SCIENCE OF FOSSIL LIFE 321 
of the subject we can recognize several distinct epochs, “‘ well- 
marked by prominent features, but like all stages of intellec- 
tual growth, without definite boundaries.” Fossils were 
known to the ancients, and by some of the foremost philos- 
ophers of Greece were understood to be the remains of 
animals and plants. After the revival of learning, however, 
lively controversies arose as to their nature and their meaning. 
Some of the fantastic ideas that were entertained regarding 
the nature of fossil remains may be indicated. The fossils 
were declared by many to be freaks of nature; others main- 
tained that they were the results of spontaneous generation, 
and were produced by the plastic forces of nature within the 
rocks in which they were found embedded. Another opinion 
expressed was that they were generated by fermentations. 
As the history of intellectual development shows, the mind 
has ever seemed benumbed in the face of phenomena that 
are completely misconceived; mystical explanations have ac- 
cordingly been devised to account for-them. Some of the 
pious persons of that period declared that fossils had been 
made and distributed by the Creator in pursuance of a plan 
beyond our comprehension. Another droll opinion expressed 
was that the Creator in His wisdom had introduced fossil 
forms into the rocks in order that they should be a source of 
confusion to the race of geologists that was later to arise. 
And still another fantastic conception suggested that the 
fossils were the original molds used by the Creator in form- 
ing different varieties of animals and plants, some of which 
had been used and others discarded. It was supposed that 
in preparing for the creation of life He experimented and 
discarded some of His earliest attempts; and that fossils 
represented these discarded molds and also, perhaps, some 
that had been used in fashioning the created forms. 
When large bones, as of fossil. elephants, began to be 
exhumed, they became for the most part the objects of stupid 
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