TABLE OF CONTENTS. Creation of Vegetation-Necessity of Light and Air to it Outlines of some of the chief Principles and Properties of The local Creation and gradual Diffusion of Plants-The Fossil Traces and Remains of ancient Plants in the sub- The Forms and Colours of Fishes-Their General Char- A brief Review of the Mollusca, Testacea, Zoophyte, and The Oviparous and Amphibious Quadrupeds-The Tor- On the Formation of Insects-Their Classes and Import- On the Fossil Remains of Animals found in the Rocks and Strata of the Earth-I. Those of the Marine Classes in the Secondary Strata-II. The Land Quadrupeds of the On the Peculiarities of the Human Body, which contribute to the Superiority of Man-His erect Head and Form— His peculiar Legs and Feet-His powerful Arm and THE SACRED HISTORY OF THE WORLD. LETTER I. On the Creation of the Earth--Light-The Atmosphere, and the Separation of Land and Sea. MY DEAR BOY, In this aspiring age no mind seems disposed to rest contented with either ancient opinions or ancient institutions; at least not without subjecting both to examinations and criticisms which oftener unsettle and disturb than benefit and satisfy. But every period has its own character of action and thought; and the present is distinguished by a more than ordinary sensibility of existing errors and imperfections, and by a diffusing desire to avoid or correct them. This tendency has spread, or is spreading, into every topic which has interested or agitated human nature. All subjects have been exposed to much skepticism, and to rigid inquiry. The mind has become unusually restless in exploring the causes and reasons of all things; and expects and exacts, that when it is required to believe, it should have full elucidations of the grounds and principles on which its assent is required, in addition to the knowledge or evidence of the facts or things themselves. Every department of the natural sciences has been subjected to this scrutiny, and has been benefited by such rigid investigations. The known is expected to be accounted for; and if it cannot be rationally explained, it is depreciated and discredited, even where it cannot be disproved, and ought not to be denied. B |