dead acorn. This is in harmony with our experience, and we have no doubt
of the correctness of his observations. How absurd, then, to suppose that
acorns can retain their vitality so as to germinate after years of
out-door or other exposure. The seeds of forest-trees that mature in May
and June, or the majority of them at least, have to be planted in those
months, as all persons engaged in forest culture well know. This is
specially true of cedars and oaks, as well as of elms and maples.

Study the paleontological facts as given by Prof. Frederick McCoy, of the
University of Melbourne, in Australia, a gentleman highly distinguished
for his learning and research. He has explored portions of that continent
as far down as the azoic rocks, and made many important discoveries as to
the past life of the globe. His researches have been especially rich in
the Cambrian or Lower Silurian epochs, and have led to many modifications
in the classification of the various forms of life pervading those earlier
periods, and we may say that the facts he has brought to light tend
strongly to show the correctness of our theory as taken from the biblical
text; as, for instance, the _Trilobites_, occurring so abundantly in what
is known as the Utica slates. Wherever the slates make their appearance,
whether in Australia, America, or any portion of Europe, this fossil,
characteristic of the Silurian and Devonian systems, appeared, not so much
in time and place as in extended localities and conditions--indicating the
presence of a law of life such as we have enunciated. We once inquired of
the elder Prof. Silliman how long it took for the formation of one of
these periods or systems? His reply was curt and pertinent: "It took long
enough, young man!" That satisfied us at the time, and we have never asked
the question since. It is prying beyond scientific depth, and the ablest
scholars in the world will so regard it in the end.

All fossils follow the same developmental law, and seem to have been