TO THE READER. IxviL 



moral constitution not to be missed when away ; and so, 

 when once fairly eradicated, the life and conduct rarely fail 

 to betray its absence. But I have not, from any considera- 

 tion of the mischief thus effected, written as if arguments, 

 like cannon-balls, could be rendered more formidable than 

 in the cool state, by being made red-hot I have not even 

 felt, in discussing the question, as if I had a man before me 

 as an opponent j for though my work contains numerous re- 

 ferences to the author of the "Vestiges," I have invariably 

 thought on these occasions, not of the anonymous writer of 

 the volume, of whom I know nothing, but simply of an in- 

 genious, well- written book, unfortunate in its facts, and not 

 always very happy in its reasonings. Further, I do not 

 think that palaeontological fact, in its bearing on the points 

 at issue, is of such a doubtful complexion as to leave the geo- 

 logist, however much, from moral considerations, in earnest 

 in the matter, any very serious excuse for losing his temper. 



In my reference to the three great divisions of the geo- 

 logic scale, I designate as Paloeozoic all the fossiliferous rocks, 

 from the first appearance of organic existence down to the 

 close of the Permian system ; all as Secondary^ from the 

 close of the Permian system down to the close of the Cre- 

 taceous deposits ; and all as Tertiary^ from the close of the 

 Cretaceous deposits down to the introduction of man. The 

 woodcuts of the volume, of which at least nine-tenths of 

 the whole represent objects never figured before, were drawn 

 and cut by Mr John Adams of Edinburgh, with a degree 

 of care and skill which has left me no reason to regret 

 my distance from the London artists and engravers. So 

 far at least as the objects could be adequately represented 



