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Thus far, I have said nothing in regard to one branch of 

 my subject, the methods of Palaeontological research, for tip to 

 this time, of method there was none. We have seen that those 

 of the ancients who noticed marine shells in the solid rock, 

 called them such, and concluded that they had been left there 

 by the sea. The discovery of fossils led directly to theories of 

 how the earth was formed. Here the progress was slow. 

 Subterranean spirits were supposed to guard faithfully the 

 mysteries of the earth ; while above the earth, Authority 

 guarded with still greater power the secrets men in advance 

 of their age sought to know. The dominant idea of the first 

 sixteen centuries of the present era was, that the universe 

 was made for Man. This was the great obstacle to the correct 

 determination of the position of the earth in the universe, and, 

 later, of the age of the earth. The contest of Astronomy 

 against authority was long and severe, but the victory was at 

 last with science. The contest of Geology against the same 

 power followed, and continued almost to our day. The result 

 is still the same. In the early stages of this contest, there was 

 no strife, for science was benumbed by the embrace of super- 

 stition and creed, and little could be done till that was cast off. 

 In a superstitious age, when every natural event is referred to 

 a supernatural cause, science cannot live ; and often as the 

 sacred fire may be kindled by courageous far-seeing soids, will 

 it be quenched by the dense mists of ignorance around it. 

 Scarcely less fatal to the growth of science is the age of 

 Authority, as the past proves too well. With freedom of 

 thought, came definite knowledge, and certain progress ; — but 

 two thousand years was long to wait. 



With the opening of the present century, began a new era 

 in Palaeontology, which we may here distinguish as the third 

 period in its history. This branch of knowledge became now 

 a science. Method replaced disorder, and systematic study 

 superseded casual observation. For the next half century the 

 advance was continuous, and rapid. One characteristic of this 



