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as extraordinary beings of creation: it has shown the wonderful 
power and greatness of Gop in all ages of the world, and is an 
endless source of expectation. There is no part of the world in which 
a geologist may not find some object for contemplation : it is a most 
healthful occupation, improving at the same time the bodily as well as 
the mental powers. 
To the sensitive mind the study of Geology is far more agreeable 
than any other department of natural history. The creatures that 
come under consideration have perished ages ago; no compunctious 
visitings of nature obstruct the path of inquiry into their organic 
characters. We know not the exact conditions or purpose for which 
so many generations of Beings were created to enjoy the boon of life 
in this planet, and effect certain changes by reaction on the surround- 
ing media for allotted periods, and then finally disappear from the 
stage and give way to other and commonly higher organized races. 
This is a mystery we may never be able to unravel. But from what 
we do know of the wise ordinances of Providence, we ought to be well 
satisfied that these great events must have been essential to the order 
and arrangement of the universe. A distinguished philosopher has 
observed, that “ fossiliferous strata are the monuments of the felicity 
of past ages.” 
“Tt is clear,” says the Rev. Dr. Buckland in his Bridgewater 
Treatise, p. 529, “ that next to the study of those distant worlds which 
engage the contemplation of the astronomer, the largest and most 
sublime subject of physical inquiry which can occupy the mind of 
man, and by far the most interesting, from the personal concern we 
have in it, is the history of the formation and structure of the planet 
on which we dwell, of the many and wonderful revolutions through 
which it has passed, of the vast and various changes in organic life 
that have followed one another upon its surface, and of its multifa- 
