264 
SKETCHES OF CREATION. 
PICTURESQUE SKETCHES OF CREATION.* 
The difficulties which present themselves to 
the mind when we speculate on the creation of 
this vast universe, or inquire into the proba- 
ble or possible origin of the globe we inhabit, 
have given rise to numerous theories as wild 
and incomprehensive as can be imagined; and 
when we have learned all we can learn, we 
are lost in the contemplation of our own 
insignificance, and of the vast magnitude of the 
subject we would grasp, and its distance 
beyond the reach of our finite understanding. 
Geologists have endeavoured to supply a 
theory that will reconcile their facts with the 
origin of the globe. As we learn much of the 
history of the ancients by the monuments they 
have left behind them, so the geologist en- 
deavours to compass the history of the creation 
by the antediluvian remains which annually, 
nay, daily come under their notice ; but even 
the most intelligent of them are yet at an 
immeasurable distance from the truth, though, 
to uphold the science of historical geology, (if 
we may be allowed to use the expression.) a 
theory or foundation of some kind is necessary, 
and it is accordingly supplied. The author of 
the present volume has collected many valu- 
able facts, and he has endeavoured to make 
them subservient to the view which he takes 
of the earth's origin and gradual develop- 
ment. The Mosaic description of the crea- 
tion so warps the mind of many who do not 
make allowance for anything figurative or im- 
perfect in the original record or its transla- 
tions, that they recoil with horror from an 
inquiry which seems to involve a doubt as to 
the genuineness of the Bible ; — we say seems 
to involve a doubt, because in truth it does 
not raise a dispute as to the important facts 
stated in the book of Moses. "In the begin- 
ning" God created the earth, we are told, 
and this, be it remarked, is without a date ; 
the beginning might have been millions of 
years before the work of creation that con- 
cerned man. Then we are told that the earth 
was without form, and void. The geologist 
makes much use of the period in question, — 
before life or animation existed on the face of 
the earth, — before there was an animal or a 
vegetable ; and the boldest of the writers on 
the subject — (and some of them go extreme 
lengths to reconcile matters with their own 
reasoning faculties) — the boldest question not 
the fact of the creation, because it is no less 
the work of the great Creator, be the means 
employed what they may. Our author, in this 
case, speculates on the earth having been 
* The Ancient World; or, Picturesque Sketches of 
Creation. By D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.E.S., F.G.S.; 
Professor of Geology in King's College, London, &c. 
London : John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. 
once a ball of matter on fire and in a state of 
fusion. He says : — 
" Judging from the general appearance of 
the solar system, and combining the result of 
astronomical observations on distant bodies in 
the universe with the appearance presented by 
various rocks on the earth's surface, it seems 
not unlikely that, at a very early period of its 
history, our globe existed as an intensely 
heated body in a fluid state, (the fluidity being 
the result of igneous fusion,) and that it 
gradually cooled at the surface, perhaps by 
exposure in space, contracting in dimensions 
as it cooled and hardened. In this manner, 
it may be, a succession of thin solid crusts 
were formed, each in succession shrinking and 
cracking, until at length, when a certain 
balance was arrived at between the thickness 
of the crust, the rate of cooling, and the 
amount of internal heat, there would be left 
a rough uneven surface, having many eleva- 
tions and depressions, its temperature being 
sufficiently reduced to allow of the existence 
of seme such atmosphere as now surrounds it, 
and also permit the permanent presence of 
water in a fluid state reposing in the hollows, 
and forming seas, lakes, and oceans. During 
the whole of this time, and until the existence 
of water in the liquid state, and the establish- 
ment of a sea, and perhaps long afterwards, 
it is likely that there were no living beings on 
the earth ; because, so far as we know, nei- 
ther animal nor vegetable can exist, and per- 
form its functions, at the temperature of water 
actually boiling, — although, at a temperature 
not much short of that, some small animal- 
cules, and even some animals of higher organ- 
ization, would seem capable of enjoying life. 
Thus, therefore, according to this view,— and 
the reader will understand that it is merely 
offered as the most probable explanation of 
certain appearances observed, — the first period 
of the existence of the earth as a planet was 
marked by a chaotic state of igneous fusion, 
and characterised by frequent disturbances of 
the surface consequent upon cooling from such 
a state. Let us consider for a moment what 
kind of rocks are exhibited to us when we 
examine these earliest records of our globe, 
and let us see also how far we are able to ex- 
amine them. 
" In the first place, we often find, as the 
basis of all other rocks in mountain chains, 
and throughout some extensive tracts of 
country, a well-known rock called granite ; 
a rock whose structure is crystalline, and 
which bears strong marks of having cooled 
slowly from a state of intense heat. This 
rock is found in all parts of the world, and 
sometimes in widely extended masses." 
There are more extraordinary theories than 
this ; but to satisfy the minds of our sceptical 
