Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-02-19
No Rain Before the Deluge.

Tn the late lecture before the Philo-
1ophical Institution, Kilmarnock, Mr..
James Blockwood took up the ques-
tion Of rain, aad gave numerous argu-
ments to prove that there had been no
rain on tie earth TIL the period of the
Deluge. During his arguments he re-
viewed the epochs as follows: What
signs must have risen up before the
mental Cv. e Moses as scene after
sc,u. pas. 18th g1andest pam
Drama Human eye ever beheld The
frs5 sccne-the world chaos, without
form and void-a shoreless sea, envel-
oped in the gloom OF smoke and vapor,
yet seething with internal heat.
s'And darkness. was upon the face of
the deep, and the spirit Of God moved
upon the face Of the waters" No
mention of lan3 here, because there
WAS none-a shoreless sea alone; no
object upon which to fix the eager eye
Just one view to show the chaos,
out Of which progressive order was to
be evolved, The curtain falls, and a
new view opens. The dense vapors
have diminished, the clouds bear their
watery burden aloft, and the liquid.
covered globe appears devoid Of its
dense shroud. No object yet arrests
the eye. Again the curtain falls. to
rise upon a different scene. The
earthquake and volcano have begun
their work land has appeared to
break upon the uniformity of the sea
hill and dale and fertile field appear
clothed with rich yerdure, the marshes
abouuding with mighty ferns, the
mountain tops with waving palms.
And again the scene changes, and a
brighter still appears. The clouds
have no longer their dense character,
but are broken up or dispersed; the
sun has pierced through and lights up
the world with his benignant influence
by day; by night the moon and stars
appear, and trees of gigantic stature
break the view. Again the scene
closes-.-it may be with thunderlngs
and earthquakes, burying deep in the
earth these forests of past cycles, there
to lie till now, after the lapse of mil
lions Of years, we find them in the
form of coal. And as the curtain
again rises, the waters are observed
teeming with living creatures, the
river mouths alive with their amphibi-
Gus tribes, and wondrous birds sail
through the air; the land is covered
with yet greater luxuriance; the
climate having become more temperate,
forest and fruit trees abound. And
now the fifth scene closes and the last
begins. In the long intervals between
the scene, the elements have been at
work and causing changes on the sur
face of the land, while the cooling Of
the globe has been modifying the or
ganisms to suit the altered circumstan-
ces. And now the last scene opens
with the view of living animals OF all
kinds. and some Of them Of monstrous
size, roaming in the forest or browsing
on the mountain side; and last, and
crown of all. man appears upon the
scene. After treating of the rainbow
as a final proof, the lecturer alluded to
the objection which might be raised
that impressions Of raindrops had been
seen in rocks of the secondary period,
assigning other causes which might
produce the marks. He then went on
to say--If these are not satisfactory
we may depend upon it the wrong key
has been used to unlock the secret of
the rocks. as it is too slender founda-
ton on which to build disbelief in
the Mosaic record so wonderfully con-
frmed in every other PARTICULAR
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