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Show 160 UNIFORMITY OF 1'11E SYSTEM· . · have passed away, a nd y.e t have left of 01·gamc bemgs may . J • contcmplallOn, no trace t. Jar recnon unoe1 . behind, in t.h e par lCUT o a o mm. c l un conscious of these mter-of their e. xiste. nceh. cham. o f even t s, tllc passaob- e from on.e statef mediate lmks m t e . violent that the 1dea o tl . must appear so ' of thing. s to .a not l lei system m. ev1' ta ,u· ly sugOb' ests itself. T. he revolut10ns m 1. . . as e much pel.p 1 e xe d by such errors as to time, imagmat10n Is d .1 .1 te space and by some power, b ·r ul anmu a ' as it would c I we <: 0 1 f nchantment, could transfer a d of m ta es o e · such as we rea . . lf d n to sleep in a snowy arct1c h l d 1 d h1mse ow k' Person w o 1a at1 1 y m. a tropi·C a 1 t•egion ' where onawa mg wilderness, to a va e d d by birds of brilliant plumage, he would fin d lu ·m sel f surroun. e · · 1 d vegetable forms of whiCh 1 h 1 ·iance of amma an · · · and al t e uxur . l Tl most reasonable supposition, nature is there so pro~tga . h 1C ld make if by the necro. h. h lulosop er cou ' perhaps, w lC a P d . h a situation, would be, that he mancer ' s ar t h e wa s p.l ace m sue . 'l 1 . t ~ rms theories under a s1m1 ar d . ao· and If a geo ogis 10 . was reammb ' . h. to preserve more consistency delusion, we sh?u1d n~t exfnec:hel~ain of ideas in an ordinary in his speculations, t an dream. . . d f . verting the natural order of inquiry, we But tf, mstea o. m . t' tions from the known to the . 1 ed m our mves tga ' . d cautlOUS y proce . d . ao the most modern perio s unknown, and begm by stu ym.b afterwards to decipher 1, 1 · t y attemptmg of the eart l s us or ' . banges we can never so the monumen t s o f mor·e ancient c t th'a t we have arn.v e d . h f nalogy as to suspec I ·far lose s1g t 0 a ' d b different physical laws. n at a new system, ~overne . ~in often of strata of great more . recent formatiOns, consi gt s and lakes and the h 11 f the presen sea ' thickness, the .s e s o d 1 t now living on the land, are remains of ammals an p an ~ those of more ancient date, imbedded in great nu~bers. £ nnd associated with others now many of the same species ar~. ~u ain are observed in strata extinct. These u~lm?wn m ~t:~ with a great number of of still higher anttqmty, conne tatl'ves till at length . 1 living represen ' others which hav~ a so ;o b' h tl e monuments contain exclu· we arrive at penods o '~ IC . ~ n enera foreign to the sively the re~ains of spec;~s i:~~1e ~~e~t grocks which co?tain Present creatiOn. But ev f . e animals are recogmzed, organ1c rema·m s, some genera o marm and these are repea te d of which species still exist in our seas, RECENT ORIGIN OF MAN, 161 at different intervals in all the intermediate groups of strata, attesting that, amidst the great variety of revolutions of which the earth's surface has been the theatre, there has never been a departure from the conditions necessary for the existence of certain unaltered types of organization. The uniformity of animal instinct, observes Mr. Stewart*, pre. supposes a corresponding regularity in the physical laws of the universe, "insomuch that if the established order of the material world were to be essentially disturbed, (the instincts of the brutes remaining the same,) all their various tribes would inevitably perish." Now, any naturalist will be convinced, on slight reflection, of the justice of this remark. He will also admit that the same species have always retained the same instincts, and therefore that all the strata wherein any of their remains occur, must have been formed when the phenomena of inanimate matter were the same as they are in the actual condition of the earth. The same conclusion must also be extended to the extinct animals with which the remains of these living species are associated ; and by these means we are enabled to establish the permanence of the existing physical laws, throughout the whole period when the tertiary deposits were formed. We have already stated that, during that vast period, a large proportion of all the lands in the northern hemisphere were raised above the level of the sea. The modifications in the system of which man is the instrument, do not, in all probability, constitute so great a deviation from analogy as we usually imagine; we often, for example, form an exaggerated estimate of the extent of the power displayed by man in extirpating some of the inferior animals, and causing others to multiply; a power which is circumscribed within certain limits, and which, in all likelihood, is by no means exclusively exerted by our species. '.fhe gmwth of human population cannot take place without diminishing the numbers, or causing the entire destruction of many animals. The larger carnivorous species give way before ns, but other quadrupeds of smaller size, and innumerable birds, insects, and plants, which are inimical to our interests, increase in spite of us, some attacking our food, others our raiment and persons, and others interfering with our agricultural and horticultural Vot, I. "' P,hil. of the Human Mind, vol. ii., p. 230. M |