AGE OF MAX. 307 



nents had their germs, and grew gradually by accretions, 

 after a regular plan, to their present dimensions ; that 

 after their proper size was reached great operations were 

 instituted to diversify the surface, and to grind up some 

 of the rocks into soil for the use of man ; that the prep- 

 arations of the earth's crust, even down to minute cir- 

 cumstances, so far as they are understood, can be seen 

 to look toward the consummation arrived at in the age 

 of Man ; and, finally, that man, appearing after a succes- 

 sion of animals extending through long ages, differs 

 from them all in the possession of qualities that ally him 

 with the Infinite, and therefore show him to be the fit- 

 ting end of such a consummation. The earth was made 

 for man. Accordingly, he has a general control over 

 the powers of earth, being commissioned " to subdue it, 

 and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 

 fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth 

 upon the earth." Mind gives him this control, even 

 where physical circumstances, as weight and strength of 

 muscle, are sufficient to overpower him in any direct ef- 

 fort. He is the lord of this lower creation, acting as the 

 vicegerent of the Creator. 



417. Changes now Transpiring. The changes which 

 have taken place during the age of Man, and are now 

 going on, have been quite fully noticed in Chapter X., 

 and I shall only give a summary of them here. The 

 rocks are every where subjected to weathering, which 

 wears them away by piecemeal, and the rivers are car- 

 rying away the detritus of the rocks, lodging it in deltas 

 or on flood-plains. The tendency of all this is to fill up 

 the depressions, and to make the land encroach upon the 

 space occupied by the water. Then there is evidence 

 that over extensive areas of the floor of the sea deposits 

 are being laid down of the same materials that now com- 

 pose rocks made in former ages. Besides, there are the 

 coral animals busily engaged in building extensive reefs. 

 There is, therefore, great land-building going on, and the 



