EXERCISES. 



EXEECISES. 



THE statements of the foregoing chapter constitute so many 

 exercises. The following examples may be added for farther 

 illustration : 



1. The first lesson, that such studies enable us to appre- 

 ciate the attributes and perfections of the Deity, is enforced 

 by every inquiry into his works. The mineral, the vegetable, 

 and the animal kingdoms vie with each other in displaying the 

 perfections of their Author ; and as geology is only another 

 name for the combination of all the studies of nature, it is 

 evident that no other pursuit can afford such numerous and 

 instructive proofs of the benevolence and wisdom of the 

 Creator. 



2. In illustrating the antiquity of the earth from the fore- 

 going chapter, the object will be facilitated by the student 

 converting its statements into questions, and rendering the 

 answers which are calculated to explain them. He will 

 further find it expedient to insert these in his note-book, 

 and to enter under each respective head the information 

 which bears upon the particular fact. 



3. The modern date of man, as contrasted with that of the 

 earth he inhabits, is a truth so self-evident as to require no 

 effort for its demonstration ; on this and other statements 

 of the present chapter the difficulty would be, not to establish 

 the facts, but to discover a single argument that would 

 militate against them. 



4. On the internal heat of the earth, the student will find 

 ample information in the works of those authors mentioned 

 in the text : questions of so abstruse a nature are fitter for 

 the proficient than the student : he may rest satisfied at the 

 outset with the fact of the internal heat of the earth, without 

 indulging in speculations as to its origin. 



5. The nature of the crust of the earth, and the texture, 

 order, and succession of the substances of which it is com- 

 posed, are themes respecting which it is scarcely possible to 



