not reach the surface, but as they approached it would be again converted into vapour, and re-ascend to pass again and again through the same process.  But by this means the intense heat of the nucleus would be gradually conveyed away, till the cooling reached a point at which some of the superficial materials would assume a solid form.  It is by no means certain what is the true primary rock—­for a long time it was almost universally assumed to be granite, since granite is uniformly found underlying the oldest sedimentary rocks that are known.  But as these rocks have been forced from their original position and tilted up, the underlying stratum may probably be of later date than the upper ones, since it was the elevating agent.  So that we can have no certain knowledge on this point, since the earliest sedimentary strata, wherever they retain their original position, must be at a depth far below the reach of man.  If, however, Sir C. Kyell’s view of the conditions requisite for the formation of granite are correct, these conditions [Footnote:  Student’s Geology, chap. xxxi.]—­heat, moisture, and enormous pressure—­would all be present at the surface of the nucleus.  Some kind of solid floor must have been formed before the next stage could be reached, at which it would be possible for water to exist in a fluid state.  This, however, would be possible at a much higher temperature than at present, owing to the enormous atmospheric pressure.  It is possible now, by artificial means, to raise water, nearly if not quite, to a red heat, without the formation of steam, and the pressure of the atmosphere in the case supposed would, in all probability, be much greater than any which we can now apply under the conditions necessary for heating the water.

It is probable that at this point the close of the second day must be placed:  but the indications of the narrative do not enable us to fix it with any degree of certainty.  As, however, from this point a new series of processes would commence, and those processes are in intimate connexion with the first of the two developments ascribed to the third day, the period when water could first maintain a fluid form on the earth’s surface, seems to present the most probable line of demarcation.

Section 6.  The third day.

“And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.

“And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas, and God saw that it was good.

“And God said, Let the earth sprout sprouts, the herb seeding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in it, [Footnote:  “It” seems preferable to “itself” here.  The same Hebrew word stands for both, but if the “fruit-tree” be taken as the antecedent, which it must be if we translate “itself,” there seems no meaning in the statement.  If we read “it,” the pronoun will refer to the fruit—­“the tree whose seed is in its fruit”—­which gives an intelligible sense.] upon the earth, and it was so.