198 MR. GLADSTONE AND GENESIS v 



animals obviously depend on plants ; and because, without crops 

 and harvests, there seemed to be no particular need of heavenly 

 signs for the seasons. 



These were provided by the fourth day's work. Light 

 existed already ; but now vehicles for the distribution of light, 

 in a special manner and with varying degrees of intensity, were 

 provided. I conceive that the previous alternations of light and 

 darkness were supposed to go on ; but that the "light" was 

 strengthened during the daytime by the sun, which, as a source 

 of heat as well as of light, glided up the firmament from the 

 east, and slid down in the west, each day. Very probably eac 

 day's sun was supposed to be a new one. And as the light of 

 the day was strengthened by the sun, so the darkness of the 

 night was weakened by the moon, which regularly waxed and 

 waned every month. The stars are, as it were, thrown in. 

 And nothing can more sharply mark the doctrinal purpose of 

 the author, than the manner in which he deals with the 

 heavenly bodies, which the Gentiles identified so closely with 

 their gods, as if they were mere accessories to the almanac. 



Animals come next in order of creation, and the general notion 

 of the writer seems to be that they were produced by the medium 

 in which they live ; that is to say, the aquatic animals by the 

 waters, and the terrestrial animals by the land. But there was 

 a difficulty about flying things, such as bats, birds, and insects. 

 The cosmogonist seems to have had no conception of "air " as 

 an elemental body. His "elements " are earth and water, and 

 he ignores air as much as he does fire. Birds " fly above the 

 earth in the open firmament" or "on the face of the expanse " 

 of heaven. They are not said to fly through the air. The 

 choice of a generative medium for flying things, therefore, 

 seemed to lie between water and earth ; and, if we take into 

 account the conspicuousness of the great flocks of water-birds 

 and the swarms of winged insects, which appear to arise from 

 water, I think the preference of water becomes intelligible. 

 However, I do not put this forward as more than a probable 

 hypothesis. As to the creation of aquatic animals on the fifth, 

 that of land animals on the sixth day, and that of man last of 

 all, I presume the order was determined by the fact that man 



