ESSAY II 



THE PROGRESS OF LIFE. 



PART I. EARLY LIFE ON THE EARTH 



WE turn to the Science of Geology to learn what is 

 known about former life on the earth, and we get 

 some most interesting information, notwithstanding the 

 imperfect state of the palaeontological record. 



When palaeontologists began to study fossils they 

 naturally commenced with the younger formations 

 and worked downwards. From the time of Cuvier 

 and Brongniart in France, and William Smith in 

 England, the palaeontology of the Cainozoic, Mesozoic, 

 and newer Palaeozoic rocks made rapid progress ; and 

 in 1833 Murchison and Sedgwick began to unravel 

 the older Palaeozoic of Wales. The fossils were de- 

 scribed by several palaeontologists in Britain, in Europe, 

 and in North America, until a fairly rich fauna was 

 known down to the base of the Cambrian. Here 

 fossils suddenly stopped ; but so rich in species was 

 the Cambrian fauna that it was predicted that, sooner 

 or later, fossils would be found in pre- Cambrian rocks ; 

 and this prediction which was based on the theory 

 of organic evolution has been verified within the last 

 few years. 



The first attempt at verification ended in disappoint- 

 ment. In 1865 Sir W. Logan and Sir J. W. Dawson 



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