DAVIS : PEO. PHILLIPS. 
5 
supported his theory, that the fossils were once living animals. 
Altogether his work conduced much to produce a true knowledge 
of fossil remains. A belief gradually grew in the minds of intelli- 
gent people that the fossils represented animals which had lived at 
some former period, but the erroneous conviction now entertained 
was, that they were all carried and left in the position where 
they were found, by the Noachian deluge. Quite to the beginning 
of the nineteenth century, and even much later, the belief existed 
in the Mosaic account of the creation of the world in six literal 
days, and that the whole earth was subjected to an universal deluge 
by which every living thing was destroyed, except Noah and those 
with him in the ark. Entertaining these opinions, it is not very 
remarkable that all fossil remains should be identified with the 
flood, and that all the literature relating to geological subjects 
published about this time should be saturated with this belief. 
One or two instances of the prevalence of these opinions may be 
interesting : — Buffon, a natural historian of much merit, published 
his "Theory of the Earth " in 1749. In this work he discussed 
many important geological questions, touching the action of natural 
causes in wearing down the land, and the gradual interchange of 
position between sea and land. Soon after the appearance of his 
work he received a polite intimation from the Faculty of Theology, 
in Paris, that there were several propositions in his book which 
were reprehensible and contrary to the creed of the Church ; he 
was invited to present himself and recant. Not feeling in any 
way bound to suffer as a martyr to science he drew up the follow- 
ing declaration, which he was required to publish. " I declare 
that I had no intention to contradict the text of Scripture ; that I 
believe most firmly all therein related about the creation, both as 
to order of time and matter of fact ; and I abandon everything in 
my book respecting the formation of the earth, and, generally, all 
which may be contrary to the narration of Moses." 
In 1731, Professor Scheuchzer, a Swiss naturalist, discovered 
some bones which he described as those of a child destroyed by the 
