LECTURES ON COAL. 



BY PROFESSOR JOSEPH LB CONTE, 



Nature is a book in whicli are revealed the divine character and 

 mind. Science is the human interpretation of this divine hook, liu- 

 man attempts to understand the thoughts and plans of Deity. The 

 hook being divine, it is evident that all parts are equally sacred. 

 The subjects of all sciences may be said to be equally, because they 

 are all infinitely, noble. To the scientific mind the organization of an 

 insect, a polyp, or an infusorial animalcule is no less dignified a sub- 

 ject of human inquiry than the organization of the solar system. Yet, 

 as in the Sacred Scriptures, while all parts are equally sacred, because 

 all are divine, some are cherished with peculiar reverence, as giving 

 nobler conceptions of divine character, or clearer views of human duty. 

 So also in science there are some branches which, by a certain magni- 

 tude in the objects with which they deal, strike the imagination and 

 kindle the enthusiasm in a peculiar degree. From a purely abstract 

 or intellectual point of view they may be all equal, but as human stu- 

 dies, as means of elevating the mind and ennobling the soul, they 

 differ very much among themselves. 



In this, the noblest function of science, there are two departments 

 which stand out beyond all others, viz : astronomy and geology. We 

 are all accustomed to look upon astronomy as the most magnificent of 

 sciences, as more than all others extending the bounds of human 

 intellectual vision ; but I am perfectly confident that when the age 

 has grasped as firmly and apprehended as clearly the fundamental 

 idea of geology as it has already done that of astronomy, all will 

 agree with me in thinking that the former is not one whit behind the 

 latter in the overwhelming grandeur of its conceptions. Let us, then, 

 compare these two noble sciences. Let us attempt to vindicate the 

 claims of geology to stand beside astronomy in the very first rank of 

 sciences as twin sisters, distinguished from all others by superior 

 beauty and dignity. 



There are two conditions of material existence, viz : space and time. 

 We cannot conceive of material existence except under these two con- 

 ditions. Now, the peculiar province of astronomy is space, as that of 

 geology is time. Other sciences may have to do with space, limited 

 space, a portion of space, but it belongs to astronomy alone to deal 

 with infinite space. So also there are other sciences which necessarily 

 deal with limited time, but it is the peculiar prerogative of geology to 

 deal with infinite time.* As astromy is limited in time to the present 

 epoch, or, in fact, to about two thousand years, but unlimited in space, 

 so also geology is limited in space to the surface of the earth, but un- 

 limited in time. As astronomy measures her distances by billions of 



* We use the term " wylm^e" with reference to time, as with reference to space, as synony- 

 mous with inconceivahhj great, illimitable by human conception. 



