e with
the laws of gravitation and centrifugal force; (2) it possesses an
internal heat, apart from that received from the sun; (3) its own heat
is insufficient to maintain life; (4) the substances of which the earth
is composed are of the nature of glass, or can be converted into glass
as the result of heat and fusion--that is, are verifiable; (5)
everywhere on the surface, including mountains, exist enormous
quantities of shells and other maritime remains.

To the theses just enumerated Buffon added what he called the
"monuments," or what Hugh Miller, a century later, more aptly described
as the Testimony of the Rocks. From a consideration of all these things,
Buffon at length arrived at his succession of the Epochs, or Seven Ages
of Nature, namely: (1) the Age of fluidity, or incandescence, when the
earth and planets assumed their shape; (2) the Age of cooling, or
consolidation, when the rocky interior of the earth and the great
vitrescible masses at its surface were formed; (3) the Age when the
waters covered the face of the earth; (4) the Age when the waters
retreated and volcanoes became active; (5) the Age when the elephant,
hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and other giants roamed through the northern
hemisphere; (6) the Age of the division of the land into the vast areas
now styled the Old and the New Worlds; and (7) the Age when Man
appeared.

ROBERT CHAMBERS

Vestiges of Creation

Robert Chambers was born in Peebles, Scotland, July 10, 1802, and
died at St. Andrews on March 17, 1871. He was partner with his
brother in the publishing firm of W. & R. Chambers, was editor of
"Chambers's Journal," and was author of several works when he
published anonymously, in October 1844, the work by which his name
will always be remembered, "Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation." His previous works, some thirty in number, did not deal
with science, and his labour in preparing his masterpiece was
commensurate with the courage which such an undertaking involved.
When the book was published, such interest and curiosity as to its
authorship were aroused that we have to go back to the publication
of "Waverley" for a parallel. Little else was talked about in
scientific circles. The work was violently attacked by many hostile
critics, F.W. Newman, author of an early review, being a
conspicuous exception. In the historical introduction to the