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Show 72 STUDY OF ORGANIC REMAINS. et come for a general system of geology, but tha~ all m~st. be cyo ntent 1~ 0r rna ny years to be exclusively engag·e d m furmsl1u ng materials for future generalizations. By actmg u.P to t 1ese prm· c1·p 1e s W·h 'h consistency ' they in a few years d•i sarmed • all prejudice, and rescued the scien.c: from the imputatiOn of bemg a dangerous, or at best but a. vlSlonary pursmt. . Inquiries were at the same time prosecuted WI~h great success by the French naturalists, .who d~voted thea· attention especially to the study of org:mc remams. They shewe.d that the specific characters of fossil shells and ve~t.ebrated ammals miaht be determined with the utmost prec1s1on, and by their ex~rtions a degree of accuracy was introduced into this department of science, of which it had never before ~ee? de.emed susceptible. It was found that,_by the careful d~s~runm~twn of the fossil contents of strata, the contemporary origm ~f d1~erent groups could often be established, even where all ~dentity of minemlogical character was wanting, an~. where no h~ht co~ld be derived from the order of superposltwn. The mmute m. vestigation, moreover, of the relics of the animate crea~ion. of former ages, had a powerful effect in dispelling the 1llus10n which had long prevailed concerning the absence of analogy between the ancient and modern state of our planet. A close comparison of the recent and fossil species, and the infer~nces drawn in regard to their llabits, accustomed the geologist to contemplate the earth as having been at successive periods the dwelling place of animals and plants of different races, some of which were discovered to have been terrestrial and others aquatic-some fitted to live in seas, others in the waters of lakes and rivers. By the consideration of these topics, the mind was slowly and insensibly withdrawn from imaginary pictures of catastrophes and chaotic confusion, such as haunted the imagination of the early cosmogonists. Numerous proofs were discovered of the tranquil deposition of sedimentary matter and the slow development of organic life. If many still continued to maintain, that " the thread of induction was broken," yet in reasoning by the strict rules of induction from recent to fossil species, they virtually disclaimed the dogma which in theory they professed. The adoption of the same generic, and, in some cases, even the same specific names for the exuvire of fossil animals, and their living analogues, was an MODERN PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY. 73 important step towards familiarizing the mind with the idea of the identity and unity of the system in distant eras. It was an acknowledgment, as it were, that a considerable part of the ancient memorials of nature were written in a living language. The growing importance then of the natural history of organic remains, and its general application to geology, may be pointed out as the characteristic feature of the progress of the science during the present century. '!~his branch of knowledge has already become an instrument of great power in the discovery of truths in geology, and is continuing daily to unfold new data for grand and enlarged views respecting the former changes of the earth. When we compare the result of observations in the last thirty years with those of the three preceding centuries, we cannot but look forward with. the most sanguine expectations to the degree of excellence to which geology may be carried, even by the labours of the present generation. Never, perhaps, did any science, with the exception of astronomy, unfold, in an equally brief period, so many novel and unexpected truths, and overturn so many preconceived opinions. The senses had for ages declared the earth to be at rest, until the astronomer taught that it was carried through space with inconceivable rapidity. In like manner was the surface of this planet regarded as having remained unaltered since its creation, until the geologist proved that it had been the theatre of reiterated change, and was still the subject of slow but never endinO' fl . b uctuat10ns. The discovery of other systems in the boundless regions of space was the triumph of astronomy-to trace tl1e same system through various transformations-to behold it at successive eras adorned with different hills and valleys, lakes and seas, and peopled with new inhabitants, was the delightful meed of geological research. By the geometer were measured the regions of space, and the relative distances of the heavenly bodies-by the geologist myriads of ages were reck~ned, not by arithmetical computation, but by a train of phy~Ical events-a succession of phenomena in the animate and Inammate worlds-signs which convey to our minds more definite ideas than figures can do, of the immensity of time. . Whether our investigation of the earth's history and structure Will eventually be productive of as great practical benefits to |
