Statement by Wilbur A. Nelson

Nelson - 7.

States and reached as far south as the Ohio River. We know that now their southern edge lies far to the north in Northern Canada over a thousand miles away. We know that it took approximately 4000 years for the continental glacier which last covered the New England States to melt back from Harford, [ Connecticutt ], to St. Johnsburg, Vermont. This is only one way of measuring in years some of the more recent geological happenings. There are many other methods that could be given if it were necessary.

In connection with evolution, it is especially of interest to note that the relative ages of the rocks correspond closely to the degrees of complexity of organization shown by the fossils in those rocks. The simpler organisms being found in the more ancient rocks, each type of organism becoming more and more complex as we come nearer to the present day, man and his fossil and cultural remains being no exception.

It, therefore, appears that it would be impossible to study or teach geology in Tennessee, or elsewhere, without using the theory of evolution.