2 20 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a most suggestive field for research. One line of investigation lies 

 through embryology, and here the advance is most encouraging. An- 

 other promising path leads back through the life-history of the globe, 

 and in this direction we may hope for increasing light, as a reward for 

 patient work. 



The plants and animals now living on the earth interest alike the 

 savage and the savant, and hence have been carefully observed in every 

 age of human history. The life of the remote past, however, is pre- 

 served only in scanty records, bui'ied in the earth, and therefore readily 

 escapes attention. For these reasons, the study of ancient life is one 

 of the latest of modern sciences, and among the most difficult. In 

 view of the great advances which this dej^artment of knowledge has 

 made within the last decade, especially in this country, I have thought 

 it fitting to the present occasion to review briefly its development, and 

 have chosen for my subject this evening " The History and Methods 

 of Paleontological Discovery." 



In the short time now at my command, I can only attempt to pre- 

 sent a rapid sketch of the principal steps in the progress of this science. 

 The literature of the subject, especially in connection with the discus- 

 sions it provoked, is voluminous, and an outline of the history itself 

 must suffice for my present purpose. 



In looking over the records of paleontology, its history may con- 

 veniently be divided into four periods, well marked by prominent 

 features, but, like all stages of intellectual growth, without definite 

 boundaries. 



The first period, dating back to the time when men first noticed 

 fossil remains in the rocks, and queried as to their nature, is of special 

 historic interest. The most prominent characteristic of this period 

 was, a long and bitter contest as to the nature of fossil remains. 

 Were they mere " sports of Nature," or had they once been endowed 

 with life ? Simple as this problem now seems, centuries passed before 

 the wise men of that time were agreed upon its solution. 



Sea-shells in the solid rock on the tops of mountains early attracted 

 the attention of the ancients, and the learned men among them seem 

 to have appreciated in some instances their true character, and given 

 rational explanations of their presence. 



The philosopher Zenophanes, of Colophon, who lived about 500 

 B. c, mentions the remains of fishes and other animals in the stone- 

 quarries near Syracuse, the impression of an anchovy in the rock of 

 Paros, and various mai-ine fossils at other places. His conclusion from 

 these facts was, that the surface of the earth had once been in a soft 

 condition at the bottom of the sea ; and thus the objects mentioned 

 were entombed. Herodotus, half a century later, speaks of marine 

 shells on the hills of Egypt and over the Libyan Desert, and he in- 



