METHOD IN THE GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 313 



in action to-day. The immutable and omnipresent forces 

 of chemistry first held the elements under sway. Affinity, 

 gravitation, caloric, electricity, in their varying operations, 

 have wrought out the diverse phases of the modern earth. 

 The plan of operations has been equally uniform. Igneous 

 forces pressing upward oceanic waters bearing downward 

 and outward. An incipient wrinkle, a growing ridge, an 

 upheaved cordillera. The ocean bed was made for the 

 primeval waters. The place for the continents was marked 

 out in earliest time, and each successive event contributed 

 consistently to the final consummation. Even their out 

 lines were foreshadowed in the trend of those primal ridges 

 which made a mockery of dry land before a living thing 

 had appeared upon the earth. And when the finishing 

 touch was to pass over the globe, we find it effected by 

 the same general agency as piled up miles of strata and 

 raised granite summits to the clouds. An upheaval, a sub 

 mergence, and another upheaval constitute the last three 

 chapters of the history. Who can contemplate this iden 

 tity of agencies, this persistence of plan and perfection of 

 results, without being impressed that One Intelligence has 

 planned the scheme and guided the blind forces from the 

 beginning to the accomplishment of the long-anticipated 

 end? 







