RECAPITULATION. 103 



Scripture and Geology. The Word and the Works of God 

 must be in unison, and the more we truly study both, the 

 more they will be found to be in accordance. Any apparent 

 want of correspondence proceeds either from imperfect inter- 

 pretation of Scripture or from incomplete knowledge of science. 

 The changes in the globe have all preceded man's appearance 

 on the scene. He is the characteristic of the present epoch, 

 and he knows by Revelation that the world is to undergo a 

 further transformation, when the elements shall melt with 

 fervent heat, and when all the present state of things shall 

 be dissolved, ere the ushering in of a new earth, wherein 

 righteousness is to dwell. 



Recapitidation of the chief points connected with 

 Fossil Botany : — 



1. The vegetation of the globe has varied at difFereut epochs of the 



earth's history. 



2. The farther we recede in geological history from the present day, 



the greater is the difference between the fossil plants and those 

 which now occupy the surface. 



3. All fossil pkints may be referred to the great classes of plants of 



the present day, Acotyledons, Monocotyledons, and Dicoty- 

 ledons. 



4. The fossil species are diflferent from those of the present flora, and 



it is only when we reach the Tertiary periods that we meet 

 with some genera which are without doubt identical. 



5. Fossil plants are preserved in various conditions, according to the 



nature of their structure, and the mode in which they have 

 been acted upon. Sometimes mere casts of the plants are 

 found, at other times they are carbonised and converted into 

 coal, while at other times, besides being carbonised, they are 

 infiltrated with calcareous or siliceous matter, and finally, they 

 may be petrified. 



6. Cellidar plants, and the cellular portions of vascular plants, have 



rarely been preserved, while woody species, and especially 

 Ferns, which are very indestructible, have retained their forms 

 in many instances. 



7. In some cases, especially when silicified or charred, the stmcture 



