to the great interest and value of the enormous mass of facts he has aooximu- 

 lated, and we should endeavour to imitate the conscientious care with which 

 he makes and records obsei-vations. Whilst changes such as those he points out 

 are occurring among living things, constant changes are also going on in the 

 inorganic world. On the one hand we see our high grounds being disintegrated 

 and carried down lower and lower, and recent explorations have shown that far 

 away in the deep sea new and interesting formations are taking place ; while on 

 the other hand, recent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions show that the subter- 

 ranean forces which may upheave these formations into new continents are still 

 active. 



It is to be hoped that the time is passing away when the investigation 

 of the wonders of creation can be regarded otherwise than as a means of 

 increasing our reverence for the Creator. Some who know least of his works 

 seem to have still a vague dread of such pursuits. An old writer says: "Tho 

 wisdom of God receives small honour from those vulgar heads that rudely 

 stare about, and with a gross rusticity admire his works, those highly magnify- 

 ing him whose judicious inquiry into his acts and deliberate research into his 

 creatures return the duty of a devout and learned admiration." The more 

 comprehensive the view we take of nature the more we see the analogy and 

 mutual dependence in the different parts of creation, and the more we recog- 

 nise the evidence of one creative mind which fitted every part to every other 

 part. The operations of a universe are necessary for the existence of tha 

 smallest animal or plant, and these, however small, play their parts in the work 

 of the universe. 



