8 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



antiquity of the tribes of animals now living on the surface of 

 the earth. It proved more than that, however; for it showed 

 the existence of a great philosophy in Nature which linked the 

 past with the present in a scheme that pointed to a continuity of 

 life during untold previous ages. All this was directly at variance 

 with the prevalent ideas of his time, and consequently his views 

 were regarded by many with alarm, and he received a good deal 

 of abuse a fate which many other original thinkers before him 

 have shared. 



It is somewhat difficult for people living now, and accustomed 

 to modern teaching, to realise how novel were the conclusions 

 announced by Cuvier. In his Discourse on the Revolutions of the 

 Surface of the Globe, translated into most European languages 

 under the title Theory of the Earth, he lays down, among others, 

 the two following propositions : 



1. That all organised existences were not created at the same 

 time ; but at different times, probably very remote from each 

 other vegetables before animals, mollusca and fishes before 

 reptiles, and the latter before mammals. 



2. That fossil remains in the more recent strata are those which 

 approach nearest to the present type of corresponding living species. 



Teaching such as this gave a new impetus to the study of 

 organic remains, and Palaeontology, as a science, began with Cuvier. 



The reader is recommended to study Chapters X. and XI. of 

 Darwin's Origin of Species, dealing with the imperfection of the 

 record, distribution, and extinction of species, etc. 



One object which the writer has kept in view all through is 

 to show how strong is the evidence for Evolution. In fact, it 

 is overwhelming; consequently in these days one seldom meets 

 a naturalist or a geologist who does not accept the idea of 

 Evolution. But when people speak of " Darwinism " they do not 



