620 



THE UNIVERSE. 



beings, men long persisted in regarding fossils as only 

 freaks of natnre, lusus nahwce, as they were called. 



In vain did the earth yield up its most delicate skele- 

 tons with all their fine, thin bones ; in vain did it present 

 shells with their most charming tracery, sometimes even 

 with their ancient colouring; in vain did we find in the 

 midst of rocks birds yet enveloped in their feathers, and 

 insects Avitli their transparent wings; up to the sixteenth 

 century all these things only passed for accidental pro- 

 ducts begotten by chance, and merely possessing the decep- 

 tive appearance of beings which life had animated. 



No slight trouble had to be taken in order to hammer 

 the truth into the refractory brains of some savants. 

 The first Avho had the courage to do this was a potter. 



287. Impressions of Eaiu-drops and Animal's Footsteps on Antediluvian Eocks. 



poor in fortune but great in genius. It was Bernard 

 Palis.sy who in his lowly state taught a lesson to the 

 doctors of Paris, and showed them that the shells which 



