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THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. II. 



tion, in every varying character, was apparent. And 

 on the other hand we perceived that amidst all these 

 processes of decay and desolation, perpetual renovation 

 was going on ; and that Nature was repairing her ruins, 

 and accumulating fresh materials for new islands and con- 

 tinents, and that innumerable living instruments were 

 employed to consolidate, and build up the rocky fabric of 

 the earth ; and that even the most terrific of physical phe- 

 nomena, the earthquake and the volcano, were but salutary 

 provisions of the Supreme Cause, by which the harmony 

 and integrity of our planet were maintained and per- 

 petuated. 



The occurrence of human skeletons in modern limestone 

 — of coins and works of art in recent breccia — and the 

 preservation of the bones of existing species of animals, 

 and of the leaves and branches of vegetables, in the various 

 deposits that are in progress of formation, incontestably 

 prove that enduring memorials of the present state of 

 animated nature will be transmitted to future ages. When 

 the beds of the existing seas shall be elevated above the 

 waters, and covered with woods and forests — when the 

 deltas of our rivers shall be converted into fertile tracts, 

 and become the sites of towns and cities — w r e cannot doubt 

 that in the materials extracted for their edifices, the then 

 existing races of mankind will discover indelible records of 

 the physical history of our times, long after all traces of 

 those stupendous works, upon which we vainly attempt to 

 confer immortality, shall have disappeared. 



But we must now proceed, and pass from the ephemeral 

 productions of man, to the enduring monuments of nature — 

 from the coins of brass and silver, to the imperishable 

 medals on which the past events of the globe are inscribed 

 — from the mouldering ruins of temples and palaces, to the 

 examination of the mighty relics, which the ancient revo- 

 lutions of the earth have entombed. 



