The Present Is The Key To The

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.

In The Shallow Parts Of Many Swiss Lakes, Where There Is A Depth Of No More Than From 5 To 15 Feet Of Water, Ancient Wooden Piles Are Observed At The Bottom Sometimes Worn Down To The Surface Of The Mud, Sometimes Projecting Slightly Above It.

'time's Noblest Offspring Is The Last.' This Line Of Bishop Berkeley's Expresses The Real Cause Of The Belief In Progress In The Animal Creation.

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.

Never Was There A Dogma More Calculated To Foster Indolence, And To Blunt The Keen Edge Of Curiosity, Than The Assumption Of The Discordance Between The Former And The Existing Causes Of Change.