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THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. I. 



drawn from analogy, but by incontrovertible physical evi- 

 dence, that there were former conditions of our planet, 

 separated from each other by vast intervals of time, during 

 which this world was teeming with life, ere the creation of 

 man and the animals which are his cotemporaries. 



4. Duration of geological epochs. — At the first 

 step we take in geological investigations, we are struck 

 with the immense periods of time which the phenomena 

 presented to our view must have required for their pro- 

 duction, and the incessant changes which appear to have 

 been going on in the natural world. But we must re- 

 member that time and change are great only with reference 

 to the faculties of the beings which note them ; the insect 

 of a day, contrasting its ephemeral life with that of the 

 flowers on which it rests, would attribute an unchanging 

 permanence to the most evanescent of vegetable forms ; 

 while the flowers, the trees, and the forests, would ascribe 

 an endless duration to the soil on which they grow: and 

 thus, uninstructed man, comparing his transient earthly 

 existence with the solid framework of the world he inhabits, 

 deems the hills and mountains around him coeval with the 

 globe itself. But with the enlargement and cultivation of 

 his reasoning powers, man takes a more just, comprehen- 

 sive, and enlightened view of the wonderful scheme of 

 creation ; and while in his ignorance he imagined that the 

 age and duration of this planet were to be measured by 

 his own brief span, and arrogantly deemed himself alone 

 the object of the Almighty's care, and that all things were 

 created solely for his pleasures and necessities, he now 

 becomes conscious of his own insignificance and depend- 

 ence, and entertains more correct ideas of the omnipotence 

 and goodness of his Creator. And while exercising his 

 high privilege of being the only creature endowed with the 

 capacity of contemplating and understanding the wonders 

 of the natural world, he learns that most important of all 



