247 
“ uniformitarianism.” If it means the same thing over and over again, 
uniformitarianism would be impossible, for there must be some progression! 
I have thought the theory was founded upon a notion of the special inter- 
ference of the Deity at different times after the world had come to a dead- 
lock, so as to have something fresh and to give the world another start. All 
geologists are aware that the theory of successive creations is now an exploded 
one. It is not to be found in the Old Testament ; and, without going into 
the day-theory as to whether the days of creation were days of twenty-four 
hours each or cycles of the sun, or any other periods of time, there is nothing 
in the Scriptures to prove that there was any particular pause in creation 
and nothing like the marshalling of the different works created on one day 
before another day commenced. With reference to the catalogue given by 
Mr. Pattison in the 37th section of his paper, I am reminded of what 
Mr. Hopkins stated in his papers on geological formations, the first of which 
was read at this Institute in December, 1866, and the other in February, 
1867. On adding up the thicknesses of the various strata from the Eozoic 
and Lower Silurian up to the Tertiary stratum, we get no less than 110,253 
feet of strata. Mr. Pattison himself calls it eighteen miles of thickness there 
are, of course, qualifying circumstances at one portion or another of the 
earth’s surface. But what leads us to suppose that the strata are piled up 
one above another in this way ? We cannot possibly know what is in the 
earth at a depth of eighteen or twenty miles. As was stated in one of our 
former papers, we have not yet gone down a fortieth part of this distance. 
e have not penetrated the earth for more than half a mile, and, under 
these circumstances, for people to tell us what the earth’s crust is at a depth 
of twenty miles, seems to me really anything but a scientific mode of dealino’ 
with the question. (Hear, hear.) In Mr. Hopkins’s first paper he referred to 
ns inode of drawing what he called “ideal geological sections,” and he says 
As far as the sedimentary beds of England are concerned, these sections 
provided the? are ^ of repre f n , tin g the S eneral order and character of the beds, 
area ’> ™ y ot macle to a PP ear to cover each other over the whole 
It is not even tme m England. Look at that geological map of England 
on the wall of this room, and observe the dark places marked for coal. You 
have not got coal all over England, but only in a few districts ; and other 
strata crop up m other places. The conclusion that these thousands of feet 
of various strata lie m a particular order and thickness, arises simply from the 
Inot/r bf bCen f ° lmd tiHed in a certai » Section, and it is 
smwr h f g r d0Wn f0r a very long distance - But a11 that is mere 
P ? bl 10 “’ .° r ^ e have 110 such complete knowledge of the surface of the 
21 Jr* by Ml * H ° pkinS t0 which 1 ha ™ referred, that 
leallnTth! 8 “ 1 S ° Uth America > in Australia, and also in New 
bed bedSWlliGhwe have here-more recent 
becE of coal on the top of what are called the primary rocks. But the most 
