INTRODUCTION 3 



Was tin- ethereal principle originally infused while the matter receiv- 

 it lay in an emhrv onic -tad-, and thereby awakened to life, or was it 

 tin- sulwtance of the adult that the .-pirit first animated ? 



If conjivture maybe permitted it is hut conjecture the earth wan 



not tlicn in its earliest condition : it was in some advance. Man enjoved 



his fullest power- and liieultie> : the soil yielded its produce ; its fruits 



-pont.-iucou>ly. Man, an adult, could discharge his functions. < -ni- 



vertim: what surroiindi-d him to sati-ly his own exigencies. 



Hut. although reaping tlie means of suljsistence, he could not know 

 the art*. Naked and unprotected, he could only occupy hi* place among 

 tin- other truants of the earth, doubtless of cotemjiorary existence. 



I'n less secured I iy distance, he may have had to contend with some 

 of those inon-ters which became exti net In-fore the opening of the record of 

 hi.-tory. and which have been revealed to modern generations as the 

 relicB of a former world. 



The extirpation of the largest and most imposing of Nature's crea- 

 tures is thus established. Many among the whole subjects of creation 

 have ceased to e\i-t forages ; myriads seem to have been involved in one 

 common ruin, m-ver to IK- revived again ; and numbers have perished in 

 detail. 



Neither presumption nor fact has afforded a relevant inference of 

 more creations than one, or that the total animal world was not framed 

 at once, or at least so as to be co-existent. Nothing ha.- hitherto shewn, 

 a* some maintain, that successive creations followed at different long 

 interval- after the first ; or that others arose and may yet be formed 

 from unknown materials down to the present day. 



If it does appear that the entire host of creatures occupying the 

 univenenMnetci recognised as cotemporary, this may be truth : for that 



property which involves the living principle may lie dormant for 

 ages, but when aroused shall be ushered into the world, combined 

 with matter in sensible form and substance. 



Thus many animals, whose existence no annalist has recorded, may 

 be actually brought into notice, and supposed of later creation. The ex- 

 tent of modern research, especially among the waters, and amidst remote 



