close of the present dispensation by St. Peter, to which reference has been already made, the following statement by Job indicates the condition of the earth's centre. Whether or not he perceived its force, it certainly harmonizes with the most recent findings of science: "As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it is turned up as it were FIRE." Job 28:5. Further, the agencies affecting the whole surface of the earth and giving character to its scenery, while explaining its history, are vividly set forth by Job, when he says, "And surely the mountain falling cometh to naught, (or fadeth,) and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones; thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth." Job 14:18, 19. The very processes which modern geologists are engaged in keenly discussing, as accounting for the variety of our Scottish scenery, are specified in the language of the patriarch. Comprehensively, these delineations in Scripture may possibly represent universal geologic movements.

8. But still further, while the changes proceeding on the land-surface, in relation to its mountains, valleys, and rivers, are incidentally noticed in such general terms as any geologist might employ, the character of the great ocean itself is found to be in strict conformity to the command of God, that "the water bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life." But this was not done until a separation had been made between the sea and land, as on the third day, and that river-system had been established which is related to the saltness of the sea, the maintenance of much of its life, and the processes of

evaporation necessary both for sea and land. The theories as to the origin of the sea's saltness we need not here discuss; it is enough that the constitution which the Creator has given to the ocean fits it for abundant life. Historically, the record in Genesis is true. The wisdom and goodness of the Great Ruler are visible in every process, and the prolific ocean now quivers with life. The ABUNDANCE of the living is one of the greatest "wonders of the deep," which the microscope has revealed in its own almost boundless domain.

9. There are various other passages whose meaning has of late become more distinct in the light of science; as, for example, Leviticus 17:11, which recent physiological inquiries have illustrated; and also Job 14:7-9, and Job 28:1-6, in which we have what have been regarded as the oldest and most instructive notices of Natural History in existence; but it is scarcely necessary to press them into this general argument.

Although these allusions in the Word of God, as coinciding with facts in his works, may not be regarded by many as conveying any very decided evidence of a positive kind for the harmony of both; yet it will be admitted they are of special subsidiary value when contrasted with those uninspired histories of the world which have been given forth in succeeding ages and in different lands, not one of whose general outlines can, for an instant, bear the application of those crucial tests which even the allusions of Scripture not only sustain but welcome, as often, if not always, more fully eliciting their meaning.

Let it be understood, that it is only on this ground we have submitted these considerations for acceptance; and that we do not regard them as constituting more than incidental or subordinate proof. While we freely acknowledge that the Scriptures represent facts in those aspects which are most familiar to ordinary observation, and not in their more recondite or exactly scientific relations, we may legitimately reason that these references or allusions are indicative of the accuracy and value of the Bible, when we find it covering at once the results of common experience and the more recent discoveries of science.

CHAPTER VI.

THE GEOLOGIC FULNESS OF TIME WHEN MAN APPEARED.

It is surely no incredible thing, that He who, in the dispensation of the human period, spake by type and symbol, and who, when He walked the earth in the flesh, taught in parable and allegory, should have also spoken in the Geologic ages by prophetic figures, embodied in the form and structure of animals.-HUGH MILLER.

In the distant past, not a trace of man's presence nas been found. He is "of yesterday." of yesterday." While the stone volume has preserved for us the slight impressions of the Annelid and the foot-trail of perished Molluscs in the soft mud over which they crawled; while it has restored to us in perfect shape the delicately-constructed manylensed eye of the Trilobite, and has kept exact record of the death struggles of fishes on the sands of olden seas; while it has delineated on carboniferous columns fernleaves exquisitely delicate in structure as the finest species of modern times; and while the rain-drops of long bygone ages have left imprints which reveal to us the course which even the wind followed; not a trace of man is visible. Only at the close does he appear; science finds him where the Scriptures placed him, and sees in him the crown which continuous type had long foreshadowed.

Not only are there advances in animal structure which are prophetic of man's higher organization, but, through

what at one time seemed utterly confused and meaningless, there is abundant evidence of definite purpose in storing the earth with those plants and animals which are best fitted to meet man's necessities. He was not introduced to a barren region or an empty home. There clearly appears, about the time of his taking his place on the earth, such a series of adjustments for his use and comfort, as cannot be even plausibly connected with the chance struggles of natural selection. The plants and animals which are discoverable only in comparatively recent periods, are so numerous and so fully suited to the wants of man, that we cannot find an explanation of this harmony of production apart from PURPOSE in relation to him. Plants, fishes, quadrupeds, and even the delicate distribution of colors, furnish evidence which is by far too commonly overlooked. We can do little more than allude to some of the leading facts which have been brought within the easy reach of every inquirer. Agassiz and Hugh Miller have given special prominence to the proof of a gradual preparation of the earth for man.

I. As to Plants.-Not until we enter on the Tertiary period do we find flowers, amid which man might have profitably labored as a dresser of gardens, a tiller of fields, or a keeper of flocks and herds. Not, indeed, until late in this period, is there any appearance of several orders and families of plants which are useful to man, and which contribute largely to his pleasure. Among these orders we may mention that of the Rosacea, to which gardeners invariably look with unfailing interest. It includes the apple, the pear, the cherry, the plum, the