HO W EXTINCT MONSTERS ARE PRESER VED. 1 7 



the light of the present, or, in other words, to find out what 

 happens now, in order to learn what took place ages ago ; for it is 

 clear that the world has been going on in the same way for at 

 least as far back as geological history can take us. There has 

 been a uniformity, or sameness, in Nature's actions ever since 

 living things first dwelt on the earth. 



Just as rivers are mainly responsible for bringing down to the 

 sea the materials of which rocks are made, so these universal 

 carrying agents are the means by which the bodies of many 

 animals that live in the plains, over which they wander, are 

 brought to their last resting-place. We have only to consult the 

 records of great floods to see what fearful havoc they sometimes 

 make among living things, and how the dead bodies are swept 

 away. 



Great floods rise rapidly, so that the herds of wild animals 

 pasturing on grassy plains are surprised by the rising waters, and, 

 being unable to withstand the force of the water, are hurried 

 along, and so drowned. When dead they sink to the bottom, 

 and may, in some cases, be buried up in the debris hurried 

 along by the river ; but as a rule their bodies, being swollen by 

 the gases formed by decomposing flesh, rise again to the surface, 

 and consequently may be carried along for many a mile, till they 

 reach some lake, or perhaps right down to the mouth of a river, 

 and so may be taken out to sea. 



One or two examples will be given to show how important is 

 the action of such floods. Sir Charles Lyell has given some 

 striking illustrations of this. There was a memorable flood in 

 the southern borders of Scotland on the 24th of June, 1794, 

 which caused great destruction in the region of the Solway Firth. 

 Heavy rains had fallen, so that every stream entering the firth 

 was greatly swollen. Not only sheep and cattle, but even herds- 

 men and shepherds were drowned. When the flood had subsided, 

 a fearful spectacle was seen on a large sand-bank, called " the 

 beds of Esk," where the waters meet; for on this one bank were 



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