THE NEANDERTHAL SKULL. 51 



powerful protector, an " If ." " IF my theory 

 be true," that every vestige of this long 

 geological period, which according to his- 

 estimate may have included some millions 

 of years, has entirely disappeared, what 

 becomes of the argument so frequently 

 advanced by the Atheistic school that 

 matter is indestructible, and that these 

 lengthy aeons, during which, as Darwin 

 says, " these vast unknown periods of time 

 the earth swarmed with living creatures," 

 have not left a sign of their material sub- 

 stance behind them. If one half of the 

 geological formations known to us, and 

 which is computed to consist of upwards of 

 40 statute miles in thickness, has produced 

 such a rich harvest of fossil fauna and flora 

 to prove that they once existed as living 

 things and creatures on the then surface 

 of the earth, why has the other half, 

 according to the Darwinian philosophy, 

 so entirely disappeared .as to leave no 

 single trace of its entity ? Surely you 

 must see that in place of there being 

 any imperfection or non-existence of 

 E 2 



