Puslapio vaizdai
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or the student to be discouraged. If there is a glimpse of truth let him follow it patiently and perseveringly, and he will find light. There was a day when men were ridiculed, when perseveringly pursuing a great object, no one aided, no one encouraged.

When Mr. Fulton foretold that a steamboat would in time make a voyage from New York to Albany in eighteen hours, he was regarded as a visionary who had considered the subject so long, that in that particular his mind had lost its balance. At this time the human mind appears fully aroused to the importance of thought, experiment, and results, the learned no longer conceals his knowledge, and all appear impressed with the great Baconian principle, "utility and progress."

And the more these things are studied and understood, the more will the perfections of God become manifest, the more will men admire his wonderful works; still in order to real moral and religious improvement, God the sovereign, the God who delights in the happiness of his creatures, must ever be kept in view. On him let the mind's eye be ever fixed, and while we admire creation let the creator never be forgotten.

Thus as we study the works of God in creation, great, beautiful, and wonderful, as they are, when we compare them with the revelations God has given in the bible, we find all consistent and a harmony of the most perfect kind; we see God everywhere-the same in creation, the same in the bible-the God of knowledge, wisdom, power, and benevolence—the same regard to the welfare of his creatures, and care of their happiness.

CHAPTER VII.

FOSSIL REMAINS.

THERE are a very few descriptions of fossil remains inserted in the treatise, a reference to a few being sufficient for the purpose of the argument. It may be interesting to readers who may not have time or inclination to pursue the study to any great length, to obtain in the same volume some account of the different animals and organized beings which are referred to. They are called fossils. Geologists use the word fossil to express the remains of all organized beings and plants dug out of the earth, either broken from rocks, or found in the strata of soils, and all such rocks or earth are called fossiliferous.

Fossil remains are, indeed, the record of a bygone world, which geologists, especially since the time of the celebrated Cuvier, have read, and are now reading with ease and a certainty most wonderfully correct.

These remains teach the most wonderful lessons of the works of God, not only since the creation of man, but perhaps billions of years before his existence, and impress the mind of the wise and reflecting reader deeply and solemnly with the power, wisdom, and benevolence of God. Many of those creatures are like those now living in mode and existence, but differing widely in form. We will select a few from the different epochs. These remains are distinct and plain to the skilful geologist, and the learning and character of these men leave no doubt of the accuracy of their descriptions and narration of facts.

We will describe briefly a few of the invertebrated, vertebrated, and mammalia, as illustrative of the result of examination.

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