THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
238
The man who did most to found th a t departm ent of geology known as fossil- ology was William Smith, an English man, who died in 1837. He was a su r veyor, who supported himself by his trade, and, as he went about his busi ness, made as careful observations as possible of th e e a rth ’s formation, spe cially of the fossils which he found in many places. He had talen t, if not genius, for draw ing maps of what he saw and in time attracted wide attention to th e discoveries he had made. He did for fossils very much w hat W erner did for rocks. He was certain th a t th e age of the rocks could be determ ined by the fossils th a t were in them . But subse quent investigations have proved th a t the fossils which Mr. Smith classified as belonging to the upper stra ta are elsewhere found in the lower stra ta and vice versa. Indeed, the rocks and the fossils have become so inextricably mixed th a t a living geologist asserts th a t no up-to-date scientist can afford to risk his reputation by declaring th a t he can now tell the age of a rock or a fossil. I tu rn to the Bible and find th a t be tween the first and the second verses of th e first chapter of Genesis th ere is time enough for long ages of deposit in the perfect o rder of “ the heaven and th e e a rth ” which God created. And since “was” may be tran slated “be came,” so as to make it read, “ th e earth became waste and void,” th ere is an intim ation th a t a great upheaval took place a t th a t remote time. This in tim ation leads a distinguished Bible student to say: “It is by no means nec essary to suppose th a t the life-germ of seeds perished in the catastrophic judg m ent which overthrew th e prim itive order. W ith the restoration of dry land and light, the earth would bring fo rth as described. It was animal life which per ished, the traces of which rem ain as fossils. Relegate fossils to th e prim i tive creation, and no conflict of science w ith the Genesis cosmogony rem ains.” YOUR BIG OPPORTUNITY! PAGE 325
lieving silly things as to th e'sh ap e, size and support of the earth , Job wrote, “He stretcheth out the North over empty space and hangeth th e earth upon nothing.” Job 26:7. During the past year I have devoted some tim e to the study of the history of geology, w ith the kind assistance of the Peabody L ibrarian in Baltimore; and, though the task is not yet finished, I must confess to some startling su r prises. When I studied geology in col lege, I thought th a t its classifications and principles were as solid as “the eternal hills,” bu t th is recent study has so far left only one certainty, which is, th a t, as a speculative science, geology is in a chaotic state. The practical geol ogy which the mining engineer studies gives him facts upon which he can rely, but in the realm of theoretical geology th e fogs of uncertainty prevail. The most famous geologist of his day, and its founder as a science, was A. G, Werner, of Saxony, who died in 1817. W erner studied the stra ta of his native land and imagined th a t sim ilar stra ta encircled th e globe. The lowest rocks he very reasonably supposed were the oldest and the uppermost rooks he ju st as reasonably supposed were the newest. He had a genius, if not a mania, for classification. One historian says th a t he bought books, not th a t he m ight read them, bu t th a t he m ight classify them in his library, and he gave banquets, not th a t he m ight enjoy the fellowship of friends, bu t th a t he m ight have the pleasure of properly arrang ing them at th e table. His “Onion Coat” theory of the e a rth ’s stra ta was orderly and beautiful. But investigations in other countries, notably in America, have proved th a t some rocks which are lowest in Saxony are uppermost in America and vice versa. The fair inference is th a t W erner was as much m istaken in his stratifications as everybody now knows th a t he was m istaken in his theory th a t basalt was of aqueous formation.
Made with FlippingBook Online document