& 



426 Darwin, and after Darwin. 



Spain, Italy, and Great Britain all put together; and, more 

 remarkable still, over the area of the United States and 

 Canada, granitic rocks exceed in the proportion of 19 to 12^ 

 the whole of the newer Palaeozoic formations. Lastly, after 

 giving these examples, Darwin adds the important con- 

 sideration, that "in many regions the metamorphic and 

 granitic rocks would be found much more widely extended 

 than they appear to be, if all the sedimentary beds were 

 removed which rest unconformably on them, and which 

 could not have formed part of the original mantle under 

 which they were crystallized," 



The above is a brief condensation of the already condensed 

 statement which Darwin has given of the imperfection of the 

 geological record ; but I think it is enough to show, in a 

 general way, how precarious must be the nature of any 

 objections to the theory of evolution which are founded 

 merely upon the silence of palaeontology in cases where, if 

 the record were anything like complete, we should be entitled 

 to expect from it some positive information. But, as we 

 have seen in the text, imperfect though the record be, in as 

 far as it furnishes positive information at all, this is well-nigh 

 uniformly in favour of the theory ; and therefore, even on 

 grounds of palaeontology alone, it appears to me that Darwin 

 is much too liberal where he concludes his discussion by 

 saying, — " Those who believe that the geological record is 

 in any degree perfect, will undoubtedly at once reject the 

 theory." If in any measure reasonable, such persons ought 

 rather to examine their title to such a belief; and even if they 

 disregard the consensus of testimony which is yielded by all 

 the biological sciences to the theory of evolution, they ought 

 at least to hold their judgment in suspense until they shall 

 have not only set against the apparently negative testimony 

 which is yielded by geology its unquestionably positive testi- 

 mony, but also well considered the causes which may — or 

 rather must — have so gravely impaired the geological record. 



