THROUGH THE GEOLOGIST’S EYES 
the primordial seas that mothered them were, no 
doubt, richer in the various mineral solutions that 
knitted and compacted the sedimentary deposits. 
The Cretaceous formations melt away almost like 
snow. I fancy that the ocean now, compared with 
the earlier condition when it must have been so 
saturated with mineral elements, is like thrice- 
skimmed milk. 
The geologist is not stinted for time. He deals with 
big figures. It is refreshing to see him dealing out his _ 
years so liberally. Do you want a million or two to 
account for this or that? You shall have it for the 
asking. He has an enormous balance in the bank 
of Time, and he draws upon it to suit his purpose. 
In human history a thousand years is a long time. 
Ten thousand years wipe out human history com- 
pletely. Ten thousand more, and we are probably 
among the rude cave-men or river-drift men. One 
hundred thousand, and we are — where? Probably 
among the simian ancestors of man. A million years, 
and we are probably in Eocene or Miocene times, 
among the huge and often grotesque mammals, and 
our ancestor, a little creature, probably of the 
marsupial kind, is skulking about and hiding from 
the great carnivorous beasts that would devour him. 
“Little man, least of all, 
Among the legs of his guardians tall, 
Walked about with puzzled look. 
Him by the hand dear Nature took, 
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