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

IN the distant past, not a trace of man's presence has been found. He is "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 many-lensed 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, fern-leaves 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 organisation, 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 colours, 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.

1. As to Plants.-Not until we enter on the Tertiary period do we find flowers, amid which man might have profitably laboured 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 peach, the apricot, the nectarine, the raspberry, the strawberry; nor ought we to omit reference to those delight-giving and useful flowers, roses and potentillas, the history of which commenced with that of Man.1

It is no less remarkable that the true grasses, -a still more important order, including the grain-giving plants, oats, barley, wheat, and others, which sustain "at least two

1 See "Testimony of the Rocks," p. 48.

thirds of the human species," and which also, "in their humble varieties, form the staple food of the grazing animals," do not appear until close on the human period. There are other plants, also, which add to man's comfort or gratify his senses, which are not found in the fossil state,―lavender, mint, thyme, hyssop, basil, rosemary, marjoram. They have apparently been introduced to prepare for man their varied fragrance and virtues.

2. As to Fishes.—And not until this recent period did the sea become the home of fishes that could prove nutritious or tasteful to man. A review of the various changes which have appeared at different periods in the history of fishes, leads to this inference. Professor Owen has distinctly stated "that those species, such as the nutritious cod, the savoury herring, the rich-flavoured salmon, and the succulent turbot," displaced immediately before man's advent those species which were coarse and unsuitable food; but then and subsequently they became very abundant.

3. As to Quadrupeds.-While we admit the weakness of merely negative statements in establishing any fact, there is yet so much that is forcible in the absence from the fossil state of so many of those life-forms which now surround man, that we are justifiable in explicitly referring to it as probable evidence. No geologist denies that the gigantic forms of Mammalian life, by which the Miocene and Pliocene period were distinguished, ceased near the time of man's appearance; and that only a few of those larger animals remained which were not inconsistent with his safety and comfort. Nor will any hesitate to admit that, as new plants then appeared, so also quadrupeds not known before took the place of those which had passed away. Among them the

sheep is conspicuous, not only for its own

qualities, but for

the extent to which it has ever ministered to the various

wants of man. Hugh Miller, with evident delight, describes the peculiar adaptation of this favourite animal to the necessities of a large proportion of the human race, as "that soft and harmless creature that clothes civilised man everywhere in the colder latitudes with its fleece,-that feeds him with its flesh, that gives its bowels to be spun into the catgut with which he refits his musical instruments,—whose horns he has learned to fashion into a thousand useful trinkets,—and whose skin, converted into parchment, served to convey to later times the thinking of the first full blow of the human intellect across the dreary gulf of the Middle Ages." While some refuse to acknowledge the importance of the contemporaneous connection with man of such plants and animals as we have specified, no theistic evolutionist of note for attainments in science hesitates to admit that they were at least indirectly preparatory to man's advent.

4. As to Colour.-There is distinct evidence of preparation for man in the distribution and adjustments of colour, which alone must interest every student of the Bible and the natural sciences. The very appearance of all things has been adapted to the human constitution. This important fact has been commonly overlooked. The notion had long prevailed that there was no law in the distribution of colours; but this error has been corrected. The subject has been elaborately discussed by Dr. Dickie and Principal M'Cosh, who have shown that there is, in flowers, a permanent relation between form and colour, and an unfailing harmony in the distribution of colours in the same plant.

True, it cannot yet be demonstrated that these relations rest on a scientific basis, so as to connect the adjustments in colours with æsthetic tendencies or laws in the human mind; yet the evidence warrants the conclusion that there has been a gradual evolution of forms and colours until

those results have been educed most pleasing to the eye, and of which there is no manifestation until about the time when man was created.

Assuming that in successive geologic periods plants have been formed according to the same law,-an assumption fairly warranted by facts,-Dr. Dickie has inferred that the association of colours will be similar, that is, they will harmonise with the forms of the plants. Accordingly, the prevailing colours in any geologic period may be determined by the prevailing forms of its vegetable life. In the earlier geological periods, when ferns were the chief forms,—green, purple, and russet gave the landscape a sombre character; and in a subsequent stage, when cone-bearing plants rose everywhere, the general dulness was but little lessened. Not until the beginning of the chalk formation, is there a very evident advance towards existing forms and colours. Not, indeed, until the latest period,—that nearest to man,do we find the flowers which most enhance our pleasures invested with their fascinating hues, and so arranged as to exhibit those principles of science which Schools of Art are struggling to represent. "In a skilful piece of art, the more prominent figures are made to rise out of colours which attract no notice. It is the same in the beautiful canvas which is spread out before us in earth and sky. The groundcolours of nature, if not all neutral, are at least all soft and retiring. How grateful should we be that the sky is not usually dressed in red; that the clouds are not painted crimson; that the carpet of grass on which we tread is not yellow, and the trees are not decked with orange leaves ! The soil, in most places is a sort of brown; the mature trunks of trees commonly take some kind of neutral hue; the true colour of the sky is a soft blue, except when covered with grey clouds; and the foliage of vegetation is a refreshing green. It is out