444 Pi'ogress of Geology, 



were mingled myriads of organic bodies, whose forms in some 

 cases were unknown to him, and in others nearly resembled 

 those of the existing inhabitants of the ocean. Stretching 

 further were vast plains and gently rounded eminences, com- 

 posed of less indurated materials, and bearing internal evidence 

 both of their marine origin, and of the subsequent action of 

 mighty waters upon their disturbed surfaces. Amidst the 

 fragments that overspread these plains, he occasionally disco- 

 vered bones of gigantic animals, which furnished matter for 

 the wildest conjectures, and most extravagant speculations. 

 AH these phenomena led irresistibly to the conclusion, that 

 the earth had undergone some stupendous revolution, which, 

 as corroborated by Mosaic testimony, had " broken up the 

 fountains of the great deep," and " destroyed every living sub- 

 stance which was upon the face of the ground." 



But it was not then anticipated that these extraordinary 

 appearances in the earth, the peculiarities of its structure, the 

 alternation of its materials, and the multitude of intermediate 

 gradations, indicated many separate geological epochs, many 

 destructive revolutions, and many intervals of repose and re- 

 production. Amidst the chaotic confusion of the lofty moun- 

 tain ranges, amidst the perplexity, the dislocations, and distor- 

 tions of those rocks which occupied less elevated and more 

 habitable regions, no traces of original order were perceived. 

 In the rocks which were crowded with organic remains, no 

 distribution of species in particular beds or portions, no regu- 

 larity of superposition, no undeviating arrangement, no suc- 

 cession of strata, traversing whole countries, could yet be 

 discerned. Their relative ages, the comparative eras which 

 are determinable by positive evidence, such, for instance, as 

 the deposition of a series of horizontal over inclined beds, were 

 then unsuspected. 



The animal remains, it is true, were too singular to be 

 overlooked. Absurd notions were promulgated of their origin, 

 and although many of the most remarkable were collected for 

 their rarity or their beauty, no idea was then entertained of 

 their applicability in identifying the strata, and their superior 

 adaptation as geological tests. 



Then arose those innumerable chimerical theories, flowing 

 from an imperfect knowledge of facts, or founded on circum- 

 stances not universal ; on phenomena and reasonings appli- 

 cable to minute portions of the surface, rather than to the 

 entire globe. 



As no science invites speculation more than geology, the 

 press, during the last century, teemed with systems, which in 

 turn were advocated and renounced by the philosophers of the 



