Theory of the progressive Development of Organic Life. 85 



whether marine or terrestrial, in the ancient strata, is as fatal 

 to the theory of successive development as if several hundreds 

 had been discovered." Could we be certain that the indivi- 

 dual had been really contemporaneous with the rock in which 

 its remains were found, we might admit the truth of the in- 

 duction ; but this certainty we can never obtain from the re- 

 mains of one, or even of more than one individual imbedded in 

 any rock whatever: for when we consider what fractures and 

 convulsions have affected the ancient crust of the globe, and 

 how much it has been torn by currents and inundations, we 

 are compelled to admit that organic remains from the upper 

 strata may sometimes be buried in the lower rocks. The 

 real subject of surprise is, that such instances are not of more 

 frequent occurrence. It is well known to practical men, that 

 fractures in many of the strata are so completely closed by 

 pressure or infiltration in a short time, as scarcely to leave a 

 trace of their former existence : what must be the case then 

 when these causes have been in operation for thousands of 

 years ? It is stated in the same work, that " a single vertebral 

 bone of a saurian animal, with a patella, and echinal spines, 

 have been found in the mountain limestone of Northumber- 

 land." Supposing the fact to be correct, these organic re- 

 mains being common in the oolitic strata, and never having 

 been found before in the mountain limestone ; if we are to in- 

 troduce the law of chances into geology, we may say that the 

 chances are many millions to one against their being found 

 together as coexisting animals in a formation in which they 

 have hitherto been absent : but it is extremely probable that 

 they might have been transported together through a fracture 

 into the strata below, and that this fracture has been subse- 

 quently closed ; hence all inferences drawn from such ano- 

 malous facts are of little value. The entire skeleton of a man 

 imbedded in solid coal 97 yards below the surface, at Ashby- 

 wolds in Leicestershire, which I mentioned in chap. i. of my 

 " Introduction to Geology," proves how cautious we should 

 be in drawing conclusions from individual instances. The 

 men, when the skull was first discovered, ascended to inform 

 the proprietor of the mine, and told him at the same time 

 that the coal was solid and unbroken around it ; but when he 

 examined the place, as they were clearing out the remainder 

 of the skeleton, he perceived that the coal, though apparently 

 compact, was not so solid as in other parts of the bed ; and 

 by opening passages in different directions, the appearance 

 of an ancient pit was discovered, though it had not been 

 worked, nor was there any tradition in the neighbourhood of 

 its having been sunk. 



F 2 A living 



