ANIJIAL AND VEGETABLE UEMAINS. 
103 
in another. Of the wliole crust of tlie earth, it would appear in 
the present state of our own Uuowledne, that no |)oi-llou lias ex¬ 
perienced so many vicissitudes, liecn tlie theatre of so may revo¬ 
lutions, and presents as their eifect so lomj; a series of formations, 
as tliat which in Kn<;laml, France, and Oermanv, lias been the 
most accurately examined. Still, the followiii”; conclusions, 
drawn from the appearances presented by the strata of Kne;laud 
respectiiio; the condition ol that island whilst the changes of hich 
its present form and aspect were the result, were proceeding, hold 
good to some extent for the whole surface of the earth. 
1. It is jirohahle that after the consolidation of the primitive 
rocks, the water bore a much larger relati\e proportion than it 
now tloes to the land. 'I'lie remains that are found in the transi¬ 
tion strata belong without any exception to such animals as in¬ 
habit the sea. 
2 . At the end of this period another succeeded, during which 
its surface was occupied by extensive marshes, the waters having 
retired from those situations whiidi Inul before remained 
constantly covered. In this state of things it was that'the 
coal beds were depositetl. d'he proof of such a condition 
of the earth is found in the nature of the vegetable remains 
which are imbedded in the coal strata, 'riic}’ appear to have 
helongeil to jilants resembliug the arborescent ferns and reeds 
of trojhcal climates, and to have been fitted therefore to flourish 
on marshy ground and in a meagre soil. A person who has seen 
the Palmetto, or Cabbage-tree, growingalong the southern shores 
of North Carolina, will have a tolerably correct ideaof what their 
appearance may have been. It \vas at Ibis remote era therefore, 
that the magazine was prejian'd, and the whole stock of materials 
laid in, which now kcc|is tlie manufactures of England inactivit}*. 
3. After the formation of the coal strata, the waters again over- 
tlowed that country; and at no great distance of time, a jicriod suc¬ 
ceeded, during which it seems to have been almost throughout, 
a waste desert, without a planter an animal existino; ftpon its sur¬ 
face. Now' it was that the new red sandstone, \\ ilh its beds of 
fossil salt and gypsum, was deposited. 
4. Sbcll fish were afterwards formed in greater numbers, and 
some ovijiarous, amphibious quadrupeds, such as tortoises, lizards, 
and crocodiles, were created, and as the earth was now fitted tobe 
the habitation of such creatures, it must have been as now, terra¬ 
queous ; but as some have stqiposcd, with the land barely rising 
above the level of the sea. 
5. Subsequently, the mountains were thrown up and the ex¬ 
isting continents emerged from the deep : and the dry land ha\'- 
ing become extensive with respect to the sea, '^■as peopled with 
birds and quadrupeds fitted to inhabit it. 
6. J^ast of all, as we are informed by Moses, and as the ob¬ 
servations of geologists wairant us in believing, MAN, the no¬ 
blest of God’s works, was created ; to adore, love, and serve his 
