DARWIN. 131 



destructive work of the irregular motions of the sea, 

 and the partly destructive, partly formative work of its 

 regular currents. Calculations were made of the 



o 



ploughing, grating, and grinding of glaciers, of the 

 substances which mineral springs dissolve and deposit, 

 of the displacements of material effected by existing 

 agencies, of the manner in which the outlines of land 

 and sea are altered by elevation and subsidence. 

 Similarly, the comparison of ancient and modern coral 

 reefs and oyster banks showed that these silent builders 

 have not changed their habits. In short, the hypo- 

 thesis of extraordinary events and forces, unheard of in 

 our present era, seemed quite unnecessary ; time only, 

 and the continuous development of the earth's crust, 

 were rendered evident. 



The stage for reiterated acts of new creation of organ- 

 isms had thus collapsed, and the hypothesis of such 

 miraculous new creations became an anachronism, for 

 which a well-merited end was inevitably prepared by 

 the appearance of Darwin. With Darwinism, the doc- 

 trine of Descent is an historical necessity. 



Charles Darwin was born in 1809, and, as the Natu- 

 ralist attached to the Beagle in her voyage round the 

 world, under Captain Fitzroy, in 1831-7, he enjoyed 

 an opportunity of accumulating rich experiences. His 

 important work on Coral Reefs gave the first adequate 

 explanation of the phenomena resulting from the co- 

 operation of geological movements, and the organic 

 agency of the coral animal ; his Monograph on Cirri- 

 pedes bears witness to the exemplary care with which he 

 can observe and systematically work out the relations of 

 the minutest details. We make this remark, as the 



10 



