10 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



history research without a grounding in geological 



science. 



Provinces, to be understood, must be traced back, 

 like species, to their history and origin in past time. 

 Palaeontological research exhibits, beyond question, 

 the phenomenon of provinces in time, as well as 

 provinces in space. Moreover, all our knowledge 

 of organic remains teaches us, that species have 

 a definite existence, and a centralization in geolo- 

 logical time as well as in geographical space, and 

 that no species is repeated in time. The distribution 

 of the individuals of fossil species also indicates 

 their diffusion from some unique point of origin, 

 and, consequently, goes to support the notion of 

 the connection of these individuals through the 

 relationship of descent, and the derivation of them 

 all from an original protoplast. 



The investigation and determination of the pro- 

 vinces of marine life, have as yet been but little 

 pursued, and there is no finer field for discovery in 

 natural history, than that presented by the bed of 

 the ocean, when examined with a view to the de- 

 fining of its natural subdivisions. The difficulties 

 which attend the inquiry add to the zest of the 

 research ; and there is a charm in travelling men- 

 tally over the hills and valleys buried inaccessibly 

 beneath their thick atmosphere of brine, unbreath- 

 able by mortal lungs, which air- travelling, being an 

 easy possibility, and its results, do not possess. Yet 

 if we be careful never to let our imagination get 



