THE DARWINIAN THEORY 



But the modern science of geology 

 made this explanation quite out of the 

 question, at least so far as its conception of 

 the term, to create, is concerned. Geology 

 presents a very readable narrative of past 

 life on this globe, based on records so 

 safely preserved in rocky strata, that 

 whether they tell of great trees, of giant 

 animals, of small insects, or of delicate 

 ferns, the complete life history of each can 

 now be given. 



This story summed up proves to a cer- 

 tainty that the history of life on this earth 

 is a very long one, with many chapters, each 

 chapter abounding with illustrations pic- 

 turing a great variety of forms both vege- 

 table and animal. At first it was supposed 

 that these forms differed so from chapter 

 to chapter that most of them were alto- 

 gether new when they first appeared. It is 

 now, however, generally admitted that this 

 is not so. Instead a continuous line of de- 

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