158 GENESIS VERSUS NATURE iv 



them) may have existed during that time, of the 

 history of which we know so little ; and, further, 

 that scorpions are animals of such high organisa- 

 tion that it is highly probable their existence 

 indicates that of a long antecedent land-population 

 of a similar character. 



Then, since the land-population is said not to 

 have been created until the sixth day, it necessarily 

 follows that the evidence of the order in which 

 animals appeared must be sought in the record of 

 those older Palaeozoic times in which only traces of 

 the water-population have as yet been discovered. 



Therefore, if any one chooses to say that the 

 creative work took place in the Cambrian or 

 Laurentian epoch, in exactly that manner which 

 Mr. Gladstone does, and natural science does not, 

 affirm, natural science is not in a position to dis- 

 prove the accuracy of the statement. Only one 

 cannot have one's cake and eat it too, and such 

 safety from the contradiction of science means the 

 forfeiture of her support. 



Whether the account of the work of the first, 

 second, and third days in Genesis would be con- 

 firmed by the demonstration of the truth of the 

 nebular hypothesis ; whether it is corroborated by 

 what is known of the nature and probable rela- 

 tive antiquity of the heavenly bodies; whether, 

 if the Hebrew word translated "firmament" in 

 the Authorised Version really means "expanse," 

 the assertion that the waters are partly under 



