CHAPTER XV

The Science of Fossil Life, 320

Extinct forms of life, 320. Strange views regarding fossils, 320. Freaks of nature, 321. Mystical explanations, 321. Large bones supposed to be those of giants, 322. Determination of the nature of fossils by Steno, 322. Fossil deposits ascribed to the Flood, 323. Mosaic deluge regarded as of universal extent, 324. The comparison of fossil and living animals of great importance, 325. Cuvier the founder of vertebrate palæontology, 325. Lamarck founds invertebrate palæontology, 326. Lamarck's conception of the meaning of fossils more scientific than Cuvier's, 327. The arrangement of fossils in strata, 328. William Smith, 328. Summary of the growth of the science of fossil life, 329. Fossil remains as an index to the past history of the earth, 330. Epoch-making work of Charles Lyell, 330. Effect of the doctrine of organic evolution on palæontology, 332. Richard Owen's studies on fossil animals, 332. Agassiz and the parallelism between fossil forms of life and stages in the development of animals, 334. Huxley's geological work, 335. Leidy, 337. Cope, 337. Marsh, 338. Carl Zittel's writings and influence, 338. Henry F. Osborn, 339. Method of collecting fossils, 340. Fossil remains of man, 340. Discoveries in the Fayûm district of Africa, 341.