or animals. All rocks not included in the foregoing catalogue (except those called alluvial) are termed secondary, because they are found to contain more or less of organic remains : but it has been observed that the four rocks found in immediate succession to the preceding fourteen do not contain organic remains of the same characters as the rest. For although they contain some shells common to those in immediate succession to them, they alone are found to contain zoophytes, a species of animal which is considered as forming the first link in the chain of animated beings, none of which are found in any of the succeeding rocks. Werner has called these four, transition rocks, as connecting the primitive with the newer or flatz (flat) rocks, containing abundant fossil remains, but by others they are included in secondary formations."-Phillips's Geology.

We have, in a former part of this treatise, considered the question of zoophytes being, as Mr. Phillips here states, the first link in the chain of animated beings. It may now be sufficient in this place to point out, that as it is one part of the nature of zoophytes to inhabit the depths of the ocean, and there to become fixed, as plants are by the roots, without having it in their power, like the other inhabitants of the deep, to clear themselves from the sediments that are constantly being deposited, their remains are found in a fossil state, as we should naturally have anticipated, amongst the very earliest of these secondary strata, and before the remains of the testaceous animals could have accumulated in any great numbers. ·

The question then occurs, what were the primitive creations? and were they confined to the small number of rocks now considered as such by geologists? We feel quite satisfied that all the calcareous and secondary formations now known as such, did not exist in their present form in the beginning; because they contain the fossil remains of animals or vegetables which are often preserved in their most delicate parts, and which, consequently, must have been embedded at a period when these hard rocks were in the state of soft mud. But as the materials for the formation of these soft beds, must have originally been furnished from some primitive creation; and as a minute examination of them does not generally exhibit a crystalline appearance such as is supposed to characterize primitive rocks, it becomes a highly important consideration whether our present ideas of primitive creations

are sufficiently extended. For example, what conclusion do we come to from a minute examination of the composition of chalk, which forms so extensive a portion of secondary formations? Its particles are of the finest earthy nature, and no appearance can be detected of any of the constituent parts of what are considered primitive rocks. In the finer sorts of clay we find the same smooth earthy character; and all limestone formations may perhaps be included in this remark. Some geologists have supposed that all limestone is as much an animal formation as coral.* This idea is probably unfounded; for if we can trace the formation of this extensive class of secondary rocks to the bed of the antediluvian ocean, we shall find reason to conclude that all these earthy formations, containing sea shells, must have been gradually formed by the accumulation of the finer particles of primitive decompo

sition.

Are we to suppose, then, at the end of the six days of the creation, when the new earth had been brought forth, adorned with " grass, and the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind," that all this vegetable world was nourished upon the solid primitive rocks, which in the present day are found to be utterly unfitted for vegetation? Are we to conclude that the same Almighty Power, which could create solid granite, together with all the varieties of the vegetable world, could not also provide the proper soils in which

*It is not a little remarkable, that in all the secondary rocks of Europe, although we have many, consisting of almost one mass of shells, we find none which we could suppose were formed by insects, in the same manner as the coral reefs are in the present seas of southern latitudes. The extent of the coral formation is truly remarkable. The great coral reef, on the east coast of New Holland, extends unbroken for 350 miles, forming, with others, more or less connected with it, a reef upwards of 1000 miles in length, and varying from 20 to 50 in breadth. As these reefs are known to be always founded in very deep water, they would form, if laid dry, a calcareous formation, before which many of our considerable mountain ridges would shrink in the comparison. We cannot, perhaps, find a more convincing argument in favour of the unchanged position of the axis and the poles of the earth since the creation, than in the total absence of coral reefs in the secondary formations of northern and temperate latitudes. Had the present poles of the earth been in the situation of the present equatorial regions, before the deluge, which is one of the prevailing arguments and sources of error and confusion in modern geology, we should certainly have found, in our secondary quarries, the petrified remains of former coral reefs.

vegetables were to be nourished? No.-The idea would be worthy of that philosophy which imagines all things to have been at first in an imperfect state, and that their present order and beauty have gradually arisen by the mere laws of nature. It is more consistent with reason, as well as with the historical Record, to conclude, that as vegetables of every description were created perfect, there must have been a soil also created at the first, and suited to the nourishment of this new vegetable creation.

The consideration of the component parts of the loose alluvial soils, and of their origin, has, in general, been set aside, or overlooked by geologists; and our present soils are so mixed up with decomposed animal and vegetable matter, that we cannot, from them, form a distinct idea of what they originally must have been. But if we deny that a pure soil must have existed from the very first, we adopt the doctrine of secondary causes. We must, in that case, suppose that vegetation began, and gradually proceeded in much the same manner as is observed on the lava thrown out by volcanoes; which, for many years after it has cooled, remains solid and totally barren, and which first admits of only the most minute species of mosses; but by the gradual decomposition and renewal of these, and by the atmospheric action upon the lava itself, a soil is gradually formed, which proves in the end extremely fertile.

We have before found reason, however, to come to a different conclusion. We have found, with Newton, "that it became Him who created all things, to set them in order; and if He did so, it is unphilosophical to seek for any other origin of things, or to pretend that they might have arisen, by the mere laws of nature."

We, therefore, conclude, that there must have been a primitive soil for the support of a primitive vegetation; that that soil must have been loose and friable, as at present, and subject, like the present soils, to continual movements by currents; and that it would, consequently, afford the materials for many of the secondary rocks, which geologists cannot otherwise account for.

I do not here propose entering into the mazes of hypothesis, by attempting to define what were the actual primitive creations in the mineral world; but as secondary formations must always have been in progress, (as they, even now, are going on) occasioned by the combined action of the atmosphere and

the currents, their materials, however earthy, must have originally been primitive; and if a primitive vegetable creation required support from a primitive soil, we shall find, in the varieties to be naturally expected in such soils, a source for the variety we observe in the colour and grain of secondary rocks.

It may be demanded, what cause can be assigned for the variety in the colours of the different secondary formations? As well might a cause be sought for the varied colours of the primitive rocks, or the varied tints of the animal or vegetable world. When the colours of the tiger, the zebra, or the butterfly, are accounted for, we may hope for information as to the cause of chalk or Carrara marble being white, and other calcareous formations being of such variety of shades, down to the blackest marble. There can be no other reason given for such endless variety, but the will of a Beneficent Creator, who has thought fit thus to adorn his incomprehensible creation with innumerable objects, well fitted to convince the most sceptical mortal who will be at the pains to study them, that neither accident, nor the laws of chemistry alone, could have produced such admirable variety.

In

It has already been observed, that the currents in the waters of the earth are the great agents by which almost all secondary formations have been, and still are, carried on. order to render this more plain to the intelligence, it will be necessary, in this place, to enter somewhat at large into the subject, and to trace the operations of nature now going on under our eyes.

It is certain, then, that there is a continual circulation kept up in the waters of the earth. The heat of the sun causes an immense evaporation from both sea and land. The vapours thus raised, become either visible or invisible, according to the degree of heat in the atmosphere; and thus, when cooled either by their contact with mountains, or by currents of cold air from the poles, they become condensed into drops, and fall upon the earth by their own weight, in the form of rain or snow. But although the supplies of rivers are very materially influenced by the moisture derived from the atmosphere, in the form ofrain or snow, we must be convinced that a more steady and constant supply must be obtained from some other source; otherwise many rivers would become completely dried up during the summer months, when they are most wanted for the support of both animal and vegetable life.

This steady supply may be traced, in all hilly or mountainous countries, from whence streams generally flow, to the never failing springs invariably found, more or less, in such situa ations, and which have given rise to much discussion amongst philosophers, to account for such pure and copious streams, which are but little affected by the changes of wet or dry seasons of the year. It is to the action of the atmosphere alone that we must look for a solution of this problem. The day is gone by, when it was supposed that there was some internal communication between the sea, and the springs in the mountains, by means of which those pure and cooling fountains were kept in continual action. The whole process is now familiarly exhibited to our view in our every diningrooms, by observing the effects of heated air on the surface of the cold caraffes upon our tables. It has been before explained, that a great quantity of moisture is absorbed by the atmosphere, from the surface of the waters of the earth, occasioned by the heat of the sun; this moisture is generally evaporated in an invisible form; but it nevertheless pervades, in a greater or less degree, every part of the atmosphere, and becomes visible in the form of clouds, when cooled by cold currents of air, or by contact with mountains, the surface of which is colder than the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. But even in the finest and clearest weather, these watery vapours hover around us, in an invisible shape, and become condensed in the form of dew on the surface of rocks, or of plants, during the absence of the sun, and thus afford nourishment to vegetation even during the hottest weather.

But in the hilly and mountainous districts, these vapours are constantly, more or less, condensed upon the surface of the rocks or of the ground; and trickling down the sides and fissures, guided by the direction of the strata, they occasionally meet with obstructions through which they cannot pass, and are thus forced upwards to the surface, and break forth in the form of springs, which never cease to flow, because the source from which they are supplied can never cease to act.*

*It is to this particular action of the atmosphere, when coming in contact with a lower temperature than its own, that we can often trace the cause of that dampness in our houses, which nothing can ever entirely obviate. Granite, whinstone, and some other rocks, are highly objectionable, as building materials, on account of their great coldness; and in houses built of such materials, one may always observe, in winter, on a change from frost to thaw, a dewy appearance