MEMOIR OF GUYOT. 711 



vous system has first its proper commanding position; aud, lastly, 

 among mammals, that of man, eminently the " harmonic unit" for the 

 system of life, combining the highest of structural qualities and phys- 

 iological characteristics under the most perfect harmonious development. 



It is not surprising that after the conception of such a scheme he 

 should have recognized a relation in it to the record in Genesis. Look- 

 ing to this record, which announces the grand stages in a few brief 

 sentences, he observed that the "fiat" of the first day, "Let light be," 

 indicated, since light is a result of molecular action, the imparting of 

 activity to matter as the first step in the development of the universe; 

 that the dividing of the waters on the second day appeared to have its 

 only befitting explanation in the subdividing or specialization of the 

 primal nebula, as stated above; and that the fiat "Let the dry laud 

 appear," on the third day, indicated the defining of the earth and the 

 preparation of it by the appearance of dry land for its new work. Thus 

 he found the first three works in Genesis to correspond essentially with 

 the first three in the scheme taught him by science. The following 

 works, the creation {a) of plants, {b) of the invertebrates and inferior 

 vertebrates, (c) of mammals — the remaining vertebrates, {d) of man, have 

 in the record the order of their first appearance as made known by 

 science. It has to be admitted that doubt at present exists as to the 

 earliest birds having preceded the marsupial mammals, but none as to 

 their long preceding ordinary mammals. Future discovery may place 

 them before the marsupials. Remains of birds are the rarest of fossil 

 veterbrates. 



Guyot recognized also a still deeper concordance between Genesis 

 and science, namely, that not only in the opening verses, but through- 

 out the chapter, the idea of a system of development is taught. The 

 fiat " Let light be" was the commencement of developments before the 

 earth or other spheres had existence, not the creation of an entity. 

 With regard to the earth, the first verse announces that it was formless, 

 empty, waste, or, as the Septuagiut translation describes it, " uncom- 

 posed and invisible." Then, on the third day, where the second men- 

 tion comes in, the words are not Let the earth be, but "Let the dry laud 

 appear," implying that the specializing changes had gone forward 

 eventuating in the earth and making it ready for further developments. 

 The fiat creating plants was not Let plants be, but " Let the earth bring 

 forth," which words imply development in someway; and a similar 

 idea is to be derived from the fiats "Let the waters bring forth" for the 

 invertebrates and lower vertebrates on the fifth day, and " Let the earth 

 bring forth" for mammals on the sixth day. 



Such a system of developments, which, after an initiating fiat, con- 

 tinued on their progress through the ages following, was not consistent 

 with the idea that the days of Genesis were definite periods of time. 

 It teaches that they simply mark the beginnings of new phases or new 

 grand stages in the history of creation. 



