RETROSPECT OF PRE-ADAMITE AGES. 



RETROSPECT OF THE PRE-ADAMITE AGES. 



522. Upon a review of the history of the earth previous to the 

 appearance of the human race and its contemporary fauna and 

 flora, as briefly sketched in the preceding pages, several con- 

 siderations of high interest respecting the progressive development 

 of organic life upon it present themselves. 



Naturalists have grouped the animal world into the 20 classes 

 indicated in the table given in (244), and have subdivided these 

 classes into 77 orders. Each of these 77 orders is again resolved 

 into a certain number of generic forms. 



It will be matter of obvious interest to inquire in what manner 

 the author of nature has proceeded in the work of creation, first, 

 in considering each act of creation in itself, and independently 

 of the others ; and secondly, in comparing one with another the 

 successive creations described in the preceding pages. 



523. Were all the forms of organic life, which existed upon 

 the earth at any one epoch, called simultaneously into being ? 

 The habits and economy of animals answer this question. In 

 relation to their modes of nourishment they may be resolved into 

 two classes : the first, herbivora, consisting of those which feed 

 on vegetables ; and the second, carnivora, of those which feed 

 either partially or exclusively on other animals. 



It is clear, then, that the creation of the vegetable world must, 

 in each case, have either preceded or have been simultaneous with 

 that of the herbivora, since a class of animals could not be created 

 without a provision of a food of suitable quality. 



For a like reason the creation of herbivora must either have 

 preceded or been simultaneous with that of carnivora. 



524. That all parts of the earth were simultaneously peopled, 

 not only at the first creation which took place upon it, but at all 

 succeeding ones, is proved by the fact that the same animal and 

 vegetable forms are found deposited in the same strata in all parts 

 of the earth. The animal forms, for example, preserved in the 

 Palaeozoic strata of Europe are identical with those found in the 

 corresponding formation in all parts of the world, however 

 distant from each other, and the same is true of the Triassic, 

 the Jurassic, and all the other groups of strata. 



525. The second question, whether creative power manifested 

 itself by a progressive development of organised forms, may be 

 considered either with relation to orders or generic forms. 



Of the seventy-seven orders of animals, an obviously increasing 

 progression of development will be apparent on comparing age 

 with age. 



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