Not so fast, my friend. It is well known that these declarations of science are mere speculations, plausible indeed, but nowhere proven to be true. Granting all that the infidel asks, let us carefully read the sacred record and see if there really is any contradiction: "And God said. Let the waters bring forth abundantly the living creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." (_Gen. i_, 20). Had Moses written, "And God now created every living thing that moveth in the waters," there might have been some reason for infidel objections. We should therefore especially notice that Moses does not say that this was the first dawn of animal life upon our globe, but simply that the waters were now to "_bring forth abundantly_ the moving creature that hath life, and fowl," etc. In all this there is no inconsistency between the geological and Biblical statements. On the other hand the wording of the text is such as to lead the student to believe that birds were of aquatic origin, that is, lived on the water. {194} In the twenty-first verse we are told that God created great whales (literally sea-monsters) "and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind and every winged fowl after his kind." And here we also perceive that the waters are again represented to be as it were the nursing mother of both birds and the lower orders of animal life. Mark also that the term "created" is used only three times in the whole of this record; first in reference to the creation of the earth, second in reference to sea-monsters, and third in reference to the creation of man. [ILLUSTRATION: PIECE OF CHALK HIGHLY MAGNIFIED.] {195} While revelation teaches us that the period when the waters were to bring forth abundantly, was in a succeeding epoch to that in which vegetation commenced; geology bears testimony that there are few remains of animal life till we come up to more recently formed strata, than the vegetable deposits of the coal measures. It is only when we arrive at the chalk measures that we find an "abundance" of animal life. Recent investigations have shown, that chalk is mostly composed of shells in every stage of change, some perfect, some broken, and still others decayed into an impalpable dust. Some of these shells are so minute that it would require 1,800 placed side by side to measure a single inch. Perhaps no human intellect is able to form a conception of this profuseness of animal life. Well might Moses say the sea brought forth abundantly. [ILLUSTRATION: REMAINS OF SHELL FISH.]