The chronology of creation; or Geology and Scripture reconciled

Front matter

Wbt CHRONOLOGY OF CREATION. CAMELUS B\( TKIANITS TBi«^.An.<uLi'k »«■•• Cicuu* THE CHRONOLOGY OF CREATION; OR, GEOLOGY AND SCRIPTURE RECONCILED. " One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. " I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. " And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts : and I will speak of thy greatness." — Psalms cxlv. v. _, 5 and 6. ** Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." — 1 Thess. v. ». 21. BY THOMAS HUTTON, F.G.S., ■Taplatn. 13fng.il armn W. THACKER & CO., No. 8 7, NEWGATE STREET, LONDON; AND ST. ANDREW'S LIBRARY, CALCUTTA. 1851. TO THE HONORABLE THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THEIR GRATEFUL A2TO OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. Horace recommends that an author should take nine years to weigh and reconsider the subject matter of his work ; and no doubt, in general, the advice would be sound, if a man could only make sure of living so long. We have even gone beyond the term assigned, and yet are modest enough to bedeve that a longer time would have added materiady to the value of our labours. Some, perhaps, may even deem it matter of regret that the work was not postponed sine die; but from them we beg leave to differ, — no man, how ever dim and imperfect it may be, having a right to hide his light under a bushel; but, on the VI

PREFACE.

. contrary, in ad matters where truth is the object at stake, he is bound, both by his duty to God and to his fedow men, to make that light apparent, leaving it to the judgment of others to accept or reject his doctrines. " Systems approach perfection by degrees : and he who produces one, facilitates the production of a better. He also who makes the first attempt is not to be envied : since ad are as ready to censure its defects, as they are able to see what the author himself points out, choosing to forget that he has done so, whde ignorant or neglectful of what has been done and what overcome. The traveller over a solid road knows nothing of the toil that first laid it on the quaking morass, and as little does he care; while he is enraged at the casual rut. But though such a system should teach nothing, it would be valuable by the display of its own defects.

No chasm can be filled till it is known: while thus are errors and blanks classed with the nearest truths, so as to indicate the way by which they are to be corrected and supplied. All sciences commence with error; and he who waits for the hour of perfection, suppressing what

PREFACE.

. VII he knows, because too proud or too timid to con fess a pardonable ignorance, is the 2Xo\a(7--i*.*oc who wid not enter the water till he can swim. Nor will the day of truth ever arrive, if they who can add to the stock of knowledge confine it within themselves."* The foundation of the present work was laid in 1837, when the author first had an opportunity of perusing Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, a work which, while it cannot be too highly com mended for all that relates to the description of fossd organic remains, is, as a theory, next to useless. Impressed with this idea, yet convinced that Geology and Scripture were capable of being reconcded ; and bearing in mind that in 1834, the Council of the Royal Society had invited " contri butions towards a system of geological chronology, founded on the examination of fossil remains and their attendant phenomena," the author commenced the task, which he has here brought to a close. How that task has been performed, it is for the reader to decide, — but an apology may perhaps be * MacCulloch's System of Geology — Preface.

PREFACE.

. due for those imperfections of style and inclcgan cies of language, which no doubt abound, and which the " rough and ready" mode of military life in India is id calculated to correct. Nevertheless, as truth, whether clad in the homely language of the labouring man, or arrayed in the high sounding jargon of modern science, must stid be truth, the author ventures now to submit his book to the judgment and indulgence of a discerning public. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Page. Figure of the Earth ; primeval state of fluidity ; heavy matter collected at the centre ; nebular hypothesis refuted ; aqueous origin of the Earth 1

Chapter II

The foregoing doctrines compared with Scripture ; Granville Penn's proposed amendment of Genesis proved unnecessary ; invectives against the Neptunists uncalled for ; proof of the chaotic condition of the primeval elements of the Earth ; no Mountains during The Beginning; erroneous views of Dr. Buckland ; the Earth not derived from the " wreck and ruin " of a former world ; fossiliferous strata deposited subsequent to the First Day of Scripture ; old editions of the Bible not divided into verses ; great duration of the period styled "The Beginning," proved from Astronomy 31

Chapter III

Certain conditions necessary before animal life could appear ; Heat ; Evaporation ; Atmosphere ; Daylight ; creation of the material elements of the various members of the solar system, contemporaneous ; the Sun, the principal source of heat ; Daylight, an effect of atmospheric action on the solar ray CONTENTS. X

Chapter IV

Page. Creation of light ; objections answered ; contradictions of authors ; visibility of latent light due to the existence of the atmosphere ; reasons why the Sun may not have been apparent on the first day ; proofs that the Sun was in existence on the first day ; agreement of the foregoing doctrines with the Holy Scriptures 81

Chapter V

Operation of the second day ; state of the Earth at the end of the first day ; formation of the Firmament ; the result of natural laws ; correctness of the Scriptural accounts ; meaning of the word Firmament 97

Chapter VI

Phenomena of the primary rocks considered ; stratification referred to the agency of water ; amorphous rocks of igneous origin ; agency of water and heat perceptible ; the agency of water preceded that of heat ; granite of igneous origin ■ volcanic agency apparent ; conclusions to be drawn from the preceding facts 104

Chapter VII

Conjectures as to the means by which dry land was produced ; supposed density of the internal portion of the Earth ; supposed fusion of the central portion ; primeval waters drained into depressions on the surface ; elevation of land simultaneous with depression at the antipodes 118 CHAPTER VIH. Central deposits necessarily unstratified ; probably composed of the metallic bases of the earths and alkalies ; volcanic action CONTENTS. XI Page. engendered at the centre ; producing elevation and depression of strata ; subsidence of water and production of dry land ; depression of one surface shown to be a natural consequence of the eruption of matter in an opposite direction ; stratification of the lower rocks obliterated by the proximity of fused volcanic matter ; probable origin of primary limestone 132

Chapter IX

Review of the foregoing remarks ; enormous pressure of the atmosphere ; sequence of events proved to be natural ; volcanic effects of water admitted to the heated centre ; conditions necessary to produce an earthquake ; volcanos serve as channels for the escape of internal heat ; land and water placed at the antipodes of each other ; formation of boulders and erratic blocks ; the rugged outline of primary mountains caused by sudden refrigeration and exfoliation ; formation of non-fossiliferous or Cumbrian slates 139

Chapter X

Theory of an internal abyss irreconcilable with facts ; truth of the Scriptural statements proved ; creation of the vegetable kingdom 156

Chapter XI

Various opinions regarding the period of the creation of the Heavenly bodies ; supposition that they were created on the fourth day, not supported by Scripture ; reasons why not apparent till the fourth day ; sequence of recorded events proved to be true and natural ; proof of the creation of the Heavenly bodies on the first day ; their creation on the fourth day refuted 165

Chapter XII

Creation of the feathered and aquatic tribes ; creation of mammalia and other terrestrial classes of animals CONTENTS.

Chapter XIII

Page. Inquiry into the mode of Creation ; whether by natural law, or through the immediate agency of God ; man not created by natural law ; the present laws are not creating laws ; organic structures produced by the immediate agency of Omnipotence 177

Chapter XIV

Animals have not sprung from a single pair of each species ; theory of progressive creation of species inconsistent with the doctrines of the Scriptures ; centres or foci of creation refuted ; species not caused by modification by change of food or climate, but have a real existence in Nature 188

Chapter XV

Theory of the transmutation of species, considered ; shown to be opposed to natural and existing laws, and therefore contrary to fact ; man, not sprung from the lower classes of animals, but an especial creation by Omnipotence 205

Chapter XVI

Proofs that the days of the creative week were natural days ; no carnivora or other predaceous animals had existence on the land during the first epoch 215

Chapter XVII

Era of man's creation considered ; non-discovery of human remains no proof that man did not exist upon the Earth ; arguments derived from former non-discovery of quadrumanous animals ; human remains not likely to be found among those of feral brutes ; proof that man was contemporaneous with all the organic beings whose remains are imbedded in the various strata of the Earth CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter XVIII

Page. State of the Earth at the close of the sixth day ; limited extent of land ; elevated temperature proved from the strata of the Earth ; the term Paradise or Garden of Eden applicable to the whole primeval Earth 243

Chapter XIX

Erroneous views entertained by Penn and others regarding the period of the first general change or revolution ; the period assigned by the Mosaical geologists, for the formation of coal, proved to be erroneous 255

Chapter XX

Phenomena apparent in the transition rocks ; conclusions to be drawn from them ; insular and tropical condition of the land and climate ; evidences of volcanic action, and gradual increase of land ; the deductions of geologists confirm the narrative of Scripture 266

Chapter XXI

Fall of Man ; reduction of temperature ; submarine volcanic action ; mountain limestone a chemical product ; rapid accumulation of strata ; conglomerate rocks bear testimony to violent and speedy accumulation ; various agencies operating simultaneously to produce a rapid deposition of strata ; evidences of the agency of violent volcanic forces • speedy accumulation of coal beds ; fresh creations necessary 276

Chapter XXII

Periodical recurrence of volcanic violence ; new red sandstone to be considered the termination of the carboniferous era ; division of strata into systems wholly artificial ; the condition of organic fossils proves the lapse of time to be a fable ; fishes CONTENTS. XIV Page. of the cupriferous slate speedily imbedded ; speedy deposi tion of the lias, proved by the condition of the ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, fossil loligo and coprolites ; speedy accumula tion of the oolite proved by the condition of fishes and corals ; animals of successive periods created in full maturity of structure 301 CHAPTER XXHI. The Portland and other " dirt-beds" no indication of dry land ; but of an estuary deposit ; Furbeck and Wealden fresh-water formations interposed between the marine oolitic and cretaceous systems ; indications of the violent action of fresh-waters ; succeeded by submergence and diminution of land ; subsidence of land ; rise of cretaceous sea ; and subsequent increase or re-appearance of land 325

Chapter XXIV

The Second Curse ; Mosaic Deluge ; caused by the supernatural intervention of Divine Power ; how produced ; objections answered ; prophecy of Enoch ; rise of the Deluge ; destruction of the organic World 337

Chapter XXV

Effects of the forty days of rain ; deposition of the Purbeck and Wealden beds ; effects of the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep * volcanic action ; subsidence of land ; chalk of volcanic origin; rise and fall of the D eluge progressive ; tranquillity of its occurrence refuted ; subsidence of the waters and re-appearance of dry land 349

Chapter XXVI

Supposed change of place between land and sea ; alleged Scriptural proofs ; proved erroneous ; Penn's views ; land existed in the northern hemisphere previous to the De- CONTENTS. XV Page. luge ; supposed transport of animals from tropical to northern regions ; proved to be impossible ; Penn's erroneous views regarding the curse ; not removed by the Deluge ; the Deluge a second curse ; the first Earth has not yet passed away 359 CHAPTER XXVH. The fossil exuviæ of the tertiary strata are the remains of animals which lived and died in the situations where they occur, subsequent to the Deluge ; some fossils of the English lias and mountain limestone identical with those of the Himalaya ; distribution of land in the early periods ; proofs of high temperature ; subsidence of equatorial lands ; re-appearance of land in northern regions ; deterioration of climate ; deposition of tertiary strata ; the northern lands inhabited by large mammalia; successive violent changes in the distribution of the rising lands ; successive destruction of animals ; the occurrence of the remains of elephants not necessarily indicative of high temperature 382

Chapter XXVIII

New Creations after the Deluge, not contrary to Scripture ; the present polar regions possessed a tropical climate during the secondary or antediluvian era ; no aquatic animals were preserved in the Ark ; fresh-water species of the present day are postdiluvian creations ; no predaceous animals preserved in the Ark ; the present predaceous tribes are postdiluvian creations ; no animals now peculiar to cold climates existed in the antediluvian era ; proof from Scripture ; the animals preserved were probably the domestic races only ; domestic stock of the modern era not to be traced from the wild races ; many wild animals are restricted to particular countries and localities ; their diffusion from a focus impossible ; the olive tree a proof of new creations CONTENTS. XVI

Chapter XXIX

Page. Theory of indefinite time opposed to Scripture ; arises from an erroneous interpretation ; evidence of rapid accumulation of strata ; proved in the transition series ; old red sandstone ; mountain limestone ; coal measures ; new red sandstone ; lias ; oolite ; chalk and tertiary deposits ; volcanic agency, more intense formerly ; indefinite duration of the Earth refuted 425

Chapter XXX

Geological arguments against the universality of the Deluge ; objections to a partial Deluge ; geological argument refuted ; Eden obliterated by the Deluge ; proofs from Scripture ; errors arising from the division of the two first verses of Genesis ; existing postdiluvian vegetation created in full maturity of structure ; inquiry into the true age of the world ; Septuagint version adopted ; the chronology of history and the chronology of the Earth proved to be identical 448

Chapter XXXI

Conclusion 480 LIST OF PLATES. Frontispiece. Plate I. — Figure 1 121 Plate II. — Figure 2 127 Plate III. — Figure 3 ERRATA. Page 71 line 2 — after "Genesis" insert "and" „ 100 „ 2— after "expansion" dele " , " „ 129 „ 3 — from bottom, after "ejected" read " ; " „ 139 „ 7 — of heading — for "Boulder" read "Boulders' „ 141 ,, 6 — from bottom, for "then" read "than" „ 313 „ 15 — for " Lyme Remis" read " Lyme Regis" „ 322 „ 11 — from bottom, for "seem" read "seems" „ 389 „ 6 — from bottom, for " were " read " are " THE CHRONOLOGY OF CREATION UK GEOLOGY AND SCRIPTURE RECONCILED.

Chapter I

Figure of the Earth ; primeval state of fluidity ; heavy matter collected at the centre ; nebular hypothesis refuted ; aqueous origin of the earth. It has been ascertained from the facts disclosed by Astronomical research, that the Earth we inhabit is of an oblate spheroidal form; or such a figure as any fluid body would assume if possessed of rotatory motion in space. It has moreover been determined that our planet not only possesses a spheroidal form, but also, that it actuady does revolve in space, from whence we are again at liberty, from inductive reasoning, to infer, that when the rotatory impulse was B first imparted to the material atoms of which the planet is composed, those atoms were in a fluid or yielding condition. It has been farther ascertain ed, that if rotatory movement be imparted to fluid matter, the mechanical action thus engendered wid have the effect of causing ad the heavier particles to codect around the centre, where they will arrange themselves in obedience to the laws of gravitation and attraction, around the true centre of gravity, " at which all the weight of a mass might be collect ed without disturbing the equilibrium of any system of which the mass forms a part."* Experiments upon the mean density of the Earth have proved that the centre, or internal portion, is composed of some dense and weighty substances, and thus we are again authorised, by direct experiments, to infer, that those central parts are composed of the heavy particles which the mechanical movement threw down towards the centre, when the materials of which the now solid matter consists, were in a fluid state, and that they were precipitated or collected according to the laws of gravity and attraction after rotatory impulse had been imparted to the yielding mass.

Now this fluid condition of the Earth's material elements, must have originated either from the operation of intense heat, or through the agency of * Penny Cyclopædia — Centre of Gravity. water; the one causing fusion; the other, a state of solution and suspension. If heat were the agent employed, as appears to be most generady believed, the material elements of the Earth must have been originady in a nebular state, and then, as the heat decreased by radiation into space, those materials must have graduady cooled down to a state of fluidity, from which again they would have passed, as the mass underwent refrigeration, to a semi-solid, and lastly to a sodd state. This theory was thought to derive great support, amounting almost to positive certainty, from the fact that there exist in space, many apparently nebulous bodies, which were asserted to exhibit various stages of the cooling or condensing process ; but these asserted proofs have, of late years, been somewhat rudely shaken, if not altogether invali dated, by the unexpected results produced by Lord Rosse's gigantic telescope, by which many of the hitherto supposed nebulæ have been proved to be nothing more than clusters of stars, the true nature of which, from the great distance at which they occur, had not been ascertainable by the power of the instruments hitherto employed.

It is true, that many stid exist, which even this powerful instru ment cannot resolve, but from the results already obtained, there naturady arises a disposition to bedeve that these, like the less remote bodies, are only waiting for an accession of space-penetrating power iii our telescopes, in order to be resolved likewise. On the 5th of March 1845, these sup posed nebulæ were observed by Lord Rosse, Dr. Robinson, and Sir J. South, the latter of whom in a letter addressed to " The Times" newspaper of the 1st of Aprd, thus writes ; — " most of them were, for the first time since their creation, seen by us in groups or clusters of stars ; whdst some, at least to my eyes, showed no such resolution." — " The most popularly known nebulæ observed this night, were the ring nebulæ in the Canes Venatici, or the 51st of Messier's catalogue, which was resolved into stars with a magnifying power of 548; and the 94th of Messier, which is in the same constedation, and which was resolved into a large globular cluster of stars, not much unlike the wed known cluster in Hercules, called also 13th Messier."

" On subsequent nights, observations of other nebulæ, amounting to some thirty or more, removed most of them from the list of nebulæ, where they had long figured, to that of clusters ; whilst some of these latter, but more especiady 5th Messier, exhibited a sidereal picture in the telescope, such as man had never seen, and which for its magnificence, baffles all description." The resolution of a part of these supposed nebulæ into clusters of stars, appears " decidedly fatal to the conclusion that any such thing exists at all, as the condition of matter properly termed nebulous, upon the hypothesis of which the theory before us is entirely based. If a succession of like effects is found to fodow a succession of like operations, there is no argument more conclusive than that the repetition of the same operation, differing only in the scale of magnitude, would, if it were tried, exhibit a repetition of the same effects.

If upon a succession of trials, with instruments of different capacity, a succession of so caded nebulæ are discovered, and upon each occasion the nebulous result of the previous trial be shown to be a delusion, by the more perfect scrutiny of that which suc ceeds, are we not justified in concluding, or rather, would we be justified in not concluding, that, had we an instrument as much exceeding in power the best now existing, by which the newest examples of the phenomena in question have been revealed, as that surpasses ad that have gone before, we should discover that these also are but delusive appearances like the rest, — that, in fact, there is no such thing in nature as a nebula at ad? And thus the whole theory of nebulous diffusion fads to the ground; for apart from this, there is not any thing that can reasonably be referred to as evinc ing a testimony of such a state of things having ever prevailed."* * Mason's Creation by the Immediate Agency of God, as opposed to Creation by Natural Law, p. 35.

The probability of this nebulous condition has been wed combatted by Professor Whewed, whose arguments ad tend forcibly to show that no such state could ever have existed, for we are compelled, as he justly observes, to suppose that it in like manner was educed from a stid prior state of things ; and this again must have been the result of a condition prior stid. " Nor is it possible for us to find in the tenets of the nebular hypothesis any resting place or satisfaction for the mind;" "the nebular hypothesis" — he continues, — " refers us for the Solar system, to a Sun surrounded with an At mosphere of enormously elevated temperature, revolving and cooling. But as we ascend to a still earlier period, what state of things are we to sup pose? a stid higher temperature, a still more diffused atmosphere.

Laplace conceives that in its pristine state, the Sun consisted in a diffused lumi nosity so as to resemble those nebulæ among the fixed stars, which are seen by the aid of the telescope, and which exhibit a nucleus, more or less bril liant, surrounded by a cloudy brightness. This an terior state was itself preceded by other states in which the nebulous matter was more and more diffuse, the nucleus being less and less luminous." " We arrive," Laplace says, " in this manner at a nebulosity so diffuse, that its existence could scarcely be suspected."* * Bridgewater Treatise — Astronomy, p. 185. Whatfthen, we may ask, would be the conse quence of tlds nebulosity if carried back, as Laplace supposes, to the extremest point of tenuity which it is possible to conceive, or for matter to arrive at?

It has been urged that, " if all the matter existing in the Sun, planets and sateldtes, were expanded to, and even beyond the orbit of Uranus, the whole mass would still be but a speck in the Universe."* This is no doubt perfectly true, but the argument cannot be restricted merely to the space which the Solar system might occupy, if reduced to a gaseous state, but must embrace, like- Avise, ad those countless systems which de scattered through the heavens, even beyond the reach of our most powerful instruments, for the coodng and condensing of our system into Sun and planets, is but one step only in the process of refrigeration; so that there must have been a time when every existing system, far or near, was in that gaseous state which the nebular hypothesis requires. What then, we repeat, would be the consequence of this nebulosity, if carried back to the extremest point of tenuity which matter could arrive at ?

Is it not evident that the intensity of heat necessary to produce this extreme state, must, at some former period, have pervaded all space? How then, did refrigeration commence ? * Dela Beche's Theoretical Geology, p. 26. Refrigeration is known to be the result of a decrease of temperature, caused by radiation from a heated body into a cooler medium; but what became of the fluid heat of the nebulous matter, when ad space was already occupied by the most intense heat that could possibly be produced? The supposition that such nebulous matter could ever have existed, is thus seen to involve a manifest and utter impossibility, for, if all space was occupied by matter in the extremest state of tenuity, there was evidently no unoccupied region into which the radiating heat could have found its way, and consequently an equilibrium having been esta blished, refrigeration could never have had a beginning !

It has been surmised that the cooling of the fluid earth, would graduady have produced a crust of rocky matter around an internal heated mass, and that, as refrigeration still proceeded, cracks and fissures, and depressions in the external coat ing, must have ensued from contraction.* Now this crust, from the circumstances under which it was produced, would, in ad probability, have been analogous to granite, and the stid highly heated, though graduady cooling internal mass, to the true volcanic rocks. The depression of any portion of the granitic crust, consequent on contraction, * Ansted's Ancient World, passim. would therefore seem capable only of giving rise to great irregularities of surface, totally unac companied by any of those remarkable phenomena which are now held to be indicative of violent disruption and elevation, — for the subsidence of any part must have been as slow and gradual as the refrigeration which gave rise to it, and conse quently, there could have been no sudden ejection of fluid matter consequent on the pressure of the sinking granite.

Such a theory is therefore in direct opposition to facts, for it is found that granite has itself been traversed by dykes and veins of other rocks in a state of fusion, and that it has been elevated to its present towering position, not by the depression of other portions of its own mass, but by the struggles of the internal heated matter to force a passage to the surface. But judging from analogy, it would seem to be a necessary condition, that if the mineral substance of the globe had been reduced from a state of fusion, it would have cooled down into a solid mass of crystadine rock, exhibiting no trace of stratification, as is well known to be the case with granite, — a rock which, because it is crystaldne and amorphous, is considered to be of igneous origin. Yet, although granite is unstratified, we find that those other rocks which we term primary, are not all amorphous, but on the contrary, that they possess a true and well marked stratification. c Now the stratified arrangement of mineral matter, is supposed, when we contemplate the secondary and tertiary formations, to denote precipitation or deposition from tranquil waters, and we know, in fact, of no other agent that could produce this effect ; consequently, we are bound in 'consistency and reason to refer the stratification apparent in some primary rocks, to the agency of water like wise.

We may perhaps be told, that the amorphous granite, is the original crust cooled down from the nebular state, and that the stratified primary formations subsequently derived their ori gin from the Waters which are supposed to have been held in a state of vapour, and that, as these became condensed into seas by the gradual refri geration of the revolving mass, a precipitation of earthy matter took place, and thus produced the primary stratified rocks around the unstra tified granite. Such a supposition, however, would not be at all more tenable than any other part of the theory, for it must be remembered that even had aqueous vapours existed during the nebular period, those vapours could not have held mineral matter either in suspension or solution, and, therefore, that if they became condensed into waters by the refrigeration of the globe, such waters would stid have been pure, and would have contained nothing from which deposits could have been produced, because we know it to be a law pertaining to evaporation, that while the vapour rises pure into the atmosphere, the mineral substances with which it was previously combined, are by this process disengaged from it.

Consequently, the condensation of such vapours, or even the combination of the gases which enter into their composition, would have produced a sea of pure fresh water; — whence then were the saline properties of the ocean derived ? The stratification of primary rocks did not then originate in the deposition of mineral matter from condensed vapours. But again it may be urged, that the constant abrading powers of the primeval ocean, caused the materials of the stratified primary rocks to be worn off the granitic crust that formed the outer portion of the cooling globe, and that, subsequently, the deposition of such matter gave origin to stratification. To this view it may be satisfacto rdy objected, that the only deposits which are now produced, are those which result from the action of the elements upon the dry land.