• Vice-President's Address. 29*7 



fall of man has exercised the minds of the most eminent 

 philosophers, scientists, and religionists of this century. 

 Although the attempt to reconcile its details with the 

 known facts of Zoology and Palaeontology has failed, yet 

 I am not convinced that the story is a myth. We must 

 bear in mind that the doctrine of evolution was known as 

 a speculation to the early inhabitants of India, Babylonia, 

 and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, long before the 

 writer in Genesis penned his memorable narrative; and it 

 seems to me that he has blended these current speculations 

 with the specific acts of creation therein recorded. By 

 distributing the work over five consecutive days, a definite 

 chronological sequence is affirmed, which, to my mind, gives 

 an evolutionary character to the corresponding acts of 

 creation. On the supposition that these days represent vast 

 periods of time, some critics maintain that the order in 

 which animal life is made to appear corresponds to that 

 disclosed by palaeontological researches. Mr Gladstone, in 

 his famous controversy with Professor Huxley on this subject 

 {Nineteenth Century, 1885-86), thus tabulates the chrono- 

 logical sequence of events as deduced from the Biblical 

 narrative : — 



(1) A period of land anterior to all life. 



(2) A period of vegetable life anterior to animal life. 



(3) A period of animal life in the order of fishes. 



(4) Another stage of animal life in the order of birds. 



(5) Another in the order of beasts. 



(6) Last of all man. 



It need hardly be said that the above sequence is not in 

 precise harmony with the facts of palaeontology, for any tyro 

 can see that, from the standpoint of evolution, land-quadru- 

 peds must have preceded birds — a statement which is also 

 proved to be a fact by direct evidence. But although this 

 and some other details are decidedly out of joint, I think 

 the tout ensemble could only emanate from the brain of one 

 who had some glimmering of the doctrine of evolution. 



The portion of the narrative bearing on the creation 

 of man can only be seriously considered as an allegory ; 



