102 PROF, J. LOGAN LOBLEY, F.G.S., ETC.;, ON 



the time arrive'l those forms of animal life appeared which were 

 destined to minister to man's physical wants as well as to bis 

 advance in civilization. Along with them came the forms of plant 

 life specially adapted for sustenance, as well as to adorn and beautify 

 the face of nature, and so minister to his mental enjoyment. At 

 last man himself appeared on the scene — the last and most perfect 

 of all God's works, equipped with powers and faculties suited to 

 enjoy tlie great gifts placed within his roach, and with mental 

 powers capable of investigating the laws which govern the universe. 

 For him the whole woi4d is a Garden of Eden ; for him, eveiy 

 habitable portion is furnished with animals and plants suited to 

 minister to his wants. Surely, in all this we may see clear and 

 unmistakable evidence of design and adaptation, illustrating the 

 striking passage of the Psalmist, " The heaven, even the heaven .is 

 the Lord's, but the earth hath He given to the children of men," 

 given as his school for training in the knowledge of God and of His 

 works, and of His purposes of love, in preparing us for a still 

 higher state of bliss. 



Tiie Rev. John Tuckwell, M.R.A.S. — I should like to follow 

 ■what our Secretary has just stated in regard to the wonderful 

 agreement between the tirst chapter of Genesis and the paper 

 which we have listened to. Every one well remembers the first 

 verse of that chapter, which states ' a very remarkable and 

 universal fact, and that is, that it was God who created, in the 

 beginning, the heavens and the earth. But if you look carefully 

 into the chapter, I think it will be found that those stages are 

 delineated in the chapter. Take the statement of the story of 

 the earth in particular — that "the eai'th was without form and 

 void." Now as the Septuagint was translated, that expression 

 *' without form " is " invisible," and the word " void " indicates an 

 unfinished state. What could more fitly represent the chaotic 

 condition of our globe than such a word ? A globe of gas would 

 be without form and without those objects that are now around us. 



Now in the next stage you have the statement that " darkness 

 was on the face of the deep." That is a remarkable expi'ession. 



In an address given before this Society some years ago by Lord 

 Kelvin, he told us there was a period in this earth's history when 

 there was a molten envelope something like twenty-fi\-e miles deep 

 round the globe which seems to have given place to the aqueous 

 condition of our globe through condensation of vapour. 



