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    matter heavier than granite . In these hypotheses our author , coincides , and we think with much reason . The next chapter , on Volcanic Rocks , is a grand and awe-inspiring view of the general home of the successive families of mankind . " In the state of tratlquil equilibrium v < rhich our planet has attained in the region we inhabit , we are apt to regard the foundation of the solid earth as art emblem of duration and stability . Very different are the feelings of th 6 se whose lot is cast near the foci of volcanic eruptions , ** * * * To the inhabitants of such regions we speak a language which they fully comprehend , when we describe the crust of the earth as floating on an internal nucleus of molten elements ; they have seen these molten elements" Burst forth in liquid streams of lava ; they have felt the earth beneath ttiem quivering arid rolling , as if upon the billows

    of a subterranean sea ; they have seen mountains raised and valleys depressed , almost in an instant of time ; they can duly appreciate the force of the terms in which geologists describe the tremulous throes and convulsive agitations ,, of the earth , during the passage of its strata from the bottom of the seas in which they received their origin , to the plains and mountains in which they find their present place of rest . "—

    Pp . 46 , 47 . It appears certain that volcanic forces have been the grand cause of the elevation of the molten materials , and therefore of the present habitable state of the earth ; nor is it unlikely , according to Dr Buckland , " that at the depth of a hundred miles beneath the surface of our planet there is yet a mass of incandescent elements . "

    In the primary strata of rocks there are no vestiges either of animal or vegetable life ; so that geology , in , so far as it has proved thip feet beyond all future refutaiion , must , be admitted to have discovered a conclusive answer toJ ^ iqse ^ p hilosophers who have supposed an eternal succe $ sion of existing species , or the formation of more recent from more ancient species by successive developments . By $ uctj reasoning some

    of them imagined they could dispense with a First Cause ; but geology clearly marks out a time whea the present species , both of plants a « d animals , had no ex istence ., It 4 ? , not for any one to $ ay vyhat possibleexis ^ ncps there , ar $ ii > the , ui } iv < erse , nor whether there were beings w ^ o c ^ Mld ^ pp ^ ortk the , early state of igneous fusion of this earth ; we all see , how ^ v ^ that no forms with which we are now conversant , or as geology shows

    to have e ^ tqd , cquld beajr it . In Tucker ' s ' Ljght of jN ^ tufe / we neverth ^ le ^ jfind . a ^ reasonable hypothjesisof 3 . $ \ j $ e ^ j $ ign&pncy \ " Whq , ^ flws , " says h $ , " wh ^ carries > e " mtifm < tf * e g ^ h , or whaf living ^ re ^ t ^ e ^ iliej ni ^ y C 9 ^^ , ^ flgj ^ ^ sepses unknown to u ^ , ^ o ^ # 1 , ^ l ^^ r w p | , jpgMH ^ ff ^ y serve instead yght , | t d ^ m ^ f ^^ pmit ^ jf ^ sea ^ bly as liOHiidsc ftnd od < mrA affi ^ pt ius | r i ^ l ] bx > f * hoift 4 , iy ^ proaoiin ^ e it impossible that there should be bodies totaled to endure the

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    Bucklaiids 'Geology * 273

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    No . 125 . S

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 1, 1837, page 273, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1831/page/18/