of animal forms, point out a _beginning_ of this great kingdom on the
surface of our globe, although the earliest stages of its development
may now be effaced: and the continuity of the series though all
geological epochs, and the _gradual transitions_ which _connect_ the
species of one formation with those of the next in succession,
distinctly indicate that they form _the parts of one creation_, and not
the heterogeneous remnants of successive kingdoms begun and destroyed:
so that, while they present the best records of the changes which the
surface of the globe has undergone, they likewise afford the best
testimony of the recent origin of the present crust of our planet, and
of all its organic inhabitants."--_Dr. Grant, in Br. Sci. Annual for
1839._
[102] Dr. Harris has the following observations:--
"Why might not God have created the crust of the earth, just as it is,
with all its numberless stratifications, and diversified formations,
complete? And the analogy for such an exercise of creative power is
supposed to be found in the creation of Adam, not as an infant, but as
_an adult_; and in the production of the _full-sized_ trees of Eden. To
which the reply is direct: the maturity of the first man, and of the
objects around him, could not deceive him by implying that they had
slowly grown to that state. His first knowledge was the knowledge of the
contrary. He lived, partly, in order to proclaim the fact of his
creation. And, could his own body, or any of the objects created at the
same time, have been subjected to a physiological examination, they
would, no doubt, have been found to indicate their miraculous production
in their very destitution of all the traces of an early growth; whereas
the shell of the earth is a crowded storehouse of evidence of its
gradual formation. So that the question, expressed in other language,
amounts to this: Might not the God of infinite truth have enclosed in
the earth, at its creation, evidence of its having existed ages before
its actual production? Of course, the objector would disavow such a
sentiment. But such appears to be the real import of the objection; and,
as such, it involves its own refutation."--_Pre-Adamite Earth_, p. 83.
Now this reasoning appeared, doubtless, very triumphant to the worthy
Doctor: and yet a very little acquaintance with physiology would have
taught him that he was enunciating an absurdity. The very supposition
which he considers as self-refuting, is an indubitable physiological
fact. I have abundantly shown, in the text, that the _cells which
compose_ the tree or the animal are as undeniable evidences of past
processes as the concentric cylinders of timber, or the superposed
layers of bone and scale.
[103] I here assume the life-history of the globe to be represented by a
straight line, because I cannot _prove_ it to be a circle. I cannot even
_imagine_ its circularity. I do not mean the possibility;--I can imagine
_that_: but the _mode_ I cannot conceive. This, however, does not
disprove the possibility. If man's science extended not beyond the
accumulated observations of his own life, he would probably be quite
incompetent to conceive how the life-history of such a tree as the Oak
could be a circle; if he had never seen more than one individual, which
was a tree when he was born, and continued to flourish till his death.
[104] The existence of Coprolites--the fossilized excrement of
animals--has been considered a more than ordinarily triumphant proof of
real pre-existence. Would it not be closely parallel with the presence
of faeces in the intestines of an animal at the moment of creation? Yet
this appears to me demonstrable. It may seem at first sight ridiculous,
and will probably be represented so; but truth is truth. I have already
proved that blood must have been in the arteries and veins of the
newly-created Man (_vide_ p. 276, _supra_), and that blood presupposes
chyle and chyme; but what became of the indigestible residuum of the
chyme, when the chyle was separated from it? Would it not, as a matter
of course, be found in the intestines? If the principle is true, that
the created organism was exactly what it would have been had it reached
that condition by the ordinary course of nature, then faecal residua must
have been in the intestines as certainly as chyle in the lacteals, or
blood in the capillaries.
[105] _Blackwood_; April, 1849; p. 412.
[106] Strictly speaking, the current is a lagging behind of the water,
which cannot keep pace with the speed communicated to the solid crust of
the globe at its equatorial regions. The trade-wind is owing to the same
cause.
[107] Philos. Trans. for 1802; p. 498.
[108] Beitrage, p. 152.
[109] Dr. A. Braun, On the Veg. Indiv.
[110] See _ante_, p. 233.
[111] Fauna Littor. Norveg.; i. 47.
* * * * *
MARINE
NATURAL HISTORY CLASS.
In the summer of 1855, I met, at Ilfracombe, on the coast of North
Devon, a small party of ladies and gentlemen, who formed themselves into
a Class for the study of Marine Natural History. There was much to be
done in the way of collecting, much to be learned in the way of study.
Not a few species of interest, and some rarities, fell under our notice,
scattered as we were over the rocks, and peeping into the pools, almost
every day for a month. Then the prizes were to be brought home, and kept
in little Aquariums for the study of their habits, their beauties to be
investigated by the pocket-lens, and the minuter kinds to be examined
under the microscope. An hour or two was spent on the shore every day on
which the tide and the weather were suitable; and, when otherwise, the
occupation was varied by an indoors' lesson, on identifying and
comparing the characters of the animals obtained, the specimens
themselves affording illustrations. Thus the two great desiderata of
young naturalists were attained simultaneously; they learned at the same
time how to collect, and how to determine the names and the zoological
relations of the specimens when found.
A little also was effected in the way of dredging the sea-bottom, and in
surface-fishing for Medusae, &c.; but our chief attention was directed to
shore-collecting. Altogether, the experiment was found so agreeable,
that I propose to repeat it by forming a similar party every year, if
spared, at some suitable part of the coast.
Such ladies or gentlemen as may wish to join the Class should give in
their names to me, early in the summer; and any preliminary inquiries
about plans, terms, &c. shall meet the requisite attention.
P. H. GOSSE.
MARYCHURCH, TORQUAY,
_Oct. 1857_.