498 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vor. XXXIV. 
climate and other physical conditions of a past age, acquaints 
us with the habits and habitat of species, whether animals or 
plants, and elucidates many interesting and intricate points 
concerning their growth, development, and distribution ; in 
short, it enables us to reanimate and reéstablish that age. 
But all of this must be done, directly or indirectly, in accord- 
ance with the light of the present time. We have, it is true, 
familiarized ourselves with usual events, yet we know that the 
unusual does sometimes happen, and if now, why not in the 
past ? 
That an unusual event in the paleontologic record, judging 
entirely from present events, might be a source of consider- 
able difficulty, or of positive error in interpretation, cannot be 
doubted. Let me illustrate : Some years ago, as the result of 
a heavy storm, fish in large numbers were thrown ashore in cer- 
tain localities bordering on the Bay of Fundy. Let us suppose 
this to be a region of rapid sedimentation and that their 
remains were quickly entombed. Had this event taken place 
in another age, and had the sediment afterwards been elevated 
and lithified, then would these remains have afforded suitable 
material for interpretation. But what should the translation 
indicate? An unusual abundance of fish — conditions favora- 
ble to the growth and development of this form of life which 
had been suddenly interrupted? If that, the whole truth 
would not be told. By an unusual event, vzz., a heavy storm, 
fish remains that under ordinary circumstances would have 
been distributed over a wide area are accumulated within a 
small area, and, further, remains that under normal conditions 
would have ranged through a considerable space vertically, are 
limited to a single layer or a few layers of the deposit. Under 
such conditions the abundance of fish is apparent rather than 
real. Other interpretations might be made ; that, for instance, 
owing to an epidemic, fish perished in large numbers ; or, again, 
that a sudden and great decrease in temperature caused the 
marked fatality. 
It will be seen that while each of the above interpretations 
appears adequate to account for the phenomenon, none have 
given the complete truth, though in all the occurrence of an 
