532 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY. 



not here inquire; but the discussion of such a 

 question would be closely connected with geology, 

 both in its interests and in its methods. If men 

 are ever able to frame a science of the past changes 

 by which the universe has been brought into its 

 present condition, this science will be properly 

 described as Cosmical Palcetiology. 



These palaetiological sciences might properly be 

 called historical, if that term were sufficiently pre- 

 cise : for they are all of the nature of history, being 

 concerned with the succession of events ; and the 

 part of history which deals with the past causes of 

 events, is, in fact, a moral palaetiology. But the 

 phrase Natural History has so accustomed us to a 

 use of the word history in which we have nothing 

 to do with time, that, if we were to employ the 

 word historical to describe the palsetiological sci- 

 ences, it would be in constant danger of being mis- 

 understood. The fact is, as Mohs has said, that 

 Natural History, when systematically treated, rigor- 

 ously excludes all that is historical; for it classes 

 objects by their permanent and universal proper- 

 ties ; and has nothing to do with the narration of 

 particular and casual facts. And this is an incon- 

 sistency which we shall not attempt to rectify. 



All palsetiological sciences, since they undertake 

 to refer changes to their causes, assume a certain 

 classification of the phenomena which change brings 

 forth, and a knowledge of the operation of the 

 causes of change. These phenomena, these causes, 



