10 UNIVERSAL EVOLUTION 



bearing of certain facts has been observed. The simi- 

 larity, between the action of the physical and psychical 

 law, is the most important fact. Inorganic matter is 

 very much more stable than organic. But it is very 

 far from being inert. It is in constant change. No inor- 

 ganic body remains the same for any long period. Our 

 earth, both internally and externally, is undergoing 

 constant change. Volcanism, in earthquakes and 

 eruptions, shows there is a perpetual readjustment oc- 

 curring internally; and the surface is being modified 

 by the denudation of it by water, wind, frost, and ice. 



There is a slow, but irresistible uplift of certain 

 regions, and in others a depression of the crust of the 

 earth. The oceans are likewise moving in correspond- 

 ence with the movements of the earth at their bottoms, 

 or on the shores. Coral islands, and shore reefs are 

 being built in certain parts, where there is more or 

 less uplift, or subsidence of the oceans. These sub- 

 sidences and uplifts are of the solid parts of the earth, 

 either of the continents, or of the ocean's bottom; and 

 the waters adapt themselves to these changes. 



The matter thrown out by volcanoes builds up again 

 some of the denuded heights, and this is being changed 

 by the action of weather and water into pliable soil, 

 and eventually finds its way to the bottom of the ocean. 

 The accumulation of debris at the mouths of rivers is 

 the disintegrated rocks of the mountains, washed 

 down by water. When it attains a magnitude of suffi- 

 cient weight, there is apt to be a giving way at the 

 faults near the shore line and earthquakes result, as 

 occurred at San Francisco in 1906. Rocks and earth 

 are formed of crystals. As these crystals degenerate, 

 the atoms of matter of which they are formed, again 

 begin to integrate, into new crystallized forms, always 



