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that the order in which geology tells how they came, was in no way 

 different from that told by Moses. The four periods were as follows: — 

 First, a period in which all vegetable life came into being ; second, a 

 period in which aquatic or water-living animals appeared, and third, a 

 period in which fowls of the air and all winged animals began to exist, 

 and fourth, a period in which earth and land animals appeared with 

 man as head over all. 



Mr. Thos. Huxley, in reply, maintains that the testimony of the 

 rocks does not warrant a belief in any distinctive periods in which plants 

 and animals first made their appearance, but appears to think that the 

 lower forms of life, whether of plants or of animals, came into existence 

 about the same time. In that school of scientists who have accepted 

 the general theory of evolution as sufficient to account for all the varied 

 and ever changing forms of life, it is held that the beginning of life itself 

 was simply a phase of matter, and was no more mysterious, and no more 

 •called for supernatural interference than the chemical combinations 

 continually taking place round about us. I think I cannot do better 

 than give a few quotations from " Evolution and the Origin of Life," by 

 Professor H. C. Bastian, of University College, London, England. He 

 very clearly states the case from an evolutionist point of view, and as 

 •clearly gives the reasons why he believes the general theory to be true. 

 I can only give short quotations here and there, which you all know 

 cannot do justice to any writer. In defining what the word implies he 

 says : " Evolution implies continuity and uniformity. It teaches us 

 to look upon events of all kinds as the products of continuously opera- 

 ting causes ; it recognizes no sudden breaks or causeless stoppages in the 

 sequence of natirral phenomena. It equally implies that natural events 

 do not vary spontaneously. It seeks to assure us that the properties 

 and tendencies now manifest in our surrounding world of things are in 

 all respects similar to those which existed in the past. Without a 

 basis of this kind Evolution would be a mere idle dream." An exam- 

 ination of the facts of science generally, and of various every day pheno- 

 mena, teaches us, according to the evolutionist, that matter of different 

 kinds, situated as it is and has been, gradually tends within certain 

 limits to become more and more complex in its internal and external 

 constitution, Coupling this conclusion with various astronomical data; 



