h then, by the
heat evolved, are converted once more into molecular chaos. Thus the
worlds that are, lie between the ruins of the worlds that have been and
the chaotic materials of the worlds that shall be; and, in spite of all
waste and destruction, Cosmos is extending his borders at the expense of
Chaos.

Kant's further application of his views to the earth itself is to be
found in his "Treatise on Physical Geography"[52] (a term under which
the then unknown science of geology was included), a subject which he
had studied with very great care and on which he lectured for many
years. The fourth section of the first part of this Treatise is called
"History of the great Changes which the Earth has formerly undergone and
is still undergoing," and is, in fact, a brief and pregnant essay upon
the principles of geology. Kant gives an account first "of the gradual
changes which are now taking place" under the heads of such as are
caused by earthquakes, such as are brought about by rain and rivers,
such as are effected by the sea, such as are produced by winds and
frost; and, finally, such as result from the operations of man.

The second part is devoted to the "Memorials of the Changes which the
Earth has undergone in remote antiquity." These are enumerated as:--A.
Proofs that the sea formerly covered the whole earth. B. Proofs that the
sea has often been changed into dry land and then again into sea. C. A
discussion of the various-theories of the earth put forward by
Scheuchzer, Moro, Bonnet, Woodward, White, Leibnitz, Linnaeus, and
Buffon.

The third part contains an "Attempt to give a sound explanation of the
ancient history of the earth."

I suppose that it would be very easy to pick holes in the details of
Kant's speculations, whether cosmological, or specially telluric, in
their application. But, for all that, he seems to me to have been the
first person to frame a complete system of geological speculation by
founding the doctrine of evolution.

With as much truth as Hutton, Kant could say, "I take things just as I
find them at present, and, from these, I reason with regard to that
which must have been." Like Hutton, he is never tired of pointing out
that "in Nature there is wisdom, system, and consistency." And, as in
these great principles, so in believing that the cosmos has a
reproductive operation "by which a ruined constitution may be repaired,"
he forestalls Hutton; while, on the other hand, Kant is true to