102 THE COMING [CH. 



In November 1832, Darwin returned to Monte 

 Video, from a long journey in the interior of the 

 South American Continent, bringing with him many 

 zoological specimens and a great quantity of fossil 

 bones, teeth and scales, dug out by him with infinite 

 toil from the red mud of the Pampas these fossils 

 evidently belonging to the geological period that 

 immediately preceded that of the existing creation. 

 The living animals represented in his collection were 

 all obviously very distinct from those of Europe 

 consisting of curious sloths, anteaters, and arma- 

 dilloes the so-called 'Edentata* of naturalists. 

 And when young Darwin came to examine and 

 compare his fossil bones, teeth and scales he found 

 that they too must have belonged to animals 

 (megatherium, mylodon, glyptodon, etc.) quite dis- 

 tinct from but of strikingly similar structure to those 

 now living in South America. What could be the 

 meaning of this wonderful analogy ? If Cuvier and 

 his fellow Catastrophists were correct in their view 

 that, at each ' revolution ' taking place on the earth's 

 surface, the whole batch of plants and animals was 

 swept out of existence, and the world was re-stocked 

 with a 'new creation/ why should the brand-new 

 forms, at any particular locality, have such a ' ghost- 

 like ' resemblance to those that had gone before ? It 

 is interesting to note that, just at the same time, 

 a similar discovery was made with respect to Australia. 



