172 THE PALMS OP THE ANCIENT WORLl). 



bitants of our planet, lc'*li in the aniuial and 

 the vegetable world. Only a few years ago, 

 many of the wonderful facts which tliis most 

 interesting study has unfolded were looked 

 tipon as the visionary fancies of men whose 

 aim it was to array science in opposition to 

 revelation. But the additional light which 

 more advanced investigation of the subject 

 produced, proved the immutable truth, that the 

 vorks, the ways, and the word of God, are all 

 in strict harmony the one with the other ; and 

 that, if rightly interpreted, they always coniirm 

 one another. The infidel has been most sig- 

 nally defeated in every attempt to set the reve- 

 lations of geology in antagonism with the 

 Scriptures. True science, rightly interpreted, 

 will never, avc may without hesitation venture 

 to aflirra, be found at variance with the word 

 of God. 



In order that the ancient history of the palm 

 tribe may be distinctly understood, it ma}' be 

 needful to explain, as briefly as possible, those 

 leading facts of geological science which bear 

 upon the subject before us. Geologists have 

 discovered that the various rocks of which the 

 surface of the earth is composed have under- 

 gone a variety of changes, which have caused 

 them to assume differeut forms and modifica- 



