In the Scientific American of May 17, 1879, appears an article headed, “A New Estimate of the World’s Age.” From this it appears that a Mr. Millard Reade, of Liverpool, has contributed to the Royal Society, a paper in which he claims to have found a new and satisfactory clew to the age of the earth. His argument may be summarily stated thus:— Limestone has been in process of formation from the earliest period. Mr. Reade “estimates” the sedimentary crust of the earth at one mile in average thickness. Of this he says, “probably one-tenth consists of calcareous [Limestone] matter.” Seeking the origin of this calcareous matter, the article continues, “it is assumed that the primitive rocks of the original crust were of the nature of granite or basaltic rocks.” Then the amount of lime salts in water drained from such rocks is found to be 3.73 parts to 100,000 parts of water. We quote again: “It is further assumed that the exposed area of igneous rocks, taking an average throughout all geological time, will bear to the exposures of sedimentary rocks a ratio of about one to nine.” From these and other data it is then “concluded” that the elimination of the calcareous matter found in the sedimentary strata “must have occupied about 600 millions of years.” In the foregoing quotations, the italics are our own. The reader will see at once the basis of this wonderful conclusion: first, an “estimate,” then a “probability,” then an “assumption,” then a fact which is available only if the assumption is correct, then another “assumption,” then the grand “conclusion.” And having thus positively proved Moses to be five hundred and ninety-nine millions, nine hundred and ninety-four thousand years from the truth, they are happy! How nice it is to have such clear and positive knowledge about these things!