II. 



FURTHER DETAILS OF THE READING OF THE GREAT 

 STONE BIBLE. 



IT is desirable to enter a little more into the details 

 of the past history of the Earth, as read in this won- 

 derful Stone Bible. The record is very imperfect, 

 pages, chapters, and whole books are wanting the 

 gaps are numerous and often of gigantic dimensions. 

 Perhaps nothing can more clearly show the cause of 

 the existence of these gaps than the erosion or 

 wearing away of the cliffs at the sea-shore now going 

 on. Here strata after strata of the earth's surface 

 are gradually being ground to fine particles and then 

 thrown into the sea, and carried out into its deep 

 waters ; there deposited to form new layers or strata 

 which will some day appear above the surface of 

 the oceans. We have every reason to believe that 

 the like process has gone on, to our minds, for an 

 infinite time. These deposits form the record of the 

 earth's history, sufficient remains to tell an all-absorb- 

 ing tale. 



In reading the history of fossil remains, as the 

 remains of life are called, found in these layers, it must 

 always be kept in mind how little is left of the creation 



