The infinite time of the geologists is in the past; and most of their speculations regarding this subject seem to imply the absolute infinity of time, as if the human imagination was unable to grasp the period of time requisite for the formation of a few inches of sand or feet of mud, and its subsequent consolidation into rock.

Manual of Geology, Lecture IV (p. 80), Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer. 1866