﻿THE 
  AGE 
  OF 
  THE 
  EAKTH. 
  1 
  

  

  By 
  T. 
  C. 
  Chambeblin 
  and 
  Othebs. 
  

  

  THE 
  AGE 
  OF 
  THE 
  EARTH 
  FROM 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  VIEWPOINT. 
  

  

  By 
  T. 
  C. 
  Chambeelin, 
  

   University 
  of 
  Chicago. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  In 
  pioneer 
  days, 
  when 
  the 
  sciences 
  were 
  struggling 
  for 
  a 
  place 
  in 
  

   the 
  sun, 
  it 
  fell 
  to 
  geology 
  to 
  pull 
  up 
  and 
  set 
  back 
  the 
  stakes 
  that 
  man 
  

   had 
  stuck 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  This 
  seemed 
  to 
  many 
  

   a 
  moving 
  of 
  sacred 
  landmarks 
  ; 
  to 
  others 
  it 
  seemed 
  a 
  wanton 
  use 
  of 
  

   the 
  secrets 
  of 
  the 
  cemetery 
  of 
  nature's 
  dead. 
  A 
  bitter 
  war 
  arose; 
  

   racial 
  bias 
  disputing 
  the 
  rock 
  beds, 
  tradition 
  and 
  sentiment 
  fighting 
  

   mud 
  layers 
  and 
  fossil 
  imprints. 
  The 
  struggle 
  that 
  followed 
  was 
  

   long. 
  The 
  throwing 
  of 
  rocks 
  and 
  rock-ribbed 
  arguments 
  grew 
  to 
  be 
  

   an 
  art 
  that 
  might 
  well 
  have 
  drawn 
  forth 
  the 
  envy 
  of 
  an 
  Ajax. 
  But 
  

   the 
  substantial 
  slowly 
  gained 
  on 
  the 
  sentimental. 
  The 
  brutal 
  co- 
  

   gency 
  of 
  a 
  slab 
  of 
  fossils 
  could 
  be 
  hated 
  and 
  fought, 
  but 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  

   gainsaid. 
  And 
  as 
  the 
  tide 
  turned 
  the 
  geologist 
  began 
  to 
  play 
  cru- 
  

   sader; 
  he 
  mounted 
  his 
  war 
  horse 
  and 
  went 
  forth 
  to 
  convert 
  the 
  

   world 
  — 
  including, 
  withal, 
  some 
  of 
  his 
  scientific 
  colleagues. 
  

  

  After 
  a 
  time, 
  however, 
  the 
  battle 
  shifted 
  to 
  another 
  field. 
  Darwin 
  

   and 
  Wallace 
  drew 
  off 
  a 
  following 
  and 
  taught 
  them 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  subtler 
  

   weapons 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  natural 
  selection." 
  

   However, 
  they 
  still 
  plied 
  the 
  old 
  geologic 
  weapons, 
  for 
  they, 
  too, 
  had 
  

   reason 
  to 
  point 
  to 
  bed 
  on 
  bed 
  ; 
  they 
  had 
  need 
  of 
  even 
  more 
  time 
  than 
  

   the 
  geologists. 
  So 
  they 
  took 
  the 
  lead 
  and 
  the 
  team 
  became 
  a 
  tandem, 
  

   biology 
  prancing 
  in 
  front, 
  geology 
  trotting 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  thills. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  spirit 
  and 
  abandon 
  of 
  this 
  team 
  soon 
  awakened 
  a 
  new 
  

   antagonist. 
  Kelvin 
  took 
  the 
  field 
  in 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  physics, 
  astronomy, 
  

   and 
  mathematics, 
  and 
  sought 
  to 
  set 
  metes 
  and 
  bounds 
  to 
  the 
  back- 
  

   ward 
  extension 
  of 
  terrestrial 
  time. 
  He 
  told 
  the 
  tandem, 
  with 
  much 
  

   show 
  of 
  premises 
  and 
  figures, 
  that 
  the 
  feed 
  on 
  hand 
  positively 
  would 
  

   not 
  let 
  them 
  go 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  proposed. 
  The 
  tandem 
  was 
  reined 
  in 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Philosophical 
  Society, 
  Vol 
  

   LXI, 
  Dec. 
  26. 
  1922. 
  

  

  241 
  

  

  