312 Dr. A. S. Woodward— TAe Relations of 



XLITT. — The Relations of Paheontology to Bioloijy'*. 

 By A. Smith VVooDWAiiD, LL.D., F.Ll.S. 



It is clear that the scientific value of a fossil depends upon 

 the exactness with which the circumstances of its discovery 

 are determined by a geologist. The briefest experience is 

 also enough to demonstrate tliat the well-mineralized remains 

 of an organism can only be satisfactorily interpreted by an 

 observer who is familiar with the structure of rocks and their 

 common constituents. The student of fossils needs as much 

 elementary training in the geological siiccession of the rocks 

 and the varied nature of mineralization as the student of 

 liistology and embryology requires to locate his sections with 

 exactitude and to understand the action of the different stains 

 and media he employs. In the one case nature makes the 

 preparation, in the other case the processes of laboratory 

 technique are responsible for the difficulties. In both cases 

 there is scope for numerous fantastic conclusions if the 

 properties of the preservative medium are misunderstood. 



Palaeontology, however, is essentially a department of 

 Biology, and it can only be prosecuted with success by a skilled 

 biologist who has had the elementary geological and raine- 

 ralogical experience just mentioned. It bears, indeed, the same 

 relation to the whole world of life that embryology bears to 

 the structure of an individual organism. The one deals with 

 the rise and growth of races and their varying relationshij)s, 

 the other describes and interprets the evolution of an indi- 

 vidual and the processes by which the different parts of its 

 mechanism are finally adjusted. Both, unfortunately, depend 

 on extremely imperfect material ; for fossils are nearly always 

 mere badly preserved skeletons, and they represent only an 

 infinitesimal fraction of the life that has ])assed away, while 

 enibryos are so much adapted to the peculiar circumstances 

 of their environment that many of the essential stages in their 

 growth and development are obscured and modified by 

 temporary expedients. 



The past history of the world of life, as revealed by fossils, 

 has long been familiar in its general outlines. At least a 

 ccntuiy has elapsed since it was made clear that the various 

 organisms come into existence at different times and in a 

 definite order, according to their grade in the scale of being, 

 the lowest first, the highest latest. Several decades have 



* Extract from an Address delivered before the luteniational Congresj! 

 of Arts and Science. St. Louis, L'.S.A., Sept. :.'i>nd, li>04; published in 

 tlie I'oupre^s Kcport, vol. iv., June lOUti. 



