Never Was There A Dogma More Calculated

That Ere Long, Now That Curiosity Has Been So Much Excited On This Subject, Some Human Remains Will Be Detected In The Older Alluvium Of European Valleys, I Confidently Expect.

Geology Is The Science Which Investigates The Successive Changes That Have Taken Place In The Organic And Inorganic Kingdoms Of Nature; It Enquires Into The Causes Of These Changes, And The Influence Which They Have Exerted In Modifying The Surface And External Structure Of Our Planet.

It Has Long Been A Fact Familiar To Geologists, That, Both On The East And West Coasts Of The Central Part Of Scotland, There Are Lines Of Raised Beaches, Containing Marine Shells Of The Same Species As Those Now Inhabiting The Neighbouring Sea.

The Question Now At Issue, Whether The Living Species Are Connected With The Extinct By A Common Bond Of Descent, Will Best Be Cleared Up By Devoting Ourselves To The Study Of The Actual State Of The Living World, And To Those Monuments Of The Past In Which The Relics Of The Animate Creation Of Former Ages Are Best Preserved And Least Mutilated By The Hand Of Time.

It Must Have Appeared Almost As Improbable To The Earlier Geologists, That The Laws Of Earthquakes Should One Day Throw Light On The Origin Of Mountains, As It Must To The First Astronomers, That The Fall Of An Apple Should Assist In Explaining The Motions Of The Moon.