DARWIN. 131 
destructive work of the irregular motions of the sea, 
and the partly destructive, partly formative work of its 
regular currents. Calculations were made of the 
ploughing, grating, and grinding of glaciers, of the 
substances which mineral springs dissolve and deposit, 
of the displacements of material effected by existing 
agencies, of the manner in which the outlines of land 
and sea are altered by elevation and _ subsidence. 
Similarly, the comparison of ancient and modern coral 
reefs and oyster banks showed that these silent builders 
have not changed their habits. In short, the hypo- 
thesis of extraordinary events and forces, unheard of in 
our present era, seemed quite unnecessary; time only, 
and the continuous development of the earth’s crust, 
were rendered evident. 
The stage for reiterated acts of new creation of organ- 
isms had thus collapsed, and the hypothesis of such 
miraculous new creations became an anachronism, for 
which a well-merited end was inevitably prepared by 
the appearance of Darwin. With Darwinism, the doc- 
trine of Descent is an historical necessity. 
Charles Darwin was born in 1809, and, as the Natu- 
ralist attached to the Beagle in her voyage round the 
world, under Captain Fitzroy, in 1831-7, he enjoyed 
an opportunity of accumulating rich experiences. His 
important work on Coral Reefs gave the first adequate 
explanation of the phenomena resulting from the co- 
operation of geological movements, and the organic 
agency of the coral animal; his Monograph on Cirri- 
pedes bears witness to the exemplary care with which he 
can observe and systematically work out the relations of 
the minutest details. We make this remark, as the 
