HARMONY OF GENESIS AND GEOLOGY.
DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIES--SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST--LAWS OF
VARIATION--GRADUAL EXTINCTION OF ANIMALS--AQUATIC CHARACTER OF EARLIEST
BIRDS--INDICATIONS OF LIFE IN CHALK--PRIMEVAL MONSTERS--HUGE LAND
ANIMALS--CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE OF THE EARTH--CREATION OF MAN--NO
INTERMEDIATE LINK.
Philosophers lay it down as a rule, that the materials for all
revolutions, whether political, moral or social are prepared
before-hand. A revolution in ideas and modes of thought is by no means
an exception to this rule. The unthinking throng may gaze in wonder
at the spectacle afforded by the sudden outburst; but the thoughtful
student will trace the order of events, and the forces that have been
long at work preparing the minds of men for the new order of things.
{187} When in the latter part of the eighteenth century, Voltaire
marshaled his arguments as a legion, and hurled his burning invectives
against the corruptions of false Christianity, humanity stood aghast at
the result, for they did not perceive that the forces which impelled it
had long been preparing. When the works of Voltaire and Thomas Paine
appeared, society was in such a condition that many accepted their
teachings as a relief from existing evils. Much more, many persons were
ready to follow them into all the wild sophistries of infidelity.
The history of that time, has been to some extent repeated in the
great scientific revolution so vigorously at work in the nineteenth
century. When Hugh Miller wrote his "Testimony of the Rocks" there
were those who confidently expected that this work would overturn the
Mosaic account of the creation; and a wonderful outcry was raised
about the opposition between the records of the rocks and the Bible.
After a time it was found that geology demonstrates the existence,
wisdom and goodness of an Almighty Creator with irresistible evidence.
So when Darwin, Huxley, Hooker, Spencer and others revealed to the
world, a vast amount of knowledge concerning the origin of species
and the development of plants and animals, there were those who would
have gladly found an antagonism between the facts of science and the
records of revelation. But now it is admitted that it would be equally
wonderful, and would as much require the infinite powers of {188}
Deity, "to develop all the varied and marvelous forms of organic life
from a single germ as to call them into existence by special acts of
creation." In reality we owe these philosophers a debt of gratitude
for having studied nature so carefully and given us so many deeply
interesting and important facts.
It is evidently part of the divine plan that species should develop
from a lower to a higher condition. We see this in the improvements
in the breeds of our domestic animals, as well as in the wild animals
that now live, as compared with the remains of the ancient Saurians
that once roamed over the earth. The doctrine of "Natural Selection"
or "Survival of the Fittest," as Huxley terms it, is also a law of
nature. We see this illustrated at the present time in the history
of races of men and species of animals. The weaker races of men are
gradually disappearing while those nations who possess the highest
physical, mental and moral characteristics are extending their dominion
over the earth. In the history of animals this is likewise apparent.
The gigantic, unwieldy ox, the Urus of Caesar, has been extinct since
Roman times. The Auroch, another ox whose bones are frequently found
in the same strata with extinct animals, would have been now entirely
extinct but for the imperial edict which preserves a few in the forest
of Lithuania. The gigantic birds Dinornis and Aptornis have but
recently passed away. Perfect skeletons of them are still preserved in
the museum of Christchurch, New Zealand. From {189} the measurement
of these skeletons they are estimated to have been nearly or quite
twelve feet high. The Dodo, a heavy, clumsy bird, of fifty pounds'
weight, with loose, downy feathers, and imperfect wings like a new-born
chicken, became extinct only about 150 or 200 years ago. The
Apteryx of Australia, which of all living birds most resembles some
of the extinct species, still survives, ready to disappear. The lion,
tiger, bison (or buffalo), elephant, rhinoceros, and, in fact, all
the fiercer and larger animals, are even now disappearing before the
advance of civilized man.
[ILLUSTRATION: SKELETON OF A MAN AND THAT OF A DINORNIS SHOWING
COMPARATIVE SIZE.]
{190} The law of variation, as expressed by Darwin, is true
with certain limitations. For example, every person must admit a vast
change in the condition of the best breeds of our domestic swine, from
their ancestors, the wild boars of medieval Europe. Yet nowhere can be
found a single instance of _transmutation of species_. For example, if
we should trace the pedigree of a horse backwards through a thousand
generations we should find that the original animal was also a horse,
though probably a very inferior animal. Of all the living animals and
fossil remains of extinct ones, though thousands of specimens have
been discovered, yet of land animals and the higher orders of creation
not a single instance of transmutation can be found. In all this we
see a beautiful agreement with the divine record, "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"
(_Gen. i_, 24).
True, we are told by Huxley that the embryos of different animals
closely resemble each other, so that at an early stage of their
existence they cannot be distinguished. But what of this? It only
shows the unity of design in the works of the Creator which is one
of the grand characteristics {191} of the world. Further, it teaches
us a lesson of man's ignorance and imbecility. With all the aid of
science we are unable to perceive those minute arrangements of atoms
which will on development produce a tortoise or a fowl, a dog or a
man. Who will presume to say that a castle was developed or "evolved"
from a cottage because they were built of similar materials or because
some of the rooms were after the same pattern? Why then should the
Divine Architect's work be doubted because He gives to the germs of
different beings the power of self-development according to a specified
pattern, which is to end in the ultimate perfection of vastly different
organisms?
[ILLUSTRATION: BIRD-LIKE REPTILE DISCOVERED BY DARWIN.]
But we are asked, is it not true that the most accurate and reliable
geologists, have discovered in the rocky records of former ages the
most undeniable evidence that the earliest birds were of a {192}
strangely reptilian character, and that many of the reptiles of that
age were of an extraordinary bird-like character? That in some cases it
is difficult to determine which predominated to the greatest extent,
the characteristics of the reptile, the bat or the bird? These animals
were evidently amphibious, living either on land or in the sea. Some
specimens still extant which were found in Mexico and South America
and which are identical with, or closely resemble the extinct species,
possess the double character of an aquatic and terrestrial animal.
Some of them advance beyond the development common to the class,
and from gill-breathers, fitted, only to inhabit the water, become
lung-breathers adapted to live on land.
[ILLUSTRATION: REPTILIAN BIRD BY HUXLEY.]
Is it not also true that the remains of the earliest birds indicate
them to have been of an aquatic character similar to the cranes, gulls
and pelicans of the present time? Some of these were destitute of horn
bills which birds of the present age possess. On the other hand their
heads resembled those of reptiles. Neither were their wings always
{193} covered with feathers, but in some cases their wings resembled
those of the bat, and their feet closely resembled those of reptiles.
Now, says the skeptic, is it not possible that reptiles and birds lived
upon the earth previous to the creation of beasts? And, further, is it
not possible that birds and reptiles may have been developed from the
same original type, whereas Moses declares that God made the beast of
the earth after his kind?
Not so fast, my friend. It is well known that these declarations of
science are mere speculations, plausible indeed, but nowhere proven to
be true. Granting all that the infidel asks, let us carefully read the
sacred record and see if there really is any contradiction: "And God
said. Let the waters bring forth abundantly the living creature that
hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament
of heaven." (_Gen. i_, 20). Had Moses written, "And God now created
every living thing that moveth in the waters," there might have been
some reason for infidel objections. We should therefore especially
notice that Moses does not say that this was the first dawn of animal
life upon our globe, but simply that the waters were now to "_bring
forth abundantly_ the moving creature that hath life, and fowl," etc.
In all this there is no inconsistency between the geological and
Biblical statements. On the other hand the wording of the text is such
as to lead the student to believe that birds were of aquatic origin,
that is, lived on the water.
{194} In the twenty-first verse we are told that God created great
whales (literally sea-monsters) "and every living creature that moveth,
which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind and every
winged fowl after his kind." And here we also perceive that the waters
are again represented to be as it were the nursing mother of both
birds and the lower orders of animal life. Mark also that the term
"created" is used only three times in the whole of this record; first
in reference to the creation of the earth, second in reference to
sea-monsters, and third in reference to the creation of man.
[ILLUSTRATION: PIECE OF CHALK HIGHLY MAGNIFIED.]
{195} While revelation teaches us that the period when the waters
were to bring forth abundantly, was in a succeeding epoch to that in
which vegetation commenced; geology bears testimony that there are few
remains of animal life till we come up to more recently formed strata,
than the vegetable deposits of the coal measures. It is only when we
arrive at the chalk measures that we find an "abundance" of animal
life. Recent investigations have shown, that chalk is mostly composed
of shells in every stage of change, some perfect, some broken, and
still others decayed into an impalpable dust. Some of these shells are
so minute that it would require 1,800 placed side by side to measure a
single inch. Perhaps no human intellect is able to form a conception of
this profuseness of animal life. Well might Moses say the sea brought
forth abundantly.
[ILLUSTRATION: REMAINS OF SHELL FISH.]
It is at this epoch that we find the first remains of shell fish
which are so common in the rocks of every land; also the remains of
innumerable tiny fish, so prevalent in certain sections of our own
land. Again, geology teaches us that "birds made their first appearance
during this epoch." No fragments of the skeletons of birds have yet
been discovered in formations older than the chalk.
{196} [ILLUSTRATION: REMAINS OF MACROURA--EARLIEST BIRD YET FOUND.]
Further it is only in strata formed subsequently to the chalk that
we find the remains of those monsters that made the earth to tremble
beneath their tread and lashed to foam the billows of the primeval
ocean. To those who are unaccustomed to view fossil remains the
dimensions of some of these seem almost incredible. Just think of
monsters 120 feet in length with teeth eleven inches in diameter and
eyes whose sockets were more than eighteen inches across; and we can
easily perceive that the statement of Moses is verified, "And God
created great whales" (literally sea monsters). Of this epoch, Le
Conte says, "It was preeminently an age of reptiles." There are now
on the whole face of the earth only six large reptiles over fifteen
feet long--two in India, one in Africa, three in America--and none
over twenty-five feet long. Yet in the strata that correspond to this
period in Great Britain alone are found the skeletons of at least
{197} five great Dinosaurs from twenty to sixty feet long, and in the
United States the fullness of reptilian life was even greater; for, one
hundred and forty-seven species of reptiles have been found, most
of them of gigantic size. Among these are fifty species of Mosasaurs,
seventy or eighty feet long, also species of crocodiles fifty feet
long, besides great numbers of gigantic turtles." These are some of the
remains that are still preserved. But the fossil animals of any period
are only a remnant of the animals of that period. That the climate
of the earth was then warm and uniform is sufficiently attested. All
great reptiles are now found only in tropical or subtropical regions;
but the remains of these monsters are scattered in all latitudes from
New Zealand to Spitzbergen. In all this we see a wonderful agreement
between the account given by Moses and the records of geology.
[ILLUSTRATIONS: TOOTH OF PLESIOSAURUS, ONE TWELFTH IT'S NATURAL
SIZE. REMAINS OF PLESIOSAURUS AND MEGOLOSAURUS]
{198} Of the land animals which then inhabited the earth,
might be mentioned the _Dinotherium_. From the remains of it which
still exist it must have measured not less than sixteen feet high and
twenty-four feet long with a head at least three feet in breadth and
hence capable of containing a brain large enough for the most exacting
phrenologist. Then again there was another huge animal called the
_Mastodon_. We may get some idea of the enormous size of the animal
from the fact that the remains of some of its grinding teeth, recently
found in Pennsylvania, weighed no less than seventeen pounds. There
existed at that time still another huge animal whose remains are found
in Siberia, Sweden, Italy and North and South America. It is commonly
called a Mammoth, {199} though on account of its resemblance to
existing elephants, naturalists have named it _Elephas Primigenius_. It
was covered with three kinds of hair: first strong bristles, secondly,
soft hair, and thirdly with reddish wool growing among the hair.
Geologists agree that during the latter part of this period the earth
began to assume conditions similar to those which prevail at the
present time. This is indicated by the abundance of deciduous plants
(that is plants that drop their leaves each autumn), which are to
be found in North America. It is thus evident that the climate was
becoming cooler, the dense atmosphere which so long had wrapped the
earth as with a mantle had dissipated; the carbonic acid and other
poisonous gases, which were totally unfit to support animal life had
been absorbed by the rank vegetation of the coal period. Geologists
tell us that this was the period when the Wasatch and Uintah mountains
were formed and the center of the western continent upheaved, by which
the great interior sea which previously divided America into two
continents was abolished. The change of physical geography was enormous
and the change of climate was doubtless correspondingly great. It was
natural, therefore, to expect, with the opening of the next era, a very
great change both in plant and animal life. So ended the fifth epoch of
creation, for "The evening and the morning were the fifth day."
Moses opens the record of the sixth epoch by the words, "And God said,
Let the earth bring {200} forth the living creature, after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind;
and it was so." Geology confirms this by declaring, as it were, that
then her modern history commenced. Then began the present aspect of
field and forest; and modern types of animals were introduced and
became predominant. Many of the species of both plants and animals were
identical with those still living. Further, one of the most noteworthy
facts connected with the first mammals (or milk-giving animals), is the
suddenness of their appearance in great numbers, and of all, or nearly
all orders, even the highest, except man.
Lastly, we are told, "And God said. Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish 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." (_Gen. i_,
26). Thus from scripture we learn that the closing and completing work
of the creation was man.
Geology triumphantly confirms the revealed fact that submarine animals,
land vegetation, reptiles, birds and quadrupeds, were all of them in
existence, successively and collectively, before the first of the
human race. Further, that the earliest remains of men, yet discovered,
indicate that they were distinctly and perfectly human, as much so as
any race now living, and were not in any sense an intermediate link
between man and the ape. When his habitation was prepared, and {201}
the materials of the forest and of the mine were all ready for his use,
then, and not till then, did man appear. Thus the record of Moses, and
the record of nature bear each other witness. The same narrative told
by the ruler of Israel four thousand years ago, is also told in its own
expressive language by the very earth on which we tread, as if it were
"graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever."
* * * * *