58 The Bible of Nature 



Not less momentous were the great transgressions 

 and regressions of the seas. 



Sculpturing of Scenery. — Finally, we pass to a 

 chapter in the earth's history which we can read 

 with less uncertainty — the more detailed sculptur- 

 ing and the making of scenery. There have been 

 violent blows, such as earthquakes and volcanic 

 eruptions; there have been drastic changes of 

 climate, such as the Great Ice Age; but most of 

 the factors which have wrought out the details of 

 earth-sculpture seem to have been very gentle 

 chisellings. The solid earth is weathered away 

 by air and rain, by frost and snow; the waters wear 

 the stones; the mountain is transplanted piece- 

 meal to the sea; there is a ceaseless wear and tear 

 of continents; there is a slow deposition of the 

 soluble and insoluble results of denudation. As 

 James Hutton said in his "Theory of the Earth" 

 (1788), *' little causes, long continuing," have 

 wrought great changes. 



The Hand of Life upon the Earth. — Nor can we 

 overlook the influence of the hand of life upon the 

 earth. The sea-weeds cling around the shore and 

 lessen the shock of the breakers. The lichens eat 

 slowly into the stones, sending their fine threads 

 beneath the surface as thickly sometimes "as 

 grass-roots in a meadow-land," so that the skin 

 of the rock is gradually weathered away. On 

 the moor the mosses form huge sponges, which 



