Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 7 



had not involved a portion of this concealed world, unrecogniza- 

 ble by our unassisted vision, but palpable and unquestionable with 

 the aid of high magnifying powers.* 



All these things then, so far from proving that the globe is 

 eternal, do, on the contrary, demonstrate that the present order of 

 things in the mineral world, has had every where a beginning, 

 and therefore we may reasonably infer that matter itself must 

 also have had a beginning, neither its mode nor its substance be- 

 ing eternal. Bat it is beyond the reach of the human mind, to 

 ascertain when, or in what form of existence, matter was first 

 brought into being by the power of an infinite Creator, to whom 

 space and time are alike without limit, and means of filling them 

 without end. 



The selection of subjects by Dr. Mantell is very judicious, and 

 they are combined and arranged in a state of luminous condensa- 

 tion. 



Amidst the immense opulence of geological facts, this is no 

 small praise ; a happy selection implies, of course, a familiar ac- 

 quaintance with the whole science, and requires the exercise of 

 a sound judgment, directed by a discriminating taste. If we 

 were to express any regret as to materials, it would be, both in 

 the case of Dr. Mantell and of Mr. Lyell, that the primary rocks 

 are left comparatively in eclipse under the flood of light that is 

 poured in upon the world of fossils. Perhaps we may be under 

 an undue bias on this point, from the predominating influence 

 exerted by the primary rocks upon the earlier condition of geology, 

 both under Werner and Hutton, for fossils were then but little 

 known in comparison with the vast range which they now oc- 

 cupy. It is also true, that upon the plan of arrangement for 

 which a preference has been expressed above, the primary rocks 

 would of course acquire all due consideration, because they 

 would cap the climax of fire, and descending to them through 

 the volcanoes and proving them, as we believe, to be ignigenous, 

 we then cite them as proofs, on a magnificent scale, of the effects 

 of heat, causing even the mountains of granite, or the materials 

 of which they are composed, to flow in fiery liquidity, on a scale 

 commensurate with the height of Alpine peaks, and mountain 



*We write, to a certain extent, from personal observation, and may add, that we 

 have lately enjoyed an opportunity of inspecting, in the hands of a friend recently 

 returned from Europe, some of the very specimens of fossil animalcules with which 

 Ehrenberg himself had furnished him. 



