Quotations from Lamarck and Herder, on the meaning and use of the term Nature.-Professor Agassiz on the Series of Animal Creatures through Lord Bacon's Prayer for the right use of Science, and its practical con- ERRATA. P. 41, line 1, for SUBSTANCES, read SURFACES. ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SOME PARTS OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. LECTURE I. PSALM CXI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. GEOLOGY does so seek out the works of the Most High. It has claims upon the regard of all cultivated and pious minds. It leads us to study that which God has made our earthly abode, in its present state, filled with monuments of past conditions, and presages, I venture to think, of the future. It leads us into some acquaintance with a magnificent part of the counsel of Jehovah's will, according to which HE worketh all things; the machine of dependent beings and subordinate causes, by which the Supreme Cause accomplishes his purposes of wisdom and righteousness. We see those causes to be the same in their nature, and similar in their mode of operation now, as in countless ages past; though differing through a wide range in the intensity of their action and the form of their results. Rain, rills, and rivers, aided by the electric and chemical and mechanical agency of the atmosphere, are continually wearing away the solid earth, transporting it into the estuaries of the sea, and committing it to the currents which spread it out upon the ocean-bed. There the spoils of the land are added to the defunct shells and skeletons of marine life, the astonishing B amount of the works of men, and the millions of human skeletons which, through more than fifty centuries, have been swallowed up in the watery deep. At the time which inviolable justice has fixed, "the sea shall give up her dead." Can it be thought improbable that the operations which are now in progress, in the dark abyss, and at its greatest depths, are subservient to the righteous proceedings of that day, the finishing of the mystery of God as to this one portion of his ways;—the termination of man's existence as an animal-species upon earth, but his resurrection to an immortal life, a new sphere of being, the possession of a more exquisite organization, which, in a manner inconceivable to our present faculties, will be incomparably more effective for the highest purposes of mind than that which we now possess ?-We trace the monuments of change to early and still earlier conditions, carrying us back to the grand simplicity of elementary creation; and we are permitted to contemplate the all-surrounding proofs that our globe only waits the will of the Almighty Being, to develop its mechanical, electrical, and chemical forces; and, if that will have so ordained, "the heavens," the atmospheric constitution, "shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Pet. iii. 10.) The design of geological studies is to acquire a satisfactory knowledge of the substances (airs, water, earth, stones, and metals,) which, in different combinations and arrangements, form the accessible parts of the planet assigned by the Almighty Creator for our present dwelling-place; and of the changes through which they have passed and are passing; with a view to the enlargement of human knowledge, the promotion of our present happiness, and the celebration of His perfections of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things." It is obvious that this is an attractive field of investigation, promising not only to be productive of intellectual pleasure, but to bring many and great benefits to the arts of usefulness and comfort in life, and to furnish interesting discoveries of the power, wisdom, and goodness of HIM who exists independently and by necessity of nature, possessed of all perfections, the designing cause and active sustainer of all other beings, and to whom it is equally our duty and our happiness to render the highest veneration and love and homage. It is not less obvious, that this study cannot be undertaken, with any reasonable hope of success, without the aid of some other branches of natural science. Indeed, to so high a point have the pursuits of Natural History and Natural Philosophy been raised in our day, that it is no longer possible for one department to be cultivated, with the hope of success and so as to avoid the danger of falling into egregious mistakes, without some acquaintance with the others. This fact has been both proved and elucidated, with equal force of reasoning and elegance of manner, by a lady of extraordinary attainments, in her work entitled The Connexion of the Physical Sciences. The substances which compose the external part of our earth, and which present themselves sometimes in a simple state, but generally in various forms of composition, must be ascertained by their external appearance; and such knowledge is the science of the Mineralogist. But their inward nature, and the states of union in which we find them, must also be known; together with the principles or laws, as they are usually called, which regulate those states of union, preventing or separating some, favouring and effectuating others: and this cannot be without chemical knowledge. In the production of geological formations and their subsequent changes of position, the common law of gravitation and other regular modes of attraction and repulsion, [including the wonderful agencies of Universal Electro-Magnetism,] have performed and are always performing an important part: the investigation of those modes of action cannot be attempted, with the least hope of success, but by the application of mathematical Dynamics. The larger number of the earthy and stony masses which we have to study contain, in immense multitudes, the skeletons, the coverings, whether adherent integuments or such as supply the place of habitations, and various other remains of animals; and the substance, or mineral matter moulded upon the substance, of vegetable species, trunk, stems, leaves, and fruits: it is therefore indispensable to the right understanding of geological facts, that a competent knowledge should be obtained of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, and of Botany according to a Natural System. It must further be remarked, that the best books and the richest cabinets are not sufficient to convey complete ideas; but to closet-study must be added personal inspection of the face of a country, of sea-cliffs and beaches, of mountain-sides, rocky precipices, land-slips, and ravines; besides every kind of artificial excavation; and this labour, in travelling and exploring, must be carried to an extent greater than can be expected from most individuals, though there are eminent men who have personally achieved wonders in this respect. There are Geologists, who have devoted severe and self-denying toil, exposure to great perils, and vast expense, through the best years of life, to this object; and with a noble disinterestedness, they communicate the results of their untiring exertions. Those results are, by themselves and other qualified persons, brought together, scrutinized, compared, connected; and then, by publication, exposed to the renewed criticism of the scientific world: so that, in the issue, ample knowledge has been obtained, and that knowledge resting upon rigorously examined evidence, of the geological conditions of Europe generally; of large districts in North and South America, India and Central and Western Asia; and of some portions of Africa, Australia, and the Isles of the Pacific Ocean. It may not unreasonably be alleged, that few persons are qualified to this extent. To this objection we reply: 1. Though they may be few, compared with the general population of any country, yet, if we take the aggregate of persons possessed of the qualifications required, in an eminent degree, we shall find them to rise to a very high amount, in Europe and the European settlements throughout the earth. Here might be mentioned a long line of illustrious names, both British and foreign, whom it would be a delight to honour; but I deny myself the pleasure of so doing, because though the 黃 "It is now admitted on all hands, that no man can be qualified to enter any of the highest walks of science, who is acquainted with only one branch of natural knowledge; and the mutual dependence of them all is now so positively demonstrated, that the philosopher of our days can no longer be allowed to remain satisfied with those inquiries which belong exclusively to any single branch, but must extend his investigations over the whole range of sciences, and illuminate his path by the varied combinations of them all." Prof. Buckland's Vindicia Geologica; his Inaugural Lecture, 1819; p. 10. |