stratum next to it, and carrying with it some of its animal and vegetable 
remains. That was another theory. Then we came to a new theory ; that 
stratum A contains so many per cent, of the remains of stratum B ; and 
stratum C contains so many per cent, of stratum B ; while stratum B 
contains so many per cent, of strata A and 0 ; and that there was that uniform 
jump always to be found. I have heard an eminent geologist in this Society 
break down all these theories, and still say “ But we can fight for three 
distinct creations, for three distinct leaps or chasms between some of these 
strata.” But I ask whether the present state of geological science will do 
anything of the kind, and I maintain that it will not. The whole of the old 
geology depended on this particular hypothesis. It was carried into theo- 
logical matters because certain geologists thought that they had got a very 
convenient opportunity tor the interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis ; 
and because, I believe, they were good Christians and what Mr. Bradlaugh 
would call orthodox men ; but they were weak in their faith, and could not 
wait for the slow development of their facts. They thought that out of the 
facts which they then professed, they could interpret the first chapter of 
Genesis. It was all very well so long as they found the marine fauna low 
down, and the terrestrial fauna much higher up ; but when the terrestrial 
fauna was found low down in company with some of the most ancient marine 
fauna, then their favourite theory of a succession of creations fell to the 
ground, to be followed by a new theory, interpreting the days in Genesis as 
meaning unlimited periods, of time. Well, that theory took the popular 
fancy , and was for a long time a very universally received one. But we 
come now to the slow development of these facts. The first great onslaught 
upon these geological theories dates from the dredgings of Professor Forbes. 
Now the dredgings of Professor Forbes were one thing, his theories were 
another, and his theories have already Men into- oblivion on account of 
other facts which have come up since. He first pointed out that grand 
phenomenon in nature that the marine fauna were dependent, in a great 
measure, on the temperature of the ocean in which they were deposited, and 
that the Gulf Stream touched upon a certain portion of our coast with its 
warm water impinging upon our shore ; while the Arctic stream touched 
upon another portion of our coast, so that you had within a mile of one 
anot lei ay, even more closely together than that — animals belonging to 
the coast of Spain, with their exuvne lying deposited in the sand : and 
animals belonging to the shores of Sweden, and even of a more thoroughly 
Arctic character, being deposited. When he carried on his researches 
urther, he found that on a portion of the coast you have an African fauna, 
oww a lave }ou here ? He pointed out to men’s minds the fact which 
had never struck them before-and a most important fact it is-that if we 
a y catacl ysm or some extraordinary phenomenon quite within the 
rr ^i Off rence ' if we had ^e coast of Devonshire raised above the 
a • l . C °r i i iy ’ accorc h n g to geological theories you would say that the 
v i ' ' aU . 1U c r sed 0ne a S e > and that the Spanish or the African fauna 
ngec t0 an °ther age. Now that was a great fact made out by Professor 
