484 On the Creation, Diffusion, and 



dent that the plants and animals now peculiar to certain regi- 

 ons could not have existed previous to the formation of those 

 stations in which alone they are fitted to reside, and that if 

 the mountains of the Himalaya were not in existence before 

 the flood, so neither were their peculiar climates and pro- 

 ductions. 



The proof already furnished of the truth of our posi- 

 tion,* must necessarily therefore prove the truth of all ; 

 and thus we establish the fact, that many creations have 

 taken jilace since the six recorded days of Holy Writ. 



But again, as we perceive that fresh creations of organic 

 beings have necessarily been attendant on the production 

 of new climates, so, by a parity of reasoning, since all things 

 tend to show that a reduction of temperature has taken place, 

 shall we be permitted to declare that many of the former 

 genera and species must have become extinct, when those 

 revolutions, by reducing the temperature, destroyed the cli- 

 mates in which alone they were able to exist ; and thus we 

 are brought to substantiate and explain the doctrines of the 

 progressive theorists, and to show how nearly they have 

 approached the truth without being aware of it ; and we 

 may therefore assert, in accordance with those doctrines, 

 •'that the creatures were constructed with a view to the 

 conditions of the surface of the earth ;" " that repeated 

 changes in species both of animals and vegetables in suc- 

 ceeding members of different formations give further evi- 

 dence of important changes in the physical condition and 

 climate of the ancient earth ;" and that one race of beings 

 has become extinct at a period when another sprung into 

 existence to supply its place, f 



The various opinions or theories of a successive creation 

 and gradual diffusion of the animal and vegetable kingdoms 



* See J. A. S. for an excellent paper on Zoological Provinces, by W. 

 Jameson, Esq. 



f Buckland's Bridsrewater Treatise. 



