609 



gantic races of existing quadrupeds, are spread 

 over the face of the earth ; and among the dilu- 

 vial relics of the vegetable kingdom are found 

 various kinds of plants and trees, of very superi- 

 or dimensions, which seem to have been foster- 

 ed in a climate and soil more genial than which 

 is now experienced in any part of the globe. I 

 do not know where we could seek for evidence 

 of a superior vigour in the powers of life, during 

 the antediluvian period, if we deny it in such in- 

 stances as these. 



Tnere is something very satisfactory in this 

 kind of testimony borne to the truth of the sacred 

 scriptures. It comes upon us unexpectedly, and 

 is entirely without suspicion ; and while, in this ' 

 one instance, it proves the futility of an infidel 

 objection boldly urged, it throws discredit upon 

 other objections of a similar nature, against which 

 no such evidence has hitherto been brought. If 

 the discovery of extinct species of enormous 

 animals, suL-h as the mammoth, megatherium, 

 megalonyx, and gigantic tapir, and of the fact, 

 that tropical animals, such as the tiger, hyena 

 and hippopotamus, existed, during antediluvian 

 times, in regions, which, from the coldness of 

 the climate, are now altogether uncongenial to 

 them, as well as indications connected with other 

 kindred geological phenomena, rebuke the pre- 

 sumptuous sneers of the infidel as to the original 

 longevity of the human race asserted in the Di- 

 vine record, it seems fair to infer, that in in- 

 stances where the refutation is not so complete, 



