Mineral and Mosaical Geologies. 127 



distinct revolutions, or periods of destruction, of the surface 

 of the earth : his mode of reconciling the accounts of the 

 creation of light on the first day, and the sun's visible ap- 

 pearance on the fourth : the reasons why fossil remains of 

 some animals are found in climates uncongenial to their 

 natures, and of others whose species are utterly extinct ; as 

 well as why fossil human bones have never been found at all. 

 The ingenuity, too, with which he proves the incompetence 

 of mere physical phenomena to decide on the mode of first 

 formations, is extremely striking, as well as many other 

 parts of the work, which we have not room to enumerate. 

 Our author's claims to a high rank as a scholar are evident 

 throughout ; his corrections of the sacred text, in the second 

 part, evince a perfect knowledge of the Hebrew, as well as of 

 the classical languages ; and his remarks on Deluc's hypothesis 

 of the indefinite period of the Mosaical days of creation, and 

 Saussure's nonsensical rhapsody from the summit of -(Etna, 

 vindicate his pretensions as a sound and formidable critic. 



In conclusion, we earnestly recommend this book to the se- 

 rious attention of our readers. Its philosophy is founded on 

 that of Bacon and Newton; its reasonings on the mode of first 

 formations and secondary causes, are in strict harmony with 

 that philosophy, and at least as plausible as any that have been 

 advanced by the Huttonian and Wernerian schools. Nor must 

 the adherents to those systems object, that its referring many 

 effects to the immediate agency of divine power, is merely a 

 subterfuge to cut the knot of difficulty, until they can either 

 teach us how to untie it, or find a more probable cause to which 

 it may be attributed. When, to these considerations, we add its 

 excellent moral and religious tendency, we think every candid 

 judgment will admit, that the " Comparative Estimate" has 

 accomplished its intended object; and that it is indeed well 

 calculated to "relieve the minds of earnest end sincere inquirers 

 from perplexity," by contravening the pernicious dogmas of 

 pseudo-scientific scepticism, whether derived from the fossil 

 exuviae of a former race, or the recent reliquiae of a modern 

 dissecting-room — whether founded on the chemical contrivances 

 of a crystallizing chaos, or the profound speculations of medul- 

 lary matter ! 



