46 
period of darkness, the battle with fire and water, the twilight, 
the formation of granite, the process of disintegration. He next 
spoke of the formation of the first sedimentary rocks, the first 
universal boiling ocean, the primitive hills and valleys, the shape 
of the earth, its diurnal and centripetal motions, and the inclina- 
tion of the earth’s axis to the plane of its orbit. Then followed 
a reference to the dawn of life in the cooler parts of the 
Laurentian ocean, and the first known fossil form in the Hozoon 
Canadense, found by Dawson near the St. Lawrence. An enorm- 
ous time elapsed from the appearance of the Kozoon to the other 
foraminifera and plant-like animals, the Zoophites, the Oldhamia, 
Lingula, fucoids, worms, shrimp-like Hymenocarus, and on to 
the Trilobite in the Cambrian formation. From the EHozoon in 
the Laurentian to the top of the Cambrian there were no fewer 
than 972 distinct species of lowly and gradually improving forms 
of animal life, from the sponge-like creature to the Trilobite. 
Some of these forms have been continued to this day with slight 
and others with great variation from the old stock. Thousands 
have perished and been supplanted by superior forms. The 
Lingula and Nautilus still survive. Those animals which have 
adapted themselves to surrounding conditions, or been in a 
position to resist certain destructive influences, have survived 
and developed, while others which have been unfit, or have been 
subject to greater physical changes in the early history of these 
rocks by upheavals and sudden subsidences, have been unable to 
survive. This fact remains clear to all, that from the first of 
these ancient fossiliferous rocks which contain fossils only of the 
lowest types, there is a gradual improvement of form and develop- 
ment in each succeeding leaf of the book of rocks. This growing 
and transitional diversity of improving type is conspicuous to the 
mind of the most ardent opponent of Darwinism. We now 
ascend to the Silurian formation which lies upon the upper 
Cambrian slates. The fauna which flourished in the Silurian 
Ocean was a continuation of pre-existing forms with a rich variety 
of superior types and species. Here we are introduced to the 
kingdom of Molusks, from the simplest form to the highest 
developed Cephalopod. In the upper Silurian we arrive at 
the first simple vertebrate form, the present supposed representa- 
tive being the Amphioxis or Lancelot, and a doubtful form of fish 
called the Pteraspis. Great varieties of Molusks and Crustaceans 
are found in these waters, yet there is no proof of life on land 
excepting low forms of vegetation. Great changes were taking 
place in the sea. Swarming varieties of Crustaceans and Cepha- 
lopods and also Graphtolites had arrived at their climax and 
were giving place to relatives of a higher order. The development 
of the vertebrate continued during the upper Silurian, and in a 
remarkable degree in the lower portion of the Old Red Sandstone. 
