8 
EXTINCT MONSTERS 
antiquity of the tribes of animals now living on the surface of 
the earth. It proved more than that, however; for it showed 
the existence of a great philosophy in Nature which linked the 
past with the present in a scheme that pointed to a continuity of f j' 
life during untold previous ages. All this was directly at variance || 
with the prevalent ideas of his time, and consequently his views f [ 
were regarded by many with alarm, and he received a good deal 1 1 
of abuse — a fate which many other original thinkers before him 
have shared. 
It is somewhat difficult for people living now, and accustomed 1 1 
to modern teaching, to realise how novel were the conclusions I') 
° I 'I 
announced by Cuvier. In his Discourse on the Revolutions of the |; 
Surface of the Globe, translated into most European languages |j 
under the title Theory of the Earth, he lays down, among others, 
the two following propositions : — 
1. That all organised’ existences were not created at the same 
time ; but at different times, probably very remote from each 
other — vegetables before animals, mollusca and fishes before 
reptiles, and the latter before mammals. 
2. That fossil remains in the more recent strata are those which 
approach nearest to the present type of corresponding living species. 
Teaching such as this gave a new impetus to the study of 
organic remains, and Palaeontology, as a science, began with Cuvier. 
The reader is recommended to study Chapters X. and XI. of 
Darwin’s Origin of Species, dealing with the imperfection of the 
record, distribution, and extinction of species, etc. 
One object which the writer has kept in view all through is 
to show how strong is the evidence for Evolution. In fact, it 
is overwhelming; consequently in these days one seldom meets 
a naturalist or a geologist who does not accept the idea of 
Evolution. But when people speak of “ Darwinism ” they do not 
