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Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) - Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky by Various
page 53 of 355 (14%)
between, telling each its history of centuries long past. In one place
no less than sixteen such beds of coal are found, one below another,
each divided from the next above and the next underneath by beds of
clay or sand or shale. The forests could not have grown in the sea,
and the earth-layers could not have been formed on land, therefore
many land-risings and sinkings must have taken place. Each bed
probably tells the tale of a succession of forests....

* * * * *

Before going on to a sketch of the early ages of the Earth's
history--ages stretching back long long before the time of Adam--it is
needful to think yet for a little longer about the manner in which
that history is written, and the way in which it has to be read.

For the record is one difficult to make out, and its style of
expression is often dark and mysterious. There is scarcely any other
volume in the great Book of Nature, which the student is so likely to
misread as this one. It is very needful, therefore, to hold the
conclusions of geologists with a light grasp, guarding each with a
"perhaps" or a "may be." Many an imposing edifice has been built, in
geology, upon a rickety foundation which has speedily given way.

In all ages of the world's history up to the present day, rock-making
has taken place--fire-made rocks being fashioned underground, and
water-made rocks being fashioned above ground though under water.

Also in all ages different kinds of rocks have been fashioned side by
side--limestone in one part of the world, sandstone in another, chalk
in another, clay in another, and so on. There have, it is true, been
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