182 FOSSILS. 



epochs and divisions have been estabhshed ? What 

 proofs could they have obtained of repeated deluges ? 

 What proofs of the original fluidity of the strata, and 

 of the manner of their deposition ? How could they 

 have drawn distinctions between diluvial and alluvial 

 formations ? 



Geognosy has been divided into the " primitive," 

 "transition," "secondary," and "tertiary," forma- 

 tions. Primitive rocks are such as were in existence 

 before the creation, and are accordingly stated to 

 contain no organic remains. Transition rocks, so 

 named I suppose because they constitute a medium 

 between the primary and secondary, display certain 

 fossils of the lowest tribes. Secondary formations 

 are the most extensive, they comprise all the strata 

 from the compact transition limestone to the chalk, 

 and contain abundance of coal, Crustacea, shells, 

 fishes, and oviparous quadrupeds, and some have 

 likewise stated that bones of mammifera have been 

 found ; but it is in the tertiary or last formations that 

 fossil mammaha have been generally recognised ; 

 although even here, agreeably to the general rule, 

 the bones of oviparous quadmpeds and marine quad- 

 rupeds take precedence ; and as it were, lead the 

 way to more perfect and complicated productions. 

 Such is a faint outline of the order of superposition 

 of organic remains — such is pretty nearly the sum 

 of our information, and what a host of questions are 

 there still remaining unanswered ! what a host of 

 theories are there still remaining sub judice ! Were 

 the deluges preceding the Mosaic deluge general or 

 partial? Was the Mosaic or last deluge general or 

 partial ? Did the bed of the ocean and the continent 

 exchange circumstances on the event of this deluge ? 

 At the time of this deluge was there great violence 

 exerted, so that the productions of one country were 

 conveyed by the waters to another ? If the animals 

 whose remains we now find in any given country did 

 originally exist there, was the climate at that time 

 the same as at present? Have there been re-creations 



