18 



productions of hotter countries, and hence it is necessary to 

 suppose that England once lay under the sea within the torrid 

 zone. He seems to have suspected that some of the fossils of 

 England belonged to extinct species, hut thought they might 

 possibly be found living in the bottom of distant oceans. 



Dr. Woodward's "Natural History of the Fossils of Eng- 

 land" appeared in 1729. This work was based on a systematic 

 collection of fossils which he had brought together, and which 

 he subsequently bequeathed to the University of Cambridge, 

 where it is still preserved, with his arrangement carefully 

 retained. This descriptive part of this work is interesting, but 

 his conclusions are made to coincide strictly with the Scriptural 

 account of the creation and deluge. He had j)reviously stated, 

 in another work, that he believed, " the whole terrestrial globe 

 to have been taken to pieces and dissolved at the flood, and the 

 strata to have settled down from this promiscuous mass." In 

 support of this view, he stated that, " Marine bodies are lodged 

 in the strata according to the order of their gravity, the heavier 

 shells in stones, the lighter in chalk, and so of the rest."* 



The most important work on fossils published in Germany 

 at this time, was that of George Wolfgang Knorr, which was 

 continued after his death by Walch. This work consisted of 

 four folio volumes, with many plates, and was printed at 

 Nuremberg, 1755-73. A large number of fossils were accu- 

 rately figured and described, and the work is one of permanent 

 value. f A French translation of this work appeared in 

 1767-78. Burton's "Oryctograpkie de BruxeUes" 1784, con- 

 tains figures and descriptions of fossils found in Belgium. 



Abraham Gottlieb Werner (1750-1817), Professor of Min- 

 eralogy at Freyberg, did much to advance the science of 

 Geology, and indirectly, that of fossils. He first indicated the 

 relations of the main formations to each other, and, according 

 to his pupil, Professor Jameson, first made the highly important 



* Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth. 1695. 



\ Lapides ex celeberr. viror. senientia diluvii universalis testes, quos in ordines ac 

 species distribuit, suis coloribns expremit, etc. 272 Tab. 1755-73. 



