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 what 
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 winds 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-grains 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 
powei's ? 
Is this to get into di-eamland ? 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 
endm'ancc ; 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 securer positions of future progress. Many modi- 
fications of former theoretical conclusions have already taken place, 
and more must follow. 
The natural method of investigating ancient physical phenomena,, 
and of considering their results and effects by a strict comparison 
