244 CONCLUSION. 



into one inseparable system. It shows that life existed be- 

 fore we were ; it indicates that life may exist after mankind 

 has ceased to be. Evade and resent as we may the idea of 

 a genetic connection with the lower animals, there is no 

 gainsaying the fact that with them we constitute part and 

 parcel of a great vital plan. They are our life-comrades; 

 they suffer hunger and thirst as we do; they are happy 

 under pleasure, and miserable under pain. Exalted above 

 them by a higher intellect and the gift of moral perception, 

 we are bound to extend to them the humanity of our posi- 

 tion ; and we err against the Creator's scheme the moment 

 we deal with them otherwise than is indicated by the great 

 law of interdependence which pala3ontology reveals. And 

 if we are thus led by cosmical considerations to extend 

 mercy to our fellow- creatures, much more are we called 

 upon to exercise it towards our fellow-men. It were a 

 sorry account of our knowledge of the material and vital 

 worlds, and the laws by which they are governed, did we fail 

 to apply it to the material and moral welfare of our race. 

 Vanity and vexation of spirit, did the tree of knowledge 

 ripen no fairer fruit than the pride and boast of knowing ! 

 In this way the philosophy of our science ascends above the 

 mere materialities of the earth, and becomes portion of the 

 higher philosophy of the heart and soul. 



And now, and in the last place, a word on the spirit in 

 which we should inquire. Geology is at best but a recent 

 science, and its task (as yet but imperfectly performed) is 

 a very wide and difficult one : wide, as embracing a vast 

 field of co-relative science ; and difficult, as the objects of 

 research can only be obtained by great labour, are often 

 obscure, and, for the most part, far removed from their 

 producing causes. In this case, though the history of the 

 past be ever attractive, its elimination requires extensive 

 travel and careful research. Guided solely by a desire to 



