HOW STONES GROW by Frederick Griggs

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 29, 1902

HOW STONES GROW.

By Frederick Griggs

IN concluding my article last week, I said that this week we would talk about the growth of stones. While stones grow, they do not grow as do trees. In a word, it may be said that trees grow from within, and stones from without. Trees have cells, in which is a living matter called protoplasm. These cells increase by dividing. That is, one of these cells divides and becomes two cells; each of these cells in turn divides, and so four cells are formed; and this is the way growth goes on in the tree. But stones grow by simply adding more of the same kind of material to what they already have; or we may say they grow by accretion. Then trees grow by division, and stones by addition. But stones are spoken of as dead things, while trees are alive. Here is a good lesson for us. If we wish to be really living, we can be so only by dividing the life which we have. In this way it is true that a joy that is divided is a joy that is doubled.

All over the earth rocks are forming at the present time. They form, however, in very different ways. They may form by pressure and heat, as the sandstone is formed, or by the addition of chemical matter, as when wood petrifies, or by the cooling of melted minerals, as in the hardening of lava from volcanoes. We find some stones in layers. That is, there is a layer of one kind of mineral, on top of which is another sort of stone, and so on, different materials lying on top of each other.

These layers are called strata, each layer being a stratum. As men bore down for many hundreds of feet into the earth, as in mines and deep wells, it is found that the layers of rock are placed upon each other in this stratified order. There is no doubt but those rocks, which are found in all parts of the world, were so placed by the Creator when the world was spoken into existence by His word, and so may not be due directly to the action of water. But this same stratification we find in layers of earth and stone nearer the surface, which we may attribute to water action. It may help us in finding a reason why these stones and earth are put in layers, to perform a simple experiment. Take from a rushing torrent of water a dishful, and let it settle. We see that in a very few moments the heavier stones and coarser sand which the water was carrying along drop to the bottom. These are followed by the finer sand and form a second layer. On top of the sand will come the clay and soil. It may be several days before the water becomes perfectly clear. We may often find this same order of layers in a large gravel pit or quarry. This will also account for the different layers found in various lands that have been covered with water, such as marshes that have been dried up and are now under cultivation.

It is certainly reasonable to suppose that at the time of the flood a great proportion, not only of the soil, but of the upper rocks of the earth, were broken up, and were held in suspension by the moving waters. When these waters ceased their violent action and became still, then the particles of rock which had been ground up would naturally settle, in somewhat the same manner as that seen in our dish of water. Owing to the pressure of the large quantities of earth above these layers of rock, they would naturally again harden, and we may thus account for many of the forms of stratified rock which we find as we dig into the earth. Not only do we here find the cause of the stratification of rock, but for the occurrence as well of gravel and sand-pits.

However, not all of these changes are attributable to the action of the water at the time of the flood; for we find in many places in our country changes which have taken place in the surface of the earth during the lifetime of one individual, in which the same order of work has been carried on. The first surveyors in Michigan platted many marshes and ponds on their survey maps which the early settlers did not find. These ponds and marshes had been filled up. This had taken place through the action of streams of water flowing into them, bringing mineral and vegetable matter, which were there deposited. Now, when a stream comes into a pond, carrying with it stones, sand and soil, sticks and weeds, it deposits the heavier matter near the mouth of the stream, and carries out the lighter farther into the pond. This takes place because the stream begins to flow more slowly, and the heavier matter drops first. So, as a natural consequence, much of the heavier mineral matter is thus placed together. In time this becomes covered with soil, which presses upon this mineral matter, and the pressure, together with the natural heat of the earth, tends to form it into stone. This accounts for stones often being found in land that has once been low and marshy. I know of good, well-tilled and productive farms in the vicinity of the great lakes that are to-day dry and easily cultivated, but which, twenty or thirty years ago, were marshes. In these same lands will often be found these stones of which I have spoken. They are generally soft, and can easily be cut with a knife; but the process of hardening is continually going on.

It will be seen, then, that the growth of stones is a process very different from that of the growth of living things; and also that the bringing together of the minerals which go to make the stones is largely accomplished by the action of water. There is another point that may be added, and that is that certain minerals tend to harden and solidify more easily than others, and this accounts for the more rapid growth of certain kinds of stones; for instance, the limestone. This stratified position of the rocks of the earth has led geologists to arrive at the conclusion that the earth has been millions of years in coming to its present state. They have based their opinions very largely on the idea that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” That is to say, that all of the earth’s crust has been formed by this slow process which we now see going on about us. But they fail to see the truth of the scripture that follows: “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” This idea that things have always continued as they are continuing at the present time is not warranted by the Word of God. It is by faith alone that we can understand the mighty works which are wrought by His word. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

So. Lancaster, Mass. FREDERICK GRIGGS.