Objections to the Nebulo-Geological Hypothesis. 147 



so far as can be judged from various expressions, more or 

 less definite, scattered throughout almost all the addresses, 

 on which there is harmony, and that point is — that not- 

 withstanding Laplace's old and futile attempts to displace 



1 the Creator from His own creation, we all firmly hold that 

 the stellar universe, as well in all its details as in whole, is 

 the handiwork of Supreme intelligence, wisdom, power, and 

 benevolence/' By an ingenious process of illustration and 



| argument, the author proceeds to show that these attributes 

 of Deity are inconsistent with the science of modern geo- 

 logy, and that the sooner the hypothesis of lengthened 

 periods of geological time is given up in toto, the more will 

 it be for our credit, both as men of science and otherwise. 

 " But if," says the author, " there be any after all deter- 

 mined to abide by it, they should in common consistency 

 still maintain the entirety of the hypothesis from the elec- 

 trical convulsions of the nebular portion under the auspices 

 of Dr M'Bain to the molten and crusty mass, and, amputat- 

 ing and casting away the present crude and cruel mode of 

 supplying living creatures, engraft, in its stead, the far less 

 repulsive mode of effecting the same end suggested by 

 Lamarck, and just now pressed upon them by Huxley, 

 Darwin, and Lyell. Then they would have, though still a 

 mere ideal, a complete self-acting piece of mechanism ex- 

 tending from the scattered initial star-dust up through the 

 sun-shaping and planet-spurting whirlpool to the molten 

 globular mass, and from it again through the constantly 

 heaving and frequently bursting crusty shell to its indigen- 

 ous monad, and from the monad, through the monkey to 

 the man, — nay, to man in his 1 future state' of highest de- 

 velopment ; and then would the released Creator receive at 

 least partial and negative justice by thus dispensing entirely 

 with his interference." 



Dr M'Bain said — In reference to the communication now 

 read to the meeting by Mr A. Bryson, professing to be 

 " Objections to the Nebulo-Geological Hypothesis," as indi- 

 cated in his address at the opening of the session, he had 

 only to remark that the allusion made to the nebular 



VOL. III. U 



