XI PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE 333 



place,/ to the consideration of a matter which may 

 seem foreign to the question under discussion. 

 We must dwell upon the nature of the records, 

 and the credibility of the evidence they contain ; 

 we must look to the completeness or incomplete- 

 ness of those records themselves, before we turn to 

 that which they contain and reveal. The question 

 of the credibility of the history, happily for us, 

 will not require much consideration, for, in this 

 history, unlike those of human origin, there can 

 be no cavilling, no differences as to the reality and 

 truth of the facts of which it is made up ; the 

 facts state themselves, and are laid out clearly 

 before us. 



But, although one of the greatest difficulties of 

 the historical student is cleared out of our path, 

 there are other difficulties difficulties in rightly 

 interpreting the facts as they are presented to us 

 which may be compared with the greatest 

 difficulties of any other kinds of historical study. 



What is this record of the past history of the 

 globe, and what are the questions which are 

 involved in an inquiry into its completeness or 

 incompleteness ? That record is composed of 

 mud ; and the question which we have to investi- 

 gate this evening resolves itself into a question of 

 the formation of mud. You may think, perhaps, 

 that this is a vast step of almost from the 

 sublime to the ridiculous from the contemplation 

 of the history of the past ages of the world's 



