| → any right 1859 1860 1861 |
| have no reason 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → the beginning of this world? 1860 1861 |
| eternity? 1859 |
| the beginning of the world. 1866 1869 |
| the beginning of the world. Our continents seem to have been formed by a preponderance, during many oscillations of level, of the force of elevation; but may not the areas of preponderant movement have changed in the lapse of ages? 1872 |
|
| → formations 1859 1860 1861 |
| sedimentary formations in a recognisable condition 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → condition. 1859 1860 |
| but likewise denuded condition. 1861 1866 |
| and denuded condition. 1869 1872 |
|
| → namely our not finding in the successive formations infinitely numerous transitional 1859 1860 |
| namely— that though we find in our geological formations many 1861 |
| namely— that, though we find in our geological formations many 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → or have existed; 1859 1860 |
| and have existed, 1861 1866 |
| and which formerly existed, we do not find infinitely numerous fine transitional forms closely joining them all together;— 1869 1872 |
|
| → the 1859 1860 1869 1872 |
| we do not find infinitely numerous fine transitional forms closely joining them all together;— the 1861 1866 |
|
|
subsidence, the great archipelagoes still areas of oscillations of level, and the continents areas of elevation. But
we
→any right
to assume that things have thus
from
→the beginning of this world? Our continents seem to have been formed by a preponderance, during many oscillations of level, of the force of elevation; but may not the areas of preponderant movement have changed in the lapse of ages? At a period
antecedent to the
epoch, continents may have existed where oceans are now spread out; and clear and open oceans may have existed where our continents now stand. Nor should we be justified in assuming that if, for instance, the bed of the Pacific Ocean were now converted into a continent, we should there find
→formations
older than the
strata, supposing such to have been formerly deposited; for it might well happen that strata which had subsided some miles nearer to the centre of the earth, and which had been pressed on by an enormous weight of superincumbent water, might have undergone far more metamorphic action than strata which have always remained nearer to the surface. The immense areas in some parts of the world, for instance in South America, of
metamorphic rocks, which must have been heated under great pressure, have always seemed to me to require some special explanation; and we may perhaps believe that we see in these large areas, the many formations long anterior to the
epoch in a completely metamorphosed
→condition.
|
|
| The several difficulties here discussed,
→namely our not finding in the successive formations infinitely numerous transitional
links between the
species which now exist
→or have existed;
→the
sudden manner
|
