"And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered
together in one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.
"And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of
the waters called He Seas, and God saw that it was good.
"And God said, Let the earth sprout sprouts, the herb seeding
seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in it, [Footnote: "It" seems preferable to "itself" here.
The same Hebrew word stands for both, but if the "fruit-tree" be
taken as the antecedent, which it must be if we translate
"itself," there seems no meaning in the statement. If we read
"it," the pronoun will refer to the fruit--"the tree whose seed is
in its fruit"--which gives an intelligible sense.] upon the earth,
and it was so.
"And the earth caused to go forth sprouts, the herb seeding seed,
and the fruit-tree yielding fruit whose seed is in it, after his
kind, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and
there was morning, a third day."
The record of the third day is a very important one, because it is
the first point at which the Mosaic Record comes in contact with
that other record which is written in the rocks. Up to this time
we have only been able to compare the statements of Moses with
conjectural views of the earliest condition of the earth, which,
though they may be highly probable, are at best only conjectures.
But from this point we have to deal with a number of ascertained
facts--certain landmarks stand out which enable us to fix the
correspondent parts of the two narratives, and guide us to the
identification and interpretation of their minor details.
The first of these landmarks is the appearance of the dry land,
or, in geological language, the commencement of the process of
upheaval. At the close of the second day the earth was, in all
probability, as we have seen, a globe internally molten, but
having a solid crust which was uniformly covered with a layer of
water, and surrounded by an atmosphere which, though it had parted
with some of its ingredients, was still very much more complex,
more dense, and more extensive than it is at present. The newly
condensed waters would rest on the surface of the primeval rock,
whatever that rock might be. The internal heat conducted through
it would keep the waters in a state of intense ebullition, and at
the same time their surface would be agitated by violent
atmospheric currents as the heated air ascended, and was replaced
by cooler air from the outer regions of the atmosphere. Under
these circumstances the water would dissolve or wear down portions
of the newly-formed rock on which it rested. At the same time the
steam, which would be continually rising from the boiling ocean,
would descend from the upper regions of the atmosphere in the form
of rain, and bring with it in solution considerable quantities of
those elements which still existed in the form of vapour, just as
rain now brings down ammonia and carbonic acid which it has
absorbed in its passage through the atmosphere. New combinations
would thus be formed between the materials dissolved or abraded by
the ocean and those brought down by the rain. When these
combinations had reached a certain amount they would be deposited
in the form of mud upon the bed of the ocean, and thus the
earliest sedimentary rocks would be formed. As the temperature
gradually decreased, the character of these combinations would
probably be changed, and at the same time the atmosphere would be
diminished in volume and density, and become more pure by the
absorption of a large portion of its original constituents, which
would have been incorporated into various minerals.
The earliest sedimentary rock with which we are acquainted at
present is what is known as the Laurentian formation. [Footnote:
The whole of the geological details in this section are taken from
Sir C. Lyell's Geology for Students.] It occupies an area of
200,000 square miles north of the St. Lawrence; and is also traced
into the United States and the western highlands of Scotland and
some of the adjacent isles. It is divided into two sections--the
Upper and Lower Laurentian. It is not certain that it is really
the oldest rock; for as every sedimentary rock is formed of the
debris of preceding rocks, it is very possible that all the
exposed portions of some older rocks may have been decomposed and
worn away; but it is the oldest yet known. The thickness of the
lower portion is estimated at 20,000 feet, or nearly four miles,
while the Upper Laurentian beds are 10,000 feet thick. At this
point we meet with the first traces of that process of upheaval
and subsidence which has ever since been going on in the earth.
The Lower Laurentian rocks had been displaced from their original
horizontal position before the Upper Laurentian were deposited
upon them.
This process of upheaval of some parts of the earth, accompanied
with subsidence in other parts, is one which cannot be accounted
for by any natural laws with which we are acquainted. It is in all
probability the result of a series of changes which are taking
place in the interior of the earth, but of which we know nothing
at all. It is in the commencement of this series of changes that
we trace that direct interference of the Creator--which is
indicated by the command, "Let the waters under the firmament be
gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." We
have not, however, any means of ascertaining how long a period
elapsed before the process of upheaval reached the point at which
the land would rise above the surface of the ocean.
The Lower Laurentian rocks are remarkable in another way. There is
little doubt that traces of life, the earliest yet known, occur in
them. They include a bed of limestone varying in thickness from
700 to 1500 feet. In all probability limestone, wherever it
occurs, is an animal product, though in many cases all traces of
its organization have been lost by exposure to heat. This
particular bed appears to have been formed by a very lowly
creature, which in organization was akin to the foraminifera, of
which large quantities are now known to exist at the bottom of the
Atlantic. It differed from them, however, in one respect--the
individuals were connected together, as is the case now with many
varieties of the coral animal. No notice of this first appearance
of life is found in the Mosaic Record, nor, for reasons already
given, was it possible that any mention of it should be made.
The rocks which come next to the Laurentian in the order of time
are those known as the Cambrian. They are so called because they
constitute a large portion of the mountains of North Wales, and it
was there that their characteristics were first carefully studied
by Professor Sedgwick. In one of the strata of this formation--the
Harlech Grit--what are known as "ripple-marks" are found, proving
that parts of these rocks at the time of their deposition formed a
sea-beach, and that consequently at this time, at the latest, the
dry land had emerged from the ocean. In these rocks there are also
decided traces of Volcanic Action, which seem to indicate the
existence of a Volcano similar to the recent "Graham's Island." At
this point a considerable advance in animal life is found. The
fossils comprise several corals, varieties of mollusca, and a
class of crustaceans peculiar to the very early rocks--the
trilobites.
On the Cambrian rocks rest the formations known as Silurian, from
the fact that they were first thoroughly examined in South Wales
(Siluria) by Sir E. Murchison. In these rocks many fresh varieties
of invertebrate fossils are found, and the vertebrata make their
first appearance, numerous remains of fishes having been
discovered. The earliest specimen was found in the Lower Ludlow
beds at Leintwardine, while the Upper Ludlow formation contains an
extensive bed composed almost entirely of fish-bones. Immediately
above this bed are found what seem to be traces of land-plants, in
the shape of the spores of a cryptogamous plant.
The Silurian rocks are succeeded by rocks which present two
distinct characters, but are probably contemporaneous, the
Devonian and the old Red Sandstone. The former seem to have been
deposited in the bed of the sea, while the latter is a fresh-water
formation. In these decided remains of land plants are found, of
which about 200 species have at present been discovered. The old
Red Sandstone is also peculiarly rich in fossil fish. The first
signs of coal appear in this series of rocks, but on a very small
scale.
We now come to what are known as the Carboniferous rocks, of which
the lower series is known as the mountain limestone, and above it
come the "coal measures," containing numerous beds of coal,
sometimes of great thickness. These beds have resulted entirely
from the decomposition, under peculiar circumstances, of an
enormous development of terrestrial vegetation. They seem to have
originated in vast swamps, subject to occasional flooding, and to
alternate movements of upheaval and subsidence. On these swamps
there must have existed for ages a vegetation of whose luxuriance
the richest tropical jungles of the present time can give us no
idea. They tell the tale of a time when the temperature of the
earth, was uniformly high (since coal fields are found in high
northern latitudes), when the atmosphere was charged with
moisture, and probably contained a large proportion of carbonic
acid. In the coal measures we come upon the first traces of land
animals. Several remains of reptiles have been found, as well as
footprints left on the soft mud or sand of a riverbank or sea-
beach. There seems to be no doubt that they were left by lung-
breathing animals.
The carboniferous strata form the second of our landmarks. They
seem to point to the fulfilment of the command that the earth,
should bring forth vegetation. There is, however, one point which
requires some notice. The Mosaic account, as we read it in our
English Bibles, seems to be limited to phanerogamous plants--
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit.
Now, it is a well-known fact that the great mass of the
vegetation, the remains of which constitute coal, consisted of
cryptogamic plants, which do not produce seed, properly so called,
but only spores; the distinction being that the spore contains the
germ and nothing more, while in the seed the germ is provided with
a store of nutriment to assist in the earlier stages of the
development of the plant. What appears to be a farther
discrepancy, the absence of any traces of the grasses, leads in
reality to the solution of the difficulty.
The word which is translated "grass" [Hebrew script] means in
reality, any fresh sprout. Now it is remarkable that Moses
specifies three kinds of vegetation, with regard to two of which
it is noted that they produce seed, while nothing is said of the
seed of the remaining class. Grass too, is really a herb bearing
seed, and, as such would be included in the second class, and
there would have been no occasion, to mention it separately. It
would appear then that the first class consisted of seedless
plants, i. e. of the cryptogamia. This conclusion is strengthened
when we turn to verses 29 and 30. If the word [Hebrew script] were
correctly translated "grass," we should certainly expect to find
it in those verses, since the grasses contribute more to the food
of both man and beast, than all the other herbaceous plants put
together. This omission then, is an indication that the word, as
used in this chapter, denotes a class of plants which are not
commonly employed for food, and this condition also is fulfilled
in the cryptogamia.
There are then four special points in this period, of which two
seem to correspond with the Mosaic record, while the other two are
unnoticed in it. The two points of correspondence are the upheaval
of the dry land, and the prevalence of a very abundant and
luxuriant Flora. As in the case of the fifth and sixth days, the
words used with reference to land plants seem to denote a period
of remarkable development, rather than the first appearance. The
two points unnoticed are the beginnings of animal and vegetable
life. In the case of animal life the omission has already been
accounted for. The beginning of vegetable life was probably
contemporaneous with that of animal life, for each is necessary to
the other, since the food of the animal must be prepared by the
vegetable, and after being used by the former returns to a state
in which it is fitted for the nourishment of the latter. As animal
life commenced in the ocean, so in all probability did vegetable
life, though no certain traces of it are found in the earliest
rocks; but this is easily accounted for by the very perishable
character of the simpler forms of algae. Like the earliest
animals, the first algae were probably microscopic plants, and the
omission of any mention of them was therefore inevitable.
One characteristic of cryptogamic vegetation is important for its
bearing on the work of the fourth day. Almost all the phanerogamic
plants are dependent for their development upon the direct light
and heat of the sun. Deprived of these they either perish
entirely, or make an unhealthy growth, and produce little or no
fruit. But the cryptogamia, in general, thrive best when they are
protected from the direct rays of the sun. They nourish in a
diffused light, and with abundant atmospheric moisture. And so we
find them at this time doing what seems a very important work in
the progress of the world. By taking up and decomposing the excess
of carbonic acid which at this time probably existed in the
atmosphere, they at once purified that atmosphere, and rendered it
fit for the respiration of more highly organized creatures, and
laid up in the earth an invaluable store of fuel for the future
use of man. The other orders of vegetation seem to have existed in
very small proportions at this time, and only in their lower
forms. As the conditions of the earth changed, the cryptogamia
seemed to have dwindled away, while higher forms of vegetation
asserted their supremacy. It is not, however, improbable that a
special development at a much later period is indicated by the
mention in the second chapter of the formation of the garden of
Eden.