THEORY OF THE EARTH. Ill 



29. Relations of the Species of Fossil Bones, with 

 the Strata in which they are found. 



Notwithstanding the considerable number of 

 these fossil bones already discovered and ascer- 

 tained, it would be premature to attempt estab- 

 lishing any conclusions deduced from them in re- 

 gard to the theory of the earth, as they are not in 

 sufficient proportion to the entire number of genera 

 and species which, in all probability, arfe buried 

 in the strata of the earth. Hitherto the bones of 

 the larger species have chiefly been collected, as 

 more obvious to the labourers, while those of 

 smaller animals are usually neglected, unless when 

 they fall by accident in the way of a naturalist, or 

 when some other remarkable circumstance, such as 

 their extreme abundance in any particular place, at- 

 tracts even the attention of common people. 



The most important consideration, that which 

 has been the chief object of my researches, and 

 which constitutes their legitimate connexion with 

 the theory of the earth, is to ascertain the particu- 

 lar strata in which each of the species was found, 

 and to inquire if any of the general laws could be 

 ascertained, relative either to the zoological sub- 

 divisions, or to the greater or less resemblance be- 



he terms the oviparous class of quadrupeds, the two amphibious ani- 

 mals here mentioned probably belong to the order of cetaceous mam- 

 miferous animals, and not to the amphibia of the Linnsean system.*- 

 Transl. 



