PRs Ear 
THE study of Palzontology, or the science which is 
concerned with the living beings which flourished upon 
the globe during past periods of its history, may be 
pursued by two parallel but essentially distinct paths. 
By the one method of inquiry, we may study the 
anatomical characters and structure of the innumerable 
extinct forms of life which lie buried in the rocks 
simply as so many organisms, with but a slight and 
secondary reference to the ¢z#me at which they lived. 
By the other method, fossil animals are regarded prin- 
cipally as so many landmarks in the ancient records of 
the world, and are studied “zstorically and as regards 
their relations to the chronological succession of the 
strata in which they are entombed. In so doing, it is 
of course impossible to wholly ignore their structural 
characters, and their relationships with animals now 
living upon the earth; but these points are held to 
occupy a subordinate place, and to require nothing 
more than a comparatively general attention. 
In a former work, the Author has endeavoured to 
furnish a summary of the more important facts of 
