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I suspect that not 1859 1860 1861 1866
Not 1869 1872

epoch. 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869
epoch. Wherever sediment did not accumulate on the bed of the sea, or where it did not accumulate at a sufficient rate to protect organic bodies from decay, no remains could be preserved. 1872

In our archipelago, I believe that fossiliferous formations could be formed of sufficient thickness 1859
I believe that fossiliferous formations could be formed in the archipelago, of thickness sufficient 1860
As the common rule formations rich in fossils would be formed in the archipelago, of thickness sufficient 1861
Formations rich in fossils, and of thickness sufficient 1866
Formations rich in fossils of many kinds, and of thickness sufficient 1869 1872

only 1859 1860 1861
would generally be formed in the archipelago only 1866 1869 1872

during 1859 1860 1861
of time, during 1866 1869 1872

would 1859 1860
on the steeper shores would 1861 1866 1869 1872

America. 1859 1860 1872
America; even throughout the extensive and shallow seas within the archipelago sedimentary beds could not, during the periods of elevation, be accumulated of great thickness, or become capped and protected by subsequent deposits, so as to have a good chance of enduring to an extremely distant future. 1861 1866
America; even throughout the extensive and shallow seas within the archipelago sedimentary beds could hardly be accumulated of great thickness during the periods of elevation, or become capped and protected by subsequent deposits, so as to have a good chance of enduring to a very distant future. 1869

1 blocks not present in 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869; present in 1872
Even throughout the extensive and shallow seas within the archipelago, sedimentary beds could hardly be accumulated of great thickness during the periods of elevation, or become capped and protected by subsequent deposits, so as to have a good chance of enduring to a very distant future.

in organic beings; yet if all the species were to be collected which have ever lived there, how imperfectly would they represent the natural history of the world!
But we have every reason to believe that the terrestrial productions of the archipelago would be preserved in an
extremely
excessively
imperfect manner in the formations which we suppose to be there accumulating. I suspect that not many of the strictly littoral animals, or of those which lived on naked submarine rocks, would be embedded; and those embedded in gravel or
sand
sand,
would not endure to a distant epoch. Wherever sediment did not
accu- mulate
accumulate
on the bed of the sea, or where it did not accumulate at a sufficient rate to protect organic bodies from decay, no remains could be preserved.
In our archipelago, I believe that fossiliferous formations could be formed of sufficient thickness to last to an
age
age,
as distant in futurity as the secondary formations lie in the past, only during periods of subsidence. These periods of subsidence would be separated from each other by
immense
enormous
intervals
intervals,
during which the area would be either stationary or rising; whilst rising,
the
each
fossiliferous
formations
formation
would be destroyed, almost as soon as accumulated, by the incessant coast-action, as we now see on the shores of South America. During the periods of
subsidence,
subsidence
there would probably be much extinction of life; during the periods of elevation, there would be much variation, but the geological record would then be
less
least
perfect.
It may be doubted whether the duration of any one great period of subsidence over the whole or part of the archipelago, together with a contemporaneous accumulation of sediment, would
exceed
exceed
the average duration of the same specific forms; and these contingencies are