DEATH A UNIVERSAL LAW OF ORGANIC BEINGS ON THIS GLOBE THE LECTURE IV. NOACHIAN DELUGE COMPARED WITH THE GEOLOGICAL 57 81 THIS section of the Earth's Crust is intended to bring under the eye the leading features of Geology. 1. The Relative Position of the Stratified and Unstratified Rocks. The unstratified rocks, viz., granite, syenite, porphyry, trap, and lava, are represented as lying beneath the stratified class, for the most part, yet piercing through them in the centre of the section, and by several dikes or veins, through which masses have been protruded to the surface. Granite seems to have been first melted and protruded, and it continued to be pushed upward till the close of the secondary period of the stratified rocks, as is shown by the vein of granite on the section. Syenite and porphyry seem to have been next thrust up, from below the granite; next, the varieties of trap were protruded from beneath the porphyry; and last, the lava, which still continues to be poured out upon the surface from beneath all the rest. 2. The Stratified Rocks. The stratified rocks represented on both flanks of the granite peak in the section, appear to have been deposited from water, and subsequently more or less lifted up, fractured, and bent. An attempt is made, on the right-hand side of the section, to exhibit the foldings and inclination of the strata. The lowest are bent the most, and their dip is the greatest; and, as a general fact, there is a gradual approach to horizontality as we rise on the scale. 3. The right-hand side of the Section. The strata on the right hand are divided into five classes; first, and lowest, the crystalline or primary, destitute of organic remains, and probably metamorphosed from a sedimentary to a crystalline state, by the action of subjacent heat. 2. The paleozoic class, or those containing the earliest types of animals and plants, and of vast thickness, mostly deposited in the ocean. 3. The secondary class, reaching from the top of the lower new red or Permian system to the top of the chalk. 4. The tertiary strata, partially consolidated, and differing entirely from the rocks below by their organic contents. 5. alluvium, or strata now in a course of deposition. This classification is sometimes convenient, and frequently used by geologists. 4. The left-hand Side. On the left-hand side of the section the strata are so divided as to correspond to the six great groups of animals and plants that have appeared on the globe. The names attached to the groups are derived from (wòs (vivus, living), with the Greek numerals prefixed. The lowest group, being destitute of organic remains, is called azoic (from «, privitive, and wòs), that is, wanting in the traces of life; and corresponds to the crystalline group on the other side of the section, embracing gneiss, mica slate, limestone, and clay slate, of unknown thickness. The protozoic group corresponds to the palæozoic of the right-hand side, and embraces lower and upper Silurian, Devonian, or old red sandstone, the carboniferous group, and the Permian, or lower new red; the whole in Great Britain not less than thirty-three thousand feet thick. The deutozoic group consists only of the triassic, or upper new red sandstone, and is only nine hundred feet thick, but marks a distinct period of life. The tritozoic embraces the lias and oolite, with the Wealden, and is three thousand six hundred feet thick. The tetrazoic consists of the chalk and green sand, one thousand five hundred feet thick. The pentezoic embraces the tertiary strata, of the thickness of two thousand feet. The hectozoic is confined to the modern deposits, only a few hundred feet thick, but entombing all the existing species of animals. 5. Characteristic Organic Remains. Had space permitted, I should have put upon the section a reference to the most characteristic and peculiar mineral, animal, or plant, in the different groups. Thus the azoic group is crystalliferous, or crystal-bearing. The lower or Silurian part of the protozoic group is brachiopodiferous, trilobiferous, polypiferous, and cephalopodiferous; that is, abounding in brachiopod and cephalopod shells; in polypifers, or corals; and in trilobites, a family of erustaceans. The middle part, or the Devonian, is thaumichthiferous, or containing remarkable fish. The upper part, or the coal measures, is carboniferous; that is, abounding in coal. The deutozoic group is ichniferous, or track-bearing, from the multitude of its fossil footmarks. The tritozoic group is reptiliferous, or reptile-bearing, from the extraordinary lizards which abound in it. The tetrazoic is foraminiferous, from the abundance of coral animalculæ, called foraminifera, or polythalmia, which it contains. The pentezoic is mammaliferous, because it contains the remains of mammalia, or quadrupeds. The hectozoic is homoniferous, or man-bearing, because it embraces human remains. There is no one place on earth where all the facts exhibited on this section are presented before us together. Yet all the facts occur somewhere, and this section merely brings them into systematic arrangement. TIE RELIGION OF GEOLOGY. LECTURE I. REVELATION ILLUSTRATED BY SCIENCE. THE leading object, which I propose in the course of lectures which I now commence, is to develop the relations between geology and religion. This cannot be done fully and fairly, however, without exhibiting also many of the religious bearings of several other sciences. I shall, therefore, feel justified in drawing illustrations and arguments from any department of human knowledge which may afford them. I place geology first and most conspicuous on the list, because I know of no other branch of physical science so prolific in its religious applications. In treating of this subject, I shall first exhibit the relations between science and revealed religion, and afterwards between science and natural religion; though in a few cases these two great branches cannot be kept entirely distinct. Geology is usually regarded as having only an unfavourable bearing upon revealed religion; and writers are generally satisfied if they can reconcile apparent discrepancies. But I regard this as an unfair representation; for if geology, or any other science, proves to us that we have not fairly understood the meaning of any passage of Scripture, it merely illustrates, but does not oppose, revelation. A fundamental principle of Protestant Christianity is, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only infallible standard of religious truth; and I desire to hold up this principle prominently at the outset, as one to which I cordially subscribe. The mass of evidence in favour of the divine inspiration of the Bible is too great to be set aside by anything short of scientific demonstration. Were the Scriptures to teach that the whole is not equal to its parts, the mind could not, indeed, believe it. But if it taught a truth which was only contrary to the probable deductions of science, science, I say, must yield to Scripture; for it would be more reasonable to doubt the probabilities of a single science, than the various and most satisfactory evidence on which revelation rests. I do not believe that even the probabilities of any science are in B |