Animals Before Man 



times of time. And in like manner our knowl- 

 edge of the many animals that lived still more 

 remotely is derived mainly from the study of 

 their hard parts, such as shells, teeth, or bones, 

 that have been preserved for countless ages in 

 the shape of fossils; and this study of the life 

 of the past is known as Paleontology. 



Literally, a fossil is " something dug up " ; but 

 in actual use the word has a much more re- 

 stricted meaning. No one would think of calling 

 diamonds, or gold, or fire-clay fossils, although 

 they are things dug up ; neither would we speak 

 of the bones of the horse Farmer Jones buried 

 in the pasture twenty years ago as fossils. The 

 term is applied only to the remains of animals 

 or plants that have been buried by natural 

 causes and preserved for long periods of time,* 

 or to such indications of former life as natural 

 casts and impressions of shells, leaves, footprints, 

 and the like. 



In a few very exceptional cases animals 



* Lest the writer should be accused of the eighth deadly sin, 

 that of plagiarism, he will here say that this definition and that 

 given in Animals of the Past were written in ignorance of Lyell's 

 very similar definition. 



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