OF CREATION. O 



which have modified the whole surface of the globe ; 

 and I shall be glad if, in the following pages, I 

 can give my readers a distinct appreciation of 

 what is actually known with certainty concerning 

 this new kind of history. In doing so I shall, I am 

 sure, be doing good service, not only to science, but 

 also to general literature; exhibiting a link little 

 thought of, and an analogy almost neglected ; and 

 causing Natural History to appear, as it really is, an 

 account of a succession of events, and not merely 

 the description of the habits and structure of certain 

 groups of animals and vegetables. 



In thus undertaking to give an account of Nature 

 and of her operations, from the earliest records not only 

 of man but of Creation, I shall be somewhat in the con- 

 dition of an author proposing to communicate the his- 

 tory of an ancient people who have left monuments of 

 their existence in their ruined temples and mausoleums, 

 but whose language is very imperfectly understood, 

 and whose written documents are obscure and vague. 



Now an historian in such a case would, doubtless, 

 think it necessary first of all to make his readers 

 aware of the kind of evidence he would have to 

 adduce in attestation of his statements and descrip- 

 tions ; and it is manifest that, if there is an absence of 

 the ordinary documentary evidence, it would be still 

 more requisite that the credibility of his narrative 

 should be supported by a constant and direct reference 

 to facts, either evident in themselves or admitting of 

 distinct proof. 



There are not wanting instances, indeed, in which 

 conclusions perfectly satisfactory have been arrived 

 at, and histories prepared, without the existence of 



B 2 



