ELEMENTS OF AC TUO -PALEONTOLOGY 



by 



W. Schafer 

 Zoologisches Institut der Universitat Frankfurt 



More than 150 years ago some geologists perceived that only with know- 

 ledge about present occurrences upon the earth could they understand the forms 

 and physical events in the rocks of the geological past. With this perception a 

 principle of research became effective, which puts a causal-scientific kind of 

 view beside the historical one. 



Two men especially should be mentioned who realized the principle in their 

 pioneer piece of work: the German, Karl von Hoff (died 1835), and the English- 

 man, Charles Lyell (died 1875). "The Principles of Geology" by Lyell espec- 

 ially is to be read with advantage to the present day. 



It ought not to be forgotten that long ago the artist and researcher, 

 Leonardo da Vinci, and the mathematician and astronomer, Galilei, had ex- 

 pressed similar thoughts, without being understood by their contemporaries. 

 Of course, it was not by chance that the method of actual research by the study 

 of earth-history was first discovered in the Renaissance. Mechanistic inter- 

 pretation of the world began at that time. It was an approach which in the nine- 

 teenth century achieved the success in natural science which is still with us. 



It was only in recent decades that institutes began this special task of 

 studying the recent happenings in nature. The first such institute was founded 

 at Wilhelmshaven on the southern coast of the North Sea by Rudolf Richter. 

 Today others have followed on other coasts and in other countries. They con- 

 sider themselves servants of geology and paleontology, though they investigate 

 the occurrences and forms on the earth of today. We call them institutes of 

 "Actuogeology and Actuopaleontology". 



As to the method, we use the direct observation of events. Because the 

 work is in the present there is the possibility of experiment. The result is in 

 all cases the knowledge of timeless laws. These laws in the hands of the geol- 

 ogist and paleontologist cast light on the geological occurrences of the earth's 

 past, and they give an insight into the past life and death upon the earth and into 

 the environments of this life. 



Many rocks of the continent are born in the sea; therefore the examination 

 of the seas of today is more important than the examination of the occurrences 

 on the continent. Many rocks born in the sea have arisen in the shallow water 

 of the shelf, therefore the examination of the shelf of today is more iinportant 

 than the investigation of the deep sea. 



So we see the actualistic research had its origin in the analysis of the 



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