Vol. III. OCTOBER, 1887. No. 30- 



FOSSIL BOTANY, AND THE ADVANTAGES OF 



ITS STUDY. 



(Second Paper.) 



Fossils are the remains of organized bodies, animal or vegetable 

 which eliminated primarily from the mineral substances compos- 

 ing the crust of the earth, by the mysterious principles of vitality^ 

 and after using that vitality, have become imbedded in the differ- 

 ent strata of the earth's surface by erosion, denudation, and the 

 disintegration of the solid portions of inorganic matter brought 

 about by rain, wind, frost, and other agencies. 



These dead bodies are subsequently more or less altered in 

 their structure and composition by chemical agencies and forces, 

 by which the inert particles of matter are subjected to perpetual 

 change. 



The softer and more delicate portions of the animals and plants 

 decay rapidly after death; the more durable portions resist decom- 

 position, and are oftentimes covered up by alluvial or diluvial 

 debris, and deposits of sand and mud, in which condition, while 

 excluded and protected from the destructive action of the atmos- 

 phere, they are subjected to various chemical substances in solu- 

 tion, whereby the bones and shells of animals, and the woody and 

 fibrous portions of plants are preserved in their original condition, 

 or their form or structure replaced by mineral substances, chang- 

 ing their composition but retaining their original form and struc- 

 ture, rendering their identification easy, and enabling the student 

 to compare the dead organisms of past ages with their living suc- 

 cessors and representatives of the pres^ nt. In this manner they 

 constitute the types or characters, whose combination and position 

 furnish us with indisputable records of the ancient history of the 

 earth 



In thn reading of the book of nature, the fossil animals tell us of 

 the topography of the earth's surface at different periods of its 

 history, and of the existence of continents, islands, seas, bays, 

 lakes, rivers, etc.; while the tossil plants have recorded the char- 

 acter of the vegetation, also the condition and changes of temper- 

 ature of the atmosphere in by-gone ages. 



