OBJE C TIONS A GA INS T EVOLU TION. 1 71 



That the effects of denudation are not exag- 

 gerated in the preceding quotation, is manifest from 

 a number of facts to which Darwin has directed at- 

 tention, and of which he was the first to realize the 

 true import in their bearings on Evolution. In 

 Europe, but especially in North and in South Amer- 

 ica, there are immense areas, embracing many thou- 

 sands of square miles, in which the surface rocks are 

 entirely granitic or metamorphic. This implies that 

 denudation has here taken place on a tremendous 

 scale. And the utter absence of fossils in such rocks 

 shows conclusively how completely the work of de- 

 struction was accomplished, so completely, indeed, 

 that of the animal and vegetable remains which 

 must have originally existed in these portions of the 

 earth not a vestige now remains. In view of such 

 facts Darwin considers it "quite probable, that in 

 some parts of the world whole formations have 

 been completely denuded, with not a wreck left be- 

 hind." 



Small Percentage of Fossil Forms. 



But this is not all. We have positive evidence 

 that during certain periods many species existed in 

 countless numbers, although, so far, not a fragment 

 of bone has been found within the area in which 

 they once flourished. The strange, bird-like forms 

 that once inhabited the Connecticut valley are in- 

 stances in point. Although more than a score of 



fects of aqueous, glacial and igneous agencies, the reader may 

 consult with profit the pages of Lyell's admirable " Principles of 

 Geology." 



