of their Emperor, Who, busied in his tent, surveys The singing Mason, building roofs of gold; The Civil Citizens kneading up the honey; The poor, mechanic Porters crowding in Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ; THE HAKMONY OF NATURE. 481 The sad-eyed Justice, with his surly hum, Delivering o'er to executors pale, The lazy, yawning Drone." St Pierre observed, and with truth, that the " importance which we assign to our talents, proceeds not from their utility, but from our pride. We should take a material step toward its humiliation did we consider that the animals which have no skill in agriculture, and know not the use of fire, attain to the greatest part of the objects of our arts and sciences, and even surpass them. I will say nothing here of those which build, which spin, manufacture paper, and cloth, and practice a multitude of other trades, of which we do not so much as know. The Torpedo de- fended himself from his enemies by means of the electric shock, before Academies thought of making experiments in electricity; and the Limpet understood the power of the pressure of the air, and attached itself to the rocks by forming the vacuum with its pyramidal shell, long before the air-pump was set in motion. The Quails which annually take their de- parture from Europe, on their way to Africa, have such a perfect know- ledge of the autumnal equinox, that the day of their arrival in Malta, where they rest for twenty -four hours, is marked on the almanacs of the Island, about the 22d of September, and varies every year as the equinox itself. The Swan and Wild Duck have an accurate knowledge of the lati- tude where they ought to stop, when every year they reascend in spring to the extremities of the North, and can find out, without the help of compass or octant, the spot where the year before they made their nests. The Frigate, which flies from East to West, between the tropics, over vast oceans interrupted by no land, and which regains at night, at the distance of many hundred leagues, the very rock, hardly emerging out of the water, which he left in the morning, possesses means of ascertaining his longi- tude hitherto unknown to our most ingenious astronomers."* The wisdom with which JS'ature has settled the propor- tions and functions of animals is not less worthy of ad- miration. On a careful examination, we shall find no one deficient in its members, regard being had to its manners, and the situation in which it is destined to live. This fact is singularly illustrated in the fossil remains of animals — every formation having produced species peculiarly * Studies of Nature, from the French of J. H. B. De St. Pierre; London, 1798. 482 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. adapted to the circumstances then existing for their ac- commodation — as the condition of the climate, the degree of warmth, the purity of the water, its vegetable, calcar- eous, or sedimentary qualities, and the differences in the plants and trees, and many other similar features — all of which continually varied the habits, instincts, functions^ and movements of marine and terrestrial animals. Thus, the large and long bill of the Toucan, and his tongue " formed like a feather, were necessary to a bird who hunts* for insects, scattered about over the humid sands of the American shores. It was needful that he should be pro- vided at once with a long mattock, wherewith to dig, with a large spoon to collect his food, and a tongue fringed with delicate nerves, to enjoy the rich relish of it. Long legs and a long neck were necessary to the Heron, to the Crane, to the Flamingo, and other birds which have to walk in marsh}^ places, and to seek their prey under the water. Nature has also infinitely varied the means of defense, as well as of subsistence. The tardiness of the Sloth is no more a paralytic affection than that of the Turtle and the Snail. The cries which he utters when you go near him, are not those of pain. But, some being- destined to roam over the earth, others to remain fixed on a particular post, their means of defense are varied with their manners. Some elude their enemies by flight ; others repel them by hissings, by hideous figures, by poisonous smells, or lamentable cries. There are some which deceive the eye, such as the Snail, which assumes the color of the walls, or of the bark of trees, to which he flees for refuge; others, by a magic altogether incon- ceivable, transform themselves at pleasure into the color of surrounding objects, as the Chameleon. " Oh ! how sterile is the imagination of man, compared to the intelligence of Nature ! Genius itself, — about which such a noise is made, — this creative genius, which our MAN INSTRUCTED BY ANIMALS. 483 wits fondly imagine they brought into the world with them, and have brought to perfection in learned circles, or by the assistance of books, is neither less nor more than the art of observing. Man cannot forsake the path of Nature, even when lie is determined to go wrong ; we are wise only with her wisdom, and we play the fool only in proportion as we attempt to derange her plans. "* Pope, inferring the instruction of man from the instinct of the lower animals, whereby he has improved the arts of industry, exclaims ; " See him from Nature rising slow to Art, To copy Instinct then was Reason's part. Thus then to man the voice of Nature spake — " Go, from the creatures thy instructions take : Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield j Learn from the beasts the physic of the field ; Thy arts of building from the bee receive ; Learn of the mole to plow, the worm to weave ; Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. Here, too, all forms of social union find, And hence let Reason, late, instruct mankind. Here subterranean works and cities see; There towns aerial on the waving tree ; Learn each small people's genius, policies. The ant's republic and the realm of bees. How those in common all their wealth bestow, And anarchy, without confusion, know; And these forever, though a monarch reign. Their separate cells and properties maintain. Mark what unvaried laws preserve each state ; Laws wise as Nature, and as fixed as fate. In vain thy Reason finer webs shall draw, Entangle justice in her net of law. And right, too rigid, harden into wrong. Still for the strong too weak, the weak too strong. Yet go ! and thus o'er all the creatures sway. Thus let the wiser make the rest obey ; • Studies of Nature, from the French of J. H. B. De St. Pierre ; London, 1798. 484 THE SEVENTH DAY — THE SABBATH. And for those arts mere instinct could afford. Be crowned as monarchs, or as gods adored!'' Lessons of wisdom, of invention, of patient industry, and social decorum can thus be learned from every species of created being, and even from the insects and half vege- table zoophytes and coral reefs ; but more especially from the domestic animals, many of Avhom are doomed to drudge their brief lives away in the service of ungrateful and unappreciating man. How faithfully the horse plows ; how intelligently he draws the wagon or the carriage : how noble is his amble under the rein of his rider — shar- ing with him " all the pleasure and the pride I" If his mission on earth is that of serving man, who will say that it is not well performed ? And what is his reward ? Is it to be presumed that animals so elevated in the scale of intelligence and usefulness, shall have no future rest — no Sabbath from the lashes, and neglect, and hard tasks of man ? Heaven forbid ! The hard tasks and cruelties which a Christian people inflict on these devoted animals, might at least be compensated so far as to concede, accord- ing to the spirit of our religion, that the same benevolence which provides for our future happiness, vrill not deal un- kindly with the poor brutes. But what a contrast does the treatment of these creatures in civilized countries afford to that of the Arabs ! They never beat their horses ; they manage them by means of kindness and caresses, and render them so docile, that there are no animals of the kind in the world to be compared with them in beauty and in goodness. They do not fix them to a stake in the fields, but suffer them to pasture at large around their habitation, to which they come running the moment that they hear the sound of the master's voice. Those tractable animals resort at night to their tents, and lie down in the midst of the children, without THE ARABIAN HORSE. 485 ever hurting them in the slightest degree. If the rider happens to fall while coursing, his horse stands still in- stantly, and never stirs till he has mounted again. These animals are the first coursers of the universe. " It is re- lated hy D^Hervieux, in his "Journey to Mount Lebanon," that the French consul at Said offered to purchase a most beautiful mare, which comprised the whole stock of a poor Arabian of the desert, with the intention of sending her to his sovereign, Louis the Fourteenth. The poor Arab, pressed by want, hesitated a long time, but at length con- sented, on condition of receiving a very considerable sum, and which the king authorized him to advance. The consul sent notice to the Arab, who soon after made his appearance, mounted on his magnificent courser, and the gold which he had demanded was paid down to him. The Arab, covered with a miserable rug, dismounts, looks at the money, then, turning his eyes to the mare, he sighs, and thus accosts her : ' To whom am I going to yield thee up ? To Europeans, who will tie thee close, who will beat thee, who will render thee miserable I Return with me, my beauty ! my darling I my jewel ! and rejoice the hearts of my children. ' And as he pronounced these words, he sprung upon her back, and scampered off toward the desert. "* Even the " Poor Indian, whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind, — Yet thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog will bear him company !" But while lessons of profit and benevolence may often be learned from the various species of animal life, a scrutiny of the habits and instincts of others, also reveals much to deplore and condemn. For, like vain, tyrannical * St. Pierre, Studies of Nature. 486 THE SEVENTH DAY— THE SABBATH. ^ man, tKey too have their assassins, their robbers, and their imperious masters ; — their Shylocks, and Peter Funks, and Mawworms, as well as their ambitious Caesars and Napoleons I It is perhaps a sad reflection ; but we know ver J well that there are villains lying in their native jungles, watching their inoffensive prey with glaring eyes and blood-thirsty jaws. There are villains soaring in the air, ready to pounce, with the stealthy cunning of Rey- nard, upon the bleating fold or the unsuspecting poultry. There are villains rioting in their sculptured and painted shells — dissipating in drunken frolics, or stalking forth with drawn swords, or keen-edged dagger, far down in the "dark unfathomed caves of ocean." The powerful everywhere persecute, pillage, and prey upon the weak. Whole communities of human fish, human fowl, and human quadrupeds, wage eternal, bloody, and exterminat- ing wars upon each other ! Now, as the mind of man may properly be regarded as the combined and concentrated intelligences of all the different animal species, crowned with God-like Reason, his observation alone should lead him to just discrimina- tions — teaching him what to avoid and what to follow — what to do, and what to leave undone. God has sur- rounded him, on every hand, with admonitions and guides ; and has -given him such intellectual powers as, justly exercised, not only enable him to maintain his dominion over all the animals, but to approach nearer and nearer to the character of angels. " These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty, thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair ; thyself how wondrous then ! Unspeakable, who sitt'st above these heavens, To us invisible, or dimly seen In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine. CONCLUSION 481 Speak ye who best can tell, ye sons of light, Angels, for ye behold him, and with songs And choral symphonies, day without night. Circle his throne rejoicing; ye in heaven, On earth join all ye creatures to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end I'- ALPHABETICAL INDEX. (For a Breviary of the Argumeiit of the several days, see page 4.) Adam and Eve, marriage of, 355. Adam and Eve, fall and puuishment of, 367. Adam, sons and daughters of, 372. Agassiz, remarks of, 259, 316. African, Ethiopian or Negro race, 3.52. Air, weight of, 200. Antelope, .311— Apes, 347— Ants, 233. Animals, law of succession, or alterna- tion of species, 465. Animals, number of species now living, 378. Animals, how arranged in Noah's Ark, 383. Animals inhabiting vegetablejuices, 420. Animals, relations of the living to ex- tinct species considered, 428. Animals, extinct species of South Amer- ica, 4.34. Animals, fallacious assumptions of geol- ogists in reference to, 422. Animal remains, absence of in the coal measures, 108. Animals, classification of, Zoologists, 209. Animal life introduced after vegetable life, 242, Animals of the New Red Sandstone era, 243. Animal life first appearing in the seas on the fifth day, 205. Animals in Noah's Ark — were they young or old ? 381. America, discovery of in the nintb cen- tury by the Northmen, 476. America, colonies planted in Massachu- setts and New York by the Icelanders, 447. Ancient inhabitants of America, 448. Ancient modes of writing — the cursive and the cuneiform, 452. Animated Nature, birth of, 44. Ancient vegetation, transmission of the seeds of, 117. Alleghany mountains, origin of the, 67, 174. Auimalcales inherent in water, 213. America geologically the old world, 65. Authracite coal basins described, 130. Anthracite derived from bituminous coal, theories proposed, 161. Ante-mundane phenomena, impossibil- ity of man to explore, 15. Ark of Noah, how constructed, 374, 380, 3S.3. Ark of Noah, compared with the Great Eastern, 375. Ark of Noah, proofs that it was filled with young, and not adult animals, .381. Asphalt of New Brunswick, 139. Aqueous origin of the earth, theory of, 42. Attraction of the sun, law of, 184. Artesian wells, 390. Articulate division of the animal king- dom, 228. Art, works of the ancient Egyptians con- sidered, 461. Arabs, their treatment and love of horses, 485. Astronomy, theories, speculations, dis- coveries, and laws of Hipparchns, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Herschell, Leverrier, etc., 176. Astronomical observations and calcula- tions, value of, 28. Astronomy, progress of discovery in the Seventeenth century, remarks of Barou Humboldt, 187. Asiatic derivation of the ancient or orig- inal inhabitants of America, 451. Athens founded by Cecrops of Egypt, 454, Asphalt, 106 — Amber, origin of, 158. Atmosphere of the coal period, 172, 175, 193, 196. Atmosphere, extraordinary effects pro- duced by the, 190. Atmosphere, wonders of the, 196. Atmosphere and the ocean, currents and climates of the, 188. Atmo.«phere, power of the, compared with the steam-engine, 190. Avalanches, efiects of, 495. Bald Eagle, Dr. Franklin's opinion of the, 340. Basis, the, of Christianity, 369. Behring's Straits, former union of the two continents at, 4.i] . Breccia or Mosaic marble, 241. Botanical classification, sy.stems of Gess- ner, Jussieu, Tournefort, Linnaeus, etc., 78. (489) 490 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Bears, Buffaloes, Bisous, Beavers, etc., 313. Bone-cells of different animals, 272. Bible, truths of the, manifest with in- creased knowledge of natural law, 22, 202, 27.S. Bible, gratuitous apologies for the, re- buked, 30.5. Bible versus Geology, testimony of the witnesses in this case, 2-51. Boulders, erratic, how distributed, 394. Bituminous coal, how converted into anthracite, 160. Bituminous shale in WLsconsin, 139. Brown coal or lignite, nature and origin of, 158. Bird tracks in New Eed Sandstone, 268. Bird tracks classified by Prof. Hitch- cock, 270. Brandy from coal oil, 144. Byron, Lord, epitaph on his dog Boat- 334. Coal basins, origin of, 64. Coal basins, extent and geographical distributions of, 254, Coal, fossil vegetation of the, described, 80. Coal oil of Kentucky, 142. Coal oil whiskey, 144. Coal oil for fuel in Ocean steamers, 145. Coal oil, speculations in, 145. Coal oil, geographical extent of, 146, 147. Coal oil strata, description of, 147. Coal oil, how formed, 147-50. Coal oil vegetation, 149, 1.50, 151. Coal oil, production of, 152. Coal oil. Commercial value of, 1.52. Coal oil of the AUeghanies, 153. Coal, process of distillation from the ancient forests,' 124, 2S0. Coal measures, alternation of strata, 126. Coal, identity of origin of various min- eral combustibles, 132. Coal, chemical changes of, 154. Coal period, climate of the, 172, 175, 196, 206, 251. Coal basins of Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, Nova Scotia, etc., 6S. Coral animals, mechanical operations of, 212. Calorific sublimation of the ancient rocks, 42. Caves, the Mammoth of Kentucky, and others, 69. Coniferous trees, extinct and living, 110. Creation, original seat of, 414. Creative plan or design manifest in Na- ture, 35. Creative tableaux revealed to Moses as described in his Cosmogony, 38. Caqibrian system of rocks, character and distribution of, 60. Calendar of solar time, origin of, 18. Conglomerate and sandstone rocks, ori- gin of, 63. Copernicus not intimidated by priestly persecution, 181. Church, false views of Cosmogony for- merly held by the, 4.3, 167, 202. Cohesion of atums, 36. Cubit measure of Scripture, .376. Cuvier, Baron, on the animals of South America, 427. Crops of the farmer, necessity for their alternation, 472. Crystalline rocks the basis of the globe, 46. Currents of the atmosphere, 188. Cosmogonal eras, days, or circles of time, 17, 24, 194, 206. Church, its eiTors external, not internal, 22. Cretaceous and chalk strata, their char- acter and distribution, 284. Civet, 342— Camel, 313 — Cattle, domestic and wild, 312. Christ, his divinity, doctrines, acts, tri- umph over sin, etc., 369. Christian doubters rebuked, .373. Continents, submergence of, explained, 408. Chiriqui, golden anaglyphs of, 441. Cypress trees, 114. Day, meaning of the word as used by Moses, 17, 20, 194, 206. Devonian system of rocks, 53. Devonian lakes and rivers, 70, 122. Distribution of coal beds, 72, 167. Dry land, emergence of from the primi- tive seas, 73. Deposition of coal seams, theories of geologists, and a new one proposed, 93, 105, 125, 128. Distillation of tar, pitch, turpentine, oils, etc., 119, 121. Drop of water, animals inhabiting a, 214. Discovery of a Saurian What-is-it ? 256. Dinotherium, 309 — Dromedary, 293 — Deer, 311. Earth, origin of the, 13, 40. Earth, antiquity of the, proved, 16, 21, 25. Earth, original nebulosity and fluidity of the, 86, 41. Earth, rotundity of the, 43. Earth, supposed to be an animal by Kepler, 43. Earth, surface of the, a vast tar pit during the coal period, 124. Elks, 319— Elephants, 318. Evening or night, symbolically used by Moses, 18. European, American, and all other pine tree.s. 111. Ehrenberg, Prof., microscopic investiga- tions of, 213. Echiuodermatian animals described, 216, 306. Error unlocking the door for Truth, 180. Egyptians, their probable knowledge and colonization of America, 462. ALPTTABETICAL INDEX. 491 Egyptians, their religions veneration for aniDial!*, io.'>. Egyptian supei'stitious, mythology and enterprise furnish a key by which to account for the distribution of Asiatic animals in America, 444. Ethiopian or Negro race, 352. Eden, garden of, 3.55, 363. Eve, seduced by sin, 364. First dav of Creation described by JMoses, 13. . ' Firmament, origin of the, 43. Foetus of life in the metamorpliic era, o^, 63. Fossil vegetation, character of, 71. Fossil plants, systems of classification, 78. Fossils, what do they teach ? 91. Fos&il trees in coal veins, 96, 9S, 104, 107, 128. Fossils, how accumulated over the coal veins, 126. Fossil remains of coral, molluscan, and other mariue animals, 212. Fossil Radiata and Mollusca, table of species of the, in each geological for- mation, 214. Fossils of the chalk and cretaceous strata, 250. Fruits and fruit trees absent in the ancient strata, 108. Forests of the coal period, density and prolificacy of growth, 123. Fire-damp explosions in mines, 166. Fourth day of Creation described by Moses, 161— Fifth day, 209. Fogs and vapors of the ancient climate. 171. Foramenifera, works of the, 215. Footprints of extinct animals, 243. Fowls of the air introduced on the fifth day, 209. Fishfcs of the Tertiary, and their classifi- cation, 296 — the Gauoid, Cycloid, Pla- coid, and Ctenoid orders, 299. Flood of Noah, how produced, and its universality proved, 372. Fountains of the great deep, how broken up, 389. God's spirit moving the nascent seas, .39. Granite rocks, group of the, 42. Granite, geographical distrilmtion over the earth, 47. Geological classification of rocks, (and nomenclature,) 51. Geological survey of Pennsylvania, scieutilic trash, 54, 259. Geological agencies of the coal period, 68. Geological formations or eras have dis- tinct orders of vegetation — a new theory, 116. Geological writers, errors of, and how spread abroad, 163. Geographical knowledge and commer- cial enterprise of the ancient races of man, 4.59. Galileo, astronomical laws, and discov- eries of, 182, 1S4. Gravitation, law of, discovered by New- ton, 184. ^ Gulf stream, remarkable features of, described, 189. Grecian cosmogony contrasted with that of Moses, 43. Gulfof the (Devonian) Atlantic, formerly located in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, etc., 70. Gasteropoda, animals of the family of, 219. Glyptodon, the, described, 321. Garden of Eden, description of the, 35.^, 363. Giants of the antediluvian period, 376. Glaciers, monutain and polar, 391, 396. Gospel, ministers of the, 358. Geological pretenders, 412. Generation of animalcules and iusecte, 421. Historv of the earth written in its fos- sils, 93. Hippai-chus, astronomical theories of, 177. Humboldt, Baron von, remarks of, on various topics, 179, 18S, 448. Humboldt on the unity of tne human species, 464. Humboldt glacier, described by Kane, 398. Hor.se, the family of, 319. Halley's comet, 28. Hitchcock, Professor, on bird tracks, 255. Herschell, Sir John, telescopic observa- tions of, 29. Infidelity, efi"orts to ally itself with the natural sciences, 23. Important errors corrected as to the origin and phenomena of coal, 104. Infusorial animals described, 213. Insects, living and fossil, 229. Intermediate planetary distance, law of, 33. Ichthyosaurus, 264 — Iguanodon, 281 — Ichneumon, 243. Insects, Cuvier's twelve orders of, 240. Indian, the North American, race of, de- scribed, 374. Immaculate Conception, theory and ob- ject of, 369. Icebergs, geological influences of, 393. Insects, how provided for in Noah's Ark, 419, 4.34. Insect fecundation, extx'aordinary pecu- liarities of, 421. Indians of Central America, whence de- rived, 441. Jefferson, Thomas, opinions of, 4.36. Junipp^r, and other allied trees, 115. Known and the unknown, 35. Kane, Dr., explorations of the Arctic re- gions, 395. 492 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Key to aulock the mysteries of American antiquities, 4jo. Kepler, astronomical laws and discov- eries of, 179. Knowledge of the universe expanding, 182. Kangaroo, the, 307. King, Dr., discovery of suppcsed foot- prints in the coal measures of Penn- sylvania, 24.5. Light, diffusion of, in space, 27, 34. Light, inherent in nebulous bodies or aggi-egations, 39. Laud, dry, emergence of the, from the nascent waters, 49. Land or air-breathing animals, their ex- istence previous to the fifth day de- nied, 244. Lake Superior, iron and copper of, 57. Laud surface of the Devonian era, 65. Lepidodendria, fossils of, S3. Lesquereux, Mr., remarks of, 89. Larch, the, and other similar trees, 103. Lignite or brown coal, how formed, 15S. Light of the suu, effects of on the earth, air, and sea, 188. Limestone, Magnesian, 241. Leverrier, discovery of the planet Nep- tune, 29. Lakes — descriptions of Superior, Huron, Michigan, St. Clair, Erie, Ontario, etc., 69, 122, 132. Law of planetary movement, ISO. Law of universal gravitation described, 185. Lyell, Sir Charles, remarks on foot- prints, rain-drops, sun-cracks, ripples, etc., 24.9, 2.50, 271, 277. Lyell, Sir Charles, on the submergence of continents, 408. Lyell, Sir Charles, on the extinct ani- mals of South America, etc., 434. Lee, Isaac, description of supposed ani- mal foot-prints in the sandstone of Mount Carbon, 246. Lee, Isaac, answer to the foregoing, 2-52. Limestone, origin of beds of, 2S3. Lubricating oil, 144. Man, the last effort of the Creator, 3-54. Man receiving lessons from the inferior animals, 480. Man, duty of, to investigate Nature, 16. Man, first appearance on the stage, 344. Man, different groups of, 352. Man, his relation to the Creator, 394. Man, ancient and modern races com- pared, 459. Man, animals and machinery, necessity of alternate Sabbaths of rest, 470. Man's mind, wherein it becomes God- like, 479. Man and animals, tribes and nations, alternating with each other, 465. Man, the servant of God, 16, 354. Mongolian race, the, 353. Moraines, how formed, 394. Mountains, elevations of, explained, 410. Mastodon, Megatherium, Glyptodon, etc., antiquity of, 436, 467. Mounds of the West described, 438. Moeris, lake of, in Ancient Egypt, 462. Monkeys, family of, 349. Milky Way, grandeur and extent of the, 28. Morphology, or law of forms, 82. Milton's First Day, 40— Second day, 49 —Third Day, 158- Fourth Day, 207— Fifth Day, 254— Sixth day, 356. Moses in advance of scientific discovery, 45, 199. Metamorphic rocks, 49, .56, 71, 239. Miller, Hugh, writings and erroneous theories of, 63, 301, 406, 413, 417, 424, 427, Metamorphic coal of Rhode Island and Scandinavia, 76. Microscopic examinations of coal, 164. Mountains, upheaval of on fourth day, effects produced on the climate, 173, 175. Mary, the mother of Christ, 369. Moses and the old system of astronomy, 177. Maury, Lieut., on the geography of the sea, 189. Microscope, revelations and wonders of the, 213. MoUuscan animals described, 217. MoUuscan fossils, number of species in each geological formation, 223. MoUusca, number of surviving species, 224. Mosaic days or eras, correspondence with geological formations, 24. Mosaic ideal tableaux consistent with physical law, 38, Miracles of Nature, 418. Mississippi river, floods and peculiarities of the, 129. Marine animals described, fossil and living, 209. Mutual Admiration Society, how it works, 270. Mammalian division of animals de- scribed, 306. Microlestes, fossil remains of, 244. Noah's Ark, was it occupied with young or old animals ? 381. Nature, teachings of, 23. Nebular hypothesis of the origin of worlds, 30. Nebular theory indicated by Moses, 38. Niagara Falls, geological description of, 60. Niagara Falls, discovery, retrogression, and antiquity of, 61. Norfolk Island, and other pines, 115. Newton, Sir Isaac, discoveries of, 184. New red sandstone described, 241. New red sandstone, animals of the, 243. Neptune, discovery of by Leverrier, 29, Nature, mysteries of, 418. Noah's Ark, description of, 381. ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 493 Noah's Ark as compared with the Great Eastern, 380. Northraea, their discovery of America before Columbus, 447. Noah, dispersion of his family after the flood, 454. Nature, study of, by St. Pierre, 481. Nature, harmony of, 476. Nations, origin of, 458. Oracles and Seers, their influence In Greece, 38. Organic life, beginning of, on the earth, 51. Ocean, wondex's of the, 196. Ocean, saltness of the, 416, 192. Ocean navigation, value of astronomy to, 29. Old red sandstone described, 55. Ocean, rivers, currents, and climates of the, 188. Ocean currents, how produced, 191. Oil springs of Trinidad, 133. Oil springs of Cuba, 134. Oil springs in Venezuela, 136. Oil springs in New Grenada, 136. Oil springs in Mexico, 137. Oil lake in Texas, 137. Oil springs in Kansas, 139. Oil of Pennsylvania, 140. Oil springs of Virginia, 141. Oolitic rocks, descriptioo of the, 278. Ox or cattle, 312— Ounce, 329 — Ouran- outang, 324— Otter, 345. Ouran-outang, supposed resemblance to man disproved, 346. Origin of worlds, 30. Progressive creation, but not develop- ment, 25. Planets, distance from the sun, 26. Plauets, revolutions of the, 32. Planets, density of the, 33. Plutonic or igneous rocks, origin of the, 42. Plutonic rocks, family of, described, 46, Paleozoic formation, 53, 56. Pilot knob iron, origin of, 58. Primitive rocks of the Eastern States, 77. Peat-bog theory of the deposition of coal, 93. Pine trees, 109— Pitch pine, 112, and various other pines. Pitch lake of Trinidad, 133. Paleozoic formation, vegetable character of, 166. J'tolcmy, astronomical theories of, 177. I'.HUl ex'plainiug revelation, 200, 201. r..etry of the Bible, 203, 204, 205. P.dyparia, description of, 212. Promulgators of the Divine Word, har- mony among the, 20. Planets move in one direction only, 31. Pitch, rosin, oil, and tar, intimate rela- tion to coal, 133. Pleiades, mysteries of the, 203. Professional iealousv, a case in point. 259. Pickwick Controversy, the, 261. Plesiosaurus, 267— Pterodactyle, 267. Progressive development disproved, 273, 298, 301 . Pelasgian inhabitants of the Mediterra- nean, character of, 453. Petroleum in Oregon, 138. Pyramids of Egypt and of Central Amer- ica, 460. Pelasgic-Egyptian.s, did they plant colo- nies in America ? 462. Religion and Science, want of harmony between, 22, 24, 25. Rain-drops, sun -cracks, etc., in ancient rocks, disproved, 71, 245, 248, 2.50. Radiata division of animals described, 209. Radiata, fossil, exhibiting number of species in each formation, 223. Reptiles, remains of, 243, 244. Rocks, how polished and grooved by- icebergs, 394. Rocky Mountains, the, 65. Rhode Island coal basin, extraordinary geological features of, 74. Radiated heat of the earth during the coal period, 124. Rubbish, detritus, and fragments of the coal forests, how disposed of, 127. Railway cross-ties, how preserved, 160. Rain, absence of. during the coal period, 195. Ripple-marks, sun-cracks, etc., ex- plained, 253. Reindeer, 311 — Rhinoceros, 317 — Rats, 323— Raccoon, 340— Ratel, 341. Raleigh, Sir Walter, on Noah's Ark, 377. River freshets, effects of, 404. Rome, geological character of the " seven hills of,^' 433. Space, immensity of, 56. Sun, the centre of the planetax-y svstem, 31, 180. Sun, the source and parent of worlds, 32. Second day described by Moses, 40. Silurian rocks, geographical distribution of, 59, 75. St. Clair Fiats, origin of the, 62. Sigillaria, fossils of the, in coal, 88. Sigillaria and Stigmaria, their identity disproved, 91. Spruce, silver firs, and other trees, 113. Sun, -stars, and moon introduced on fourth day, 59, 177. Sun introduced on the fourth day, eifect on climate, 194. Salt of the sea, 192. Science of the Bible vindicated, 199, 203. Serpent, the, symbolical of sin and im- mortality, 366. Spongiaria', animals of the, 211. Spiders, family of, 228. Salt springs, 241. Solar days, impossibility of their exist- ence before the fourth day of Moses, 18. 494 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Stratification of the earth's crust, want of parallel order proof of its antiquity, 24. Spontaneous fructification of the ancient grasses, 73. Sun and moon made to rule over the earth, 176, 195, 206. Seventeenth century, discoveries of, 182. Salt of the .sea, solid quantity held in solution, 192. Salt springs of the new red sandstone, 242. Sauropus primsevis, description of foot- prints of the, 237. Silk-worms and silk manufactures, 231, Secondary formation, or fifth day, geo- graphical distribution over the earth, 28.5. Sixth day or Tertiary, description of the, 290. Sheep, 312— Squirrels, 323— Sloths, 320— Sable, 343. Satan, rebellion of, in heaven, 361. Seventh day, sanctified, 358, 459. Spontaneous life, theory of the, dis- proved, 421. Spontaneous life, experiment of Weeks and Crossi explained, 420. Stephens, travels in Central America, 446. Sabbath, objects contemplated in the, 469. Submergence of continents conceded by geologists, 408. Satan in the garden of Eden, 362. Sensational preachers, 359. Squiers, E. J., remarks of, on the Central American antiquities, 443. Thought and vision, limited range of, 14, Third day of Moses, 49. Ti'ees, resinous gums and oilv secretions of, 114. Tar, how manufactured, 109. Third day, coocludiug review of, 1C7 , Telescope, discovery of the, 181. Tele.scope of Lord Rosse, 183. TroDical vegetation and forests, descrip- tion of, 12.3. Tent.iculifera, described, 222. Tumbliug ruoensineus, 256. Tertiary formation, de-scripiioii of, 290. Tertiary, animals of. described, .306. Trinitv, the, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 360. Universal gravitation, law of, 185. Universe, man peering into the mys- teries of the, 182. Unity of the human race, remarks of Humboldt, 464. Universality of the Noachian flood con- sidered, 373. Vision and thought, limited range of, 14. Vice flourishing in the domains of Christianity, 23. Volcanic rocks described, 46. Vegetation, diversity of accounted for, 117. Vegetable origin of coal, 154. Vegetable structure of coal explained, 164. Volcanic action on fourth day, effects of on climate, 172. Volcanic action at the close of the sixth day of Tertiary period, 400. Vegetable growth, and chemical phe- nomena of, 473. Vegetation, animals in the juices of, 237. Vegetable preceding animal life, 239. Volcanic Islands, emergence of, 46. Vegetable life, beginning of, 71. Vegetation of the Tertiary, 294. Volcanic action in the polar regions, efl"ects of, 401. Vegetation of America, antiquity of, 466 Worlds within worlds, 37. Wood not converted into coal, 1.55, 156. Water of Alleghanies, distribution of, 175. Worlds, origin of, 30. Worlds, original unity of, 36, 361. Worlds compound aggregates, united by afBuity, 37. World, the, too much controlled by .scientific flummery, 157. Weight or pressure of the atmosphere, 199. Water.s, the, commanded to bring forth life uu llie Rfxh day. 209. World, the, how humbugged by its so- called science, 266, 274. Wpald Rucks dc^scription of, 280. Whitlos, 210 — absence of their fo.ssils iu tlie cretaceous rocks explained, 277, 30.S. Whi.skey from coal oil, 144. Water, subterraneous rivers and lakes, 410'. Zooloev, science and classification of, 209. ' THF. END. 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