72 SKETCHES OF CREATION. 



light that stole through a rift in the clouds of the primeval 

 tempest, destined to be closed out again for a geologic age. 



This enormous interval of time, down to the close of the 

 Huronian, relieved of its absolute sterility of life by only 

 a single species certainly known, we designate as Eozoic 

 Time. 



"The curtain falls, and the scene is changed." The 

 crust, now becoming too large for the ever-shrinking nu- 

 cleus, settles down to a closer fitting around it. The en- 

 velope, of course, must wrinkle, and the wrinkles must pro- 

 trude their ridges, in some cases, above the waters. The 

 horizontality of the primeval strata is thus broken. In 

 some instances they are burst asunder, and the molten 

 granite is poured out through the fissure. In other cases 

 a huge back is simply elevated a moderate distance above 

 the level of the sea, Weary of his old position, the giant, 

 in adjusting himself in his new one, leaves his elbows pro- 

 truding. Indeed, if we may extend this ugly figure, he 

 may be represented as settling himself with an entire arm 

 protruding above the w r aters which swept over North 

 America. Beginning at the coast of Labrador, the arm — 

 or ancient ridge of land — extends southwest to the north 

 shore of Lake Huron. Here is the elbow. The fore-arm 

 and hand extend thence northwesterly toward the Arctic 

 Ocean. So it seems to be an arrangement of Nature that 

 " Johnny Bull" shall continue to thrust his elbows into the 

 sides of Young America ! We acquiesce, for the present, 

 in this arrangement. Meanwhile, other spirits will be sum- 

 moned from the "vasty deep," and teeming life will appear 

 upon the stage in the next act of the drama. 



