1846.] Progressive Changes of Matter. 217 



cess prevailing; a process perhaps brought more within the scope 

 of the unassisted eye, than that of the growth of the tree. We 

 may have entertained the idea that the rivers which now traverse 

 the surface of the earth, have existed " from the beginning " in 

 their present form and location. Whereas from the manner in 

 which they are formed, the traces which they have left of their 

 former existence, we are forced to believe, that the generations of 

 rivers have been as numerous as the generations of men. The 

 rains supply the flowing volume of river currents. A river is 

 formed by a certain quantity of water and a given velocity ac- 

 cording to the peculiar formation of the earth's surface embrac- 

 ing its sources and tributaries. The proofs in relation to the ex- 

 istence of extinct rivers, may hereafter be given in a more detailed 

 statement. The present order of rivers appear to us as having 

 assumed permanent channels. A river is incidentally mentioned 

 here for the purpose of considering it as the principal agent by 

 which inert matter is moved along the surface of the earth. The 

 immense masses of earth every where abounding with all their 

 varied mixtures of coarse and fine material, with all their rugged 

 outlines, have been brought to their present condition principally 

 by the force of running water. Hence we learn that matter 

 is always liable to change its position by some physical law, and 

 in every change some new body is formed with new combinations 

 and thereby unfolding schemes of Infinite Wisdom. It may be 

 necessaiy to consider what is meant by a progressive change. 

 This is, perhaps, as manifest in the animal economy as any fact 

 v\-e can adiluce for an illustration. We commence with the sim- 

 ple formation of the univalve, and ascend the scale of organized 

 bodies, possessing vitility and thought, until we arrive at the 

 formation of human beings. Here every new body in the series 

 was marked by a peculiar combination of its elementary parts. 

 We may here distinguish a progressive change from a continuous 

 change. In the formation of the body of a quadruped, the con- 

 stituent parts of which it is composed, necessarily, as we have 

 before stated change their position, but during the existence of 

 this race of animals, for instance the horse, there is a succession 



