very limited, until we come to the tertiary period. Then, for the first time, appear some of the same species of animals which still exist, and their number gradually increases till the latest strata are reached. The former inhabitants of the globe differed from the present in many of the minuter details of their structure, though they agreed in all the more essential principles.

But besides the occasional occurrence, in all these strata, of organic remains, immense layers of rock are entirely formed of animal and vegetable substances. Coal has been already mentioned. The limestone, with which it is often associated, is composed, to a large extent, of minute shells and corals, the remains of animals which could have lived only in the sea. Even at the present day, the coral is building up, throughout the Pacific Ocean, rocks and islands of great extent, which may become the continents of future ages. A celebrated naturalist mentions a stratum of rock in Germany, not less than fourteen feet in thickness, which is composed exclusively of the shells of animalcules, so minute that 40,000,000,000 of them would not fill a space greater than a cubic inch!

Since each stratum contains the remains of the organized tribes which inhabited the earth at the time of its deposition, we have, in these remains, so many museums presenting to us specimens of the zoology and botany of the globe in successive ages of its history. It is remarkable that among the numberless varieties of these fossils, no trace of man has ever been found, except in the accumulations which have been deposited since the present order of things commenced. Thus science coincides with revelation in testifying that man is the latest, as he is the noblest, of God's creatures upon earth.

Many have rashly and impiously argued that the discoveries of geology are at variance with the history of creation revealed to us in the Bible, but the most eminent geologists are of a different opinion. It is not our business here to enter on such a question, but we may rest assured that the Bible will never suffer from the discovery of truth.

F

QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION

Of what does geology treat? What is meant by the crust of the earth? What substances do geologists call rocks? What do we know of the earth's interior? State some of the effects of volcanoes. What rocks owe their origin to subterranean fire? What are aqueous rocks? Explain how the dry land is being disintegrated? What would follow if this disintegration were not counteracted? What counteracts it? State some of the effects of earthquakes. Why are aqueous rocks sometimes found far from the sea? What are strata? Which rocks are stratified? Which unstratified? What are transition rocks? primary rocks? secondary rocks? tertiary rocks? Why were all the strata originally horizontal? Why not so now? What are fossils? What rocks are formed entirely of fossilized vegetables? of fossilized animals? Are there any human fossils? What is inferred from their absence?

GOD HATH A VOICE.

[ELIZA COOK, the daughter of a tradesman in Southwark, London, was born in 1817. The "Old Arm Chair," "Old Farm Gate," and many other of her pieces are stamped with the truest character of poetry, and are universally admired.]

GOD hath a voice that ever is heard

In the peal of the thunder, the chirp of the bird;
It comes in the torrent, all rapid and strong,
In the streamlet's soft gush as it ripples along;
It breathes in the zephyr, just kissing the bloom;
It lives in the rush of the sweeping simoon;
Let the hurricane whistle, or warblers rejoice,
What do they all tell thee but God hath a voice?

God hath a presence, and that ye may see
In the fold of the flower, the leaf of the tree;
In the sun of the noonday, the star of the night;
In the storm-cloud of darkness, the rainbow of light;
In the waves of the ocean, the furrows of land;
In the mountain of granite, the atom of sand;
Turn where ye may, from the sky to the sod,
Where can ye gaze that ye see not a God?

ELIZA COOK

SECTION II.

MUSIC AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION.

"Mòst persons sáy, that the only purpose of músic' is to amùse; but this is a profáne, an unhòly language. To look on music as mere amusement' cànnot be justified. Mùsic which has no other aim, must be considered neither of válue, nor worthy of rèverence." Thús spake Plàto; and his opinion is shared by those who are striving to spread music among the people in the prèsent day.

The physical organs and aptitudes of ear and voice required for vocal músic' are stíll very generally regarded as peculiar endowments, rare gifts, possessed only by a few; whereas, in truth, they are the very same as those used for speaking and heàring, the common inheritance of mankind. Every child, not born deaf or dúmb, is born with those organs! which may be taught to sing as well as to speak. It is by the teaching of example' that the child attains the power of speech; but the same opportunities are seldom gíven to develop the faculty of sòng. When this teaching has been neglected till advanced áge, the vocal organs become less fléxible' and less obedient to the will, and the art of singing! increasingly difficult to commènce. But even in thèse

cases, patience, effort of mind, and a good méthod, will awaken to creditable úse! the neglected faculty. There is, doubtless, a great difference in the physical constitution of indivíduals, which gives to sòme a much greater nervous susceptibility and consequent delicacy of ear and voice than óthers; but àll mankind are endowed by the Creator with that glorious faculty of sóng, which He has made it our dùty to improve for his praise. There is therefore no

deficiency of natural voice or éar to account for the common neglect of mùsic: nor is there among the people any general unwillingness to learn músic, which is beautiful and attractive to all; nor can any difficulty in the nature of music itself be pleaded, for, considered as an árt, it is certainly more easy than reading, writing, or drawing; and as a scíence, it is most simple in its eléments, however rich and varied in its combinations.

The music, for which wé contend, is linked with poetry, and employed to carry to the heart' some cheerful sèntiment, some lofty thought, or some ennobling emòtion. The importance, to education, of music thús understood, cannot well be overrated. It occupies groùnd, in some degree peculiar to itself—gróund'' which it is very important to occupy rightly in these times. Some advantages it brings to physical, and mány, when rightly stúdied, to intellectual education; but it displays its chief power, on the field of æsthètics, mórals, and religion.

In aesthetic education, it unites with the art of drawing and the study of the finest models of líterature, to develop the love of whatsoever is òrderly, suìtable, harmónious, beautiful, and sublime. This is a branch of education' which the defenders of trúth cannot, in these days, well afford to neglect.

In móral education, it joins with poetry to win the attention of youth, by the innocent beguilement of their united charms, to truths and dúties' too often not otherwise attractive. By the same means it delays the attention on these truths, and, moreover, secúres for them the irresistible pówer' which belongs to constant reiteration. It possesses also that mighty sympathetic ínfluence, which the simple expression of feelings carries with it to the heart of a child, whose interest has been gained. We beguile him to utter, in the voice of a pleasant sóng, the language of some good emotion or some noble sèntiment, and, almost insensibly, he is won to join in the feelings he finds it so pleasant to exprèss. This is a pówer' which is felt by us àll, and which is greater than many arguments. That which the teacher's moral lesson has explained and enforced, the moral song

shall impress on the mémory and endear to the heart. In a sìmilar manner' do mùsic and poetry contribute their aíd' in dírectly religious education. They impress more deeply! truths already taùght; they give a language to the faith, and hòpe, and lòve, and jòy of youthful piety; they elevate the mind, and help to raise the heart to God. None but the heartless or the unwise can doubt the power for good or évil which music and poetry are constantly exerting on education, or fail to see the importance of earnest study and watchful care, that this power' may be well applied.

In physical education! singing, as well as the useful practice of reading aloud, promotes a healthy action of the lúngs and of the muscles of the chest,-most important in a country where consumption lurks for its prèy. Music is well known' to possess a direct, though unexplained, influence on the human nerves. It soothes the weary or the excited frame. It promotes the health by recreating the mind. And not the least of its educating advantages is, that it oftentimes preoccupies and redeems hours of leisure, which might otherwise have become hours of ídleness or sìn. How good for body and mind is the song round the cottage heárth, when the hours of labour are òver! God has made our cheapest pleasures to be our best and pùrest.

In intellectual education, músic bears no unworthy part. It cultivates the habit of attention and the powers of percéption and imitation, and it will teach, by example, how to observe in musical phenómena, and how to reason upon them. Every subject should be só taught as to improve the pupil's thinking powers, and music gives better scope than is usually suppósed' for such an èxercise.

The habit of committing poetry to memory, which must always accompany the extended and varied use of vocal músic, has a direct tendency to promote a correct knówledge and a fit application of words-most important helps! to intellectual education. One who was both a poet and a philosopher' defined poetry1to be, "the best thoughts' in the fittest words." It may be easily noticed that nearly all children speak well who have been in the constant habit of