242 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



I put the question by itself, and having put it, there I leave it. I 

 do not even say that I shall answer it ; but as I have sometimes 

 thought about it, what I have thought, and so far as I know v^hat 

 others have thought about it, I will just put down, as much, perhaps, 

 for the benefit of the reader as my own. 



Let us go back at once to the time when the dry land first appeared. 

 "Was it the " salt sea" then as now ? Or were its waters fresher, 

 Salter, or of other kind ? Were the waves as rough as in our own 

 stormy seasons, the mnds as variable or as strong before the first 

 snow-flakes fell as they have been since ? Did those winds in 

 sportive play catch up into the dry air the dust-gTains pounded by 

 battering breakers from the adamantine rocks, and strewn along the 

 shores? Was the waste of land by sea and air as rapid then, or 

 faster, slower than its present perishing and degradation ? Were 

 the mechanical actions, now most active, as active then, or were 

 chemical changes quicker then or more assistant to the attritive 

 powers ? 



Is this to get into dreamland ? Are we rivalling the baseless 

 visions and imaginings of the old physicists in such inquiries ^ Or 

 are they real sensible queries which it is the business of science to 

 answer ? 



Harder questions have been put for scientific solution, and have 

 been answered ; simpler, and not answered yet. 



'No man must study geology without a bold heart and patient 

 endurance ; he must be a good soldier in the cause of science, or he 

 is unfit for a geologist. With old and deep-rooted prejudices to com- 

 bat; with doubts, and contradictions, and ancient fallacies to do 

 battle against ; himself often on weak and slippery grounds, he must 

 be beforehand prepared for many reverses, many changes of positions, 

 many retreats and abandonments of theories and deductions, content 

 alone in looking forward to the elimination of truth in the end, and 

 regarding every defeat as a victory, if it lead him to higher grounds 

 of advantage and secm-er positions of future progTcss. Many modi- 

 fications of former theoretical conclusions have already taken place, 

 and more m ust follow. 



The natural method of investigating ancient physical phenomena, 

 and of considering theii' results and effects by a strict comparison 



