gress of the mineral materials of the earth,
through various stages of change and revolution,
affecting the strata which compose its surface ;
and discloses a regular order in the superposition
of these strata ; recurring at distant intervals,
and accompanied by a corresponding regularity
in the order of succession of many extinct
races of animals and vegetables, that have followed
one after another during the progress of
these mineral formations ; arrangements like
these could not have originated in chance, since
they afford evidence of law and method in the
disposition of mineral matter ; and still stronger
evidence of design in the structure of the organic
remains with which the strata are interspersed.
How then has it happened that a science thus
important, comprehending no less than the
entire physical history of our planet, and whose
documents are co extensive with the globe,
should have been so little regarded, and almost
without a name, until the commencement of
the present century ?
Attempts have been made at various periods,
both by practical observers and by ingenious
speculators, to establish theories respecting the
formation of the earth ; these have in great part
failed, in consequence of the then imperfect
state of those subsidiary sciences, which, within
the last half century, have enabled the geologist
to return from the region of fancy to that of
facts, and to establish his conclusions on the
firm basis of philosophical induction. We now
approach the study of the natural history of the
globe, aided not only by the higher branches
of Physics, but by still more essential recent
discoveries, in Mineralogy, and Chemistry, in
Botany, Zoology, and Comparative Anatomy.
By the help of these sciences, we are enabled
to extract from the archives of the
interior of the earth, intelligible records of former
conditions of our planet, and to decipher
documents, which were a sealed book to all
our predecessors in the attempt to illustrate
subterranean history. Thus enlarged in its
views, and provided with fit means of pursuing
them, Geology extends its researches into regions
more vast and remote, than come within
the scope of any other physical science except
Astronomy. It not only comprehends the entire
range of the mineral kingdom, but includes
also the history of innumerable extinct
races of animals and vegetables ; in each of
which it exhibits evidences of design and contrivance,
and of adaptations to the varying condition
of the lands and waters on which they
were placed ; and besides all these, it discloses
an ulterior prospective accommodation of the
mineral elements, to existing tribes of plants and
animals, and more especially to the uses of man.
Evidences like these make up a history of a high