﻿58 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  shapely 
  and 
  beautiful, 
  on 
  a 
  soil 
  furnished 
  with 
  a 
  plentiful 
  supply 
  of 
  

   excellent 
  material 
  for 
  plastic 
  art 
  — 
  from 
  these 
  simple 
  facts 
  should 
  

   we 
  start 
  before 
  we 
  attempt 
  to 
  understand 
  those 
  ways 
  which 
  char- 
  

   acterize 
  what 
  is 
  loosely 
  called 
  his 
  ' 
  civilization.' 
  " 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  yet 
  another 
  way 
  in 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  view 
  the 
  sum 
  total 
  of 
  

   facts 
  resulting 
  from 
  paleontological 
  inquiry, 
  or 
  even 
  the 
  small 
  part 
  of 
  

   it 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  brought 
  together-. 
  We 
  may 
  seek 
  to 
  interpret 
  our 
  

   collection 
  of 
  facts 
  from 
  the 
  humanistic 
  standpoint. 
  Granted 
  that 
  

   this 
  knowledge 
  does 
  not 
  appreciably 
  affect 
  our 
  vital 
  interests, 
  what 
  

   is 
  it 
  worth 
  to 
  us 
  in 
  other 
  respects? 
  How 
  far 
  does 
  knowledge 
  of 
  

   this 
  sort 
  tend 
  to 
  enlarge 
  human 
  consciousness? 
  Does 
  reflection 
  

   upon 
  it 
  tend 
  to 
  vivify 
  our 
  perception 
  of 
  the 
  workings 
  of 
  natural 
  

   law? 
  And 
  if 
  so, 
  does 
  there 
  not 
  arise 
  from 
  fulness 
  of 
  perception 
  a 
  

   keener 
  sense 
  of 
  the 
  nobility 
  and 
  dignity 
  of 
  the 
  relation 
  man 
  bears 
  

   to 
  the 
  wonderful 
  planet 
  he 
  inhabits, 
  and 
  is 
  there 
  not 
  a 
  quicker 
  

   response 
  on 
  his 
  part 
  to 
  the 
  suggestions 
  which 
  that 
  clarified 
  sense 
  

   awakens? 
  There 
  can 
  be 
  but 
  one 
  answer 
  to 
  this 
  last 
  question. 
  It 
  

   is 
  inevitable 
  that 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  a 
  prompt 
  and 
  vigorous 
  response 
  

   from 
  within 
  when 
  once 
  it 
  is 
  realized 
  that 
  " 
  whatever 
  else 
  man 
  may 
  

   be, 
  he 
  is 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  actions 
  linked 
  with 
  all 
  that 
  has 
  gone 
  

   on 
  before 
  upon 
  this 
  earth." 
  The 
  experience 
  is 
  no 
  less 
  common 
  in 
  

   paleontology 
  than 
  in 
  other 
  sciences 
  that, 
  after 
  one 
  has 
  gained 
  suffi- 
  

   cient 
  insight, 
  ideas 
  and 
  impressions 
  of 
  a 
  certain 
  sort 
  enter 
  our 
  

   minds, 
  sharpen 
  our 
  vision, 
  and 
  enlarge 
  our 
  mental 
  horizon 
  by 
  

   elevating 
  us 
  to 
  a 
  summit 
  of 
  observation 
  unattainable 
  before. 
  Pos- 
  

   sibly 
  there 
  belongs 
  to 
  paleontology 
  an 
  even 
  larger 
  quota 
  of 
  these 
  

   emancipating 
  conceptions 
  than 
  is 
  true 
  of 
  other 
  sciences, 
  in 
  view 
  of 
  

   its 
  predominant 
  historical 
  interest 
  — 
  being, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  a 
  limitless 
  

   extension 
  of 
  universal 
  history. 
  

  

  To 
  realize 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  what 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  these 
  emancipating 
  

   conceptions 
  would 
  mean 
  to 
  us, 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  necessary 
  to 
  contrast 
  the 
  

   olden-time 
  idea 
  of 
  creation 
  with 
  modern 
  evolutionary 
  beliefs. 
  Or, 
  

   regarding 
  the 
  paleontological 
  record 
  as 
  the 
  continuous 
  unfolding 
  of 
  

   consciousness, 
  whose 
  beginnings 
  are 
  coeval 
  with 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  pro- 
  

   toplasm, 
  and 
  whose 
  crowning 
  resultant 
  is 
  man, 
  we 
  may 
  picture 
  to 
  

   ourselves 
  the 
  contracted 
  outlook, 
  the 
  void 
  in 
  our 
  knowledge, 
  and 
  

   the 
  impoverishment 
  of 
  ideas 
  that 
  would 
  be 
  our 
  portion 
  in 
  case 
  no 
  

   documents 
  had 
  been 
  preserved 
  to 
  instruct 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  far 
  distant 
  past. 
  

   Imagine 
  our 
  loss 
  were 
  the 
  records 
  of 
  early 
  human 
  history 
  obliter- 
  

   ated. 
  What 
  would 
  be 
  our 
  poverty 
  had 
  the 
  grandeur 
  of 
  Rome 
  been 
  

   dissolved 
  into 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  meaningless 
  ruins, 
  had 
  the 
  splendid 
  story 
  

   of 
  Greece 
  and 
  Athens 
  been 
  blotted 
  out, 
  had 
  we 
  remained 
  uncon- 
  

   scious 
  that 
  Marathon 
  was 
  ever 
  fought, 
  or 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  one 
  as 
  Socrates 
  

   had 
  ever 
  lived 
  ; 
  had 
  we 
  no 
  line 
  from 
  Homer, 
  no 
  thought 
  from 
  Plato, 
  

   no 
  inspired 
  word 
  from 
  Palestine 
  vibrating 
  through 
  the 
  ages 
  ! 
  

  

  Again 
  let 
  it 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  conceptions 
  of 
  this 
  nature 
  are 
  not 
  foreign 
  

   to 
  the 
  scope 
  or 
  peculiar 
  province 
  of 
  paleontology. 
  They 
  are, 
  in 
  fact, 
  

   inherent 
  in 
  all 
  science 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  mixed 
  with 
  it, 
  but 
  combined 
  with 
  

   it, 
  and 
  hence 
  do 
  not 
  properly 
  form 
  either 
  its 
  distillate 
  or 
  residuum. 
  

   If 
  there 
  be 
  any 
  who 
  question 
  how 
  far 
  these 
  ideas 
  are 
  relevant 
  to 
  the 
  

  

  