188 The Palaeontological Record. I. Animals 
we can possibly learn through experiments with living organisms'.” 
This, however, was rather the expression of a hope for the distant 
future than an account of what was attainable, and in practice the 
science remained almost purely descriptive, until Darwin gave it a 
new standpoint, new problems and an altogether fresh interest and 
charm. The revolution thus accomplished is comparable only to that 
produced by the Copernican astronomy. 
From the first it was obvious that one of the most searching 
tests of the evolutionary theory would be given by the advance of 
palaeontological discovery. However imperfect the geological record 
might be, its ascertained facts would necessarily be consistent, under 
any reasonable interpretation, with the demands of a true theory; 
otherwise the theory would eventually be overwhelmed by the mass 
of irreconcilable data. A very great stimulus was thus given to 
geological investigation and to the exploration of new lands. In the 
last forty years, the examination of North and South America, of 
Africa and Asia has brought to light many chapters in the history 
of life, which are astonishingly full and complete. The flood of new 
material continues to accumulate at such a rate that it is impossible 
to keep abreast of it, and the very wealth of the collections is a source 
of difficulty and embarrassment. In modern palaeontology phylo- 
genetic questions and problems occupy a foremost place and, as a 
result of the labours of many eminent investigators in many lands, 
it may be said that this science has proved to be one of the most 
solid supports of Darwin’s theory. True, there are very many un- 
solved problems, and the discouraged worker is often tempted to 
believe that the fossils raise more questions than they answer. Yet, 
on the other hand, the whole trend of the evidence is so strongly in 
favour of the evolutionary doctrine, that no other interpretation 
seems at all rational. 
To present any adequate account of the palaeontological record 
from the evolutionary standpoint, would require a large volume and 
a singularly unequal, broken and disjointed history it would be. 
Here the record is scanty, interrupted, even unintelligible, while 
there it is crowded with embarrassing wealth of material, but too 
often these full chapters are separated by such stretches of unrecorded 
time, that it is difficult to connect them. It will be more profitable 
to present a few illustrative examples than to attempt an outline of 
the whole history. 
At the outset, the reader should be cautioned not to expect too 
much, for the task of determining phylogenies fairly bristles with 
difficulties and encounters many unanswered questions. Even when 
the evidence seems to be as copious and as complete as could be 
1 Zittel, op. cit. p. 140. 
