CHAPTER III. 



FOSSILS AND GIANTS. 

 Early Notions Regarding Fossils. 



IN the beginning of the sixteenth century geolog- 

 ical phenomena began to attract more attention 

 than they had hitherto received. Special interest 

 was centered in fossils, which were so universally 

 distributed over the earth's surface, and their study 

 contributed materially towards placing the theory 

 of Evolution on a firmer basis than it ever before 

 possessed. Aristotle and other Greek writers had, 

 indeed, made mention of them, but did not, as it 

 appears, devote to them any particular study. 



Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle, supposed 

 them to be due to "a certain plastic virtue" of the 

 earth, which possessed the power of fashioning 

 inorganic matter into organic forms. 



The distinguished painter, Leonardo da Vinci, 

 one of the most gifted men that ever lived, was 

 among the first to dispute the absurd theories which 

 were currently accepted regarding the nature and 

 origin of fossils. " They tell us," he says, " that these 

 shells were formed in the hills by the influence- 

 of the stars ; but I ask, where in the hills are the stars 

 now forming shells of distinct ages and species ? 

 And how can the stars explain the origin of gravel, 



(31) 



