Chapter XV

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PERIODS OF CREATION AND RECORDS OF CREATION.

Reform of Systems by the Theory of Descent.—The Natural System
as a Pedigree.—Palæontological Records of the
Pedigree.—Petrifactions as Records of Creation.—Deposits of the
Neptunic Strata and the Enclosure of Organic Remains.—Division
of the Organic History of the Earth into Five Main Periods:
Period of the Tangle Forests, Fern Forests, Pine Forests,
Foliaceous Forests, and of Cultivation.—The Series of Neptunic
Strata.—Immeasurable Duration of the Periods which have elapsed
during their Formation.—Deposits of Strata only during the
Sinking, not during the Elevation of the Ground.—Other Gaps in
the Records of Creation.—Metamorphic Condition of the most
Ancient Neptunic Strata.—Small Extent of Palæontological
Experience.—Small proportion of Organisms and of Parts of
Organisms Capable of Petrifying.—Rarity of many Petrified
Species.—Want of Fossilised Intermediate Forms.—Records of the
Creation in Ontogeny and in Comparative Anatomy 1