336 GEOLOGICAL TIME. 



evolution upon earth, when we speak of him as the 

 fossil man of geological times, and are asked : How long 

 ago did he live ? though it must be admitted that nothing 

 of a definite character is known about him, there is the 

 reservation, however, to make, that when we put a date to 

 the time of his advent upon earth, geological discoveries 

 show that we must allow at least six figures to ex- 

 press it but more probably seven : in other words, at 

 least a million of years. 



Now, as regards these stupendous periods of time, 

 let us consider for one moment what they import: 



" One of the most important results" (says Sir William 

 Fowler) " of the recent progress of science, and one which it 

 is very desirable that we should have fully impressed upon 

 us, is that the living world which we see around us bears 

 an exceedingly small proportion to the whole series of 

 animals and vegetables which have inhabited our planet in 

 past ages."* 



The discovery of vast numbers of fossil remains of 

 different kinds of extinct forms of life, embedded in 

 the stratified rocks of each of the great continents, may, 

 we think, be very safely regarded as placing these 

 facts so clearly in evidence, as to render them practically 

 indisputable. They afford incontrovertible proof that 

 the present races of animals and plants were not the 

 original inhabitants of any part of the world where 

 they now exist, " but have appeared as descendants 

 of a vast ancestry: the latest comers in a majestic 

 procession, " in which " we ourselves stand heirs of all 

 the ages." f 



* Opening paragraph of Preface to The Creatures of Other Days, 

 by the Reverend H. W. Hutchinson, 1894, written by Sir "W. H. 

 Fowler, F.R.S., Director to the National History Museum. 



j- Quotation from the works of Sir Archibald Geikie (Geologist), 

 printed as part of a motto appearing on reverse of his title page. 



