58 ORIGIN OF THE 



upward and fill the chasm, thus raising the 

 crust over the whole length of its passage. But 

 the crust could not be elevated more than its 

 own thickness ; and if, perchance, some eleva- 

 tions arose above the waters, the falling rain and 

 the rising steam would still keep the oxidized 

 surface in a soluble state. 



Thus, then, were the materials for organized 

 matter diffused through the boiling fluid, and 

 prepared and adapted, each to assume the place 

 and form for which it had been designed from 

 the beginning. The means were, in every in- 

 stance, adapted to the accomplishment of the 

 object to be attained. The surface of the earth 

 became an immense caldron, covered with car- 

 bonic acid and other gases, and holding in solu- 

 tion all the materials for crystalline, vegetable, 

 and animal organization. The waters became 

 turbid with the vast accumulation of these mate- 

 rials, owing to the small quantity, while in a 

 state of ebullition, allowed to remain, during its 



