282 Br. Wm. B. Carpenter on Geological Time. [Jan. 30, 



continued formation of globigerina-ooze on its bottom, from the 

 Cretaceous epoch, through the whole Tertiary period, down to the 

 present time, our accusers began to think our doctrine worthy of 

 consideration ; and not many years elapsed, before it came to be 

 generally accepted as (to say the least) not improbable. The progress 

 of Deep-sea research, and my own further reflection on the vast dis- 

 proportion between the mass of the Land above the sea-level and the 

 volume of the Water beneath it, made me think it probable that 

 this view would bear extension to all the great Ocean-basins.* When 

 I found it advocated, on quite other grounds, by a geologist so dis- 

 tinguished for his combination of vast practical knowledge with 

 profound theoretical ability, as Professor Dana, 1 naturally felt 

 increased confidence in it. And now that Professor Geikie has 

 formally pronounced it to be in his judgment the only one that is 

 consistent, on the one hand, with the facts revealed by geological 

 inquiry as to the conditions under which the past sedimentary deposits 

 were formed, and on the other with the facts determined by the 

 ' Challenger ' observations as everywhere presenting themselves over 

 the real Oceanic sea-bed, I venture to present it to you with some 

 degree of assurance, as a doctrine which is likely to take rank as 

 one of the fundamental verities of Geological Science. 



[W. B. C] 



* See the article Atlantic m vol. iii. of the ninth edition of the ' Encyclopsedia 

 Britannica.' 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, January 30, 1880. 



William Spottiswoodb, Esq. M.A. D.C.L. LL.D. Pres. E.S. 

 Vice-President, in the Chair. 



John Marshall, Esq. F.R.S. &c. 



Proportions of the Human Figure. 



(Abstract deferred.) 



