66 THEORY OF THE EARTH. 



mals and plants lived in the places where their 

 exuviae are found, or have they heen brought there 

 from other places ? Do all these animals and plants 

 still continue to live in some part of the earth, or 

 have they been totally or partially destroyed ? Is 

 there any constant connexion between the anti- 

 quity of the strata, and the resemblance or non- 

 resemblance of the extraneous fossils, to the ani- 

 mals and plants that still exist ? Is there any con- 

 nexion, in regard to climate, between the extra- 

 neous fossils and the still living organized bodies 

 which most nearly resemble them ? May it be con- 

 cluded, that the transportation of these living or- 

 ganized bodies, if such a thing ever happened, has 

 taken place from north to south, or from east to 

 west ; or was it effected by means that irregularly 

 scattered and mingled them together ? And, final- 

 ly, is it still possible to distinguish the epochs of 

 these transportations, by attentively examining the 

 strata which enclose the remains, or are imprinted 

 by their forms ? 



If, from the want of sufficient evidence, these 

 questions cannot be satisfactorily answered, how 

 shall we be able to explain the causes of the pre- 

 sently existing state of our globe ? It is certain, 

 that so far from any of these points being as yet 

 completely established, naturalists seem to have 

 scarcely any idea of the propriety of investigating 

 facts before they construct their systems. The 

 cause of this strange procedure may be discovered, 



