THE SCIENCE OF FOSSIL LIFE
It gradually dawned on the minds of men that the crust of the earth is like a gigantic mausoleum, containing within it the remains of numerous and varied forms of life that formerly existed upon the surface of the earth. The evidence is clear that untold generations of living forms, now preserved as fossils, inhabited the earth, disported themselves, and passed away long before the advent of man. The knowledge of this fossil life, on account of its great diversity, is an essential part of biology, and all the more so from the circumstance that many forms of life, remains of which are exhibited in the rocks, have long since become extinct. No history of biology would be complete without an account of the rise and progress of that department of biology which deals with fossil life.
It has been determined by collecting and systematically studying the remains of this ancient life that they bear testimony to a long, unbroken history in which the forms of both animals and plants have been greatly altered. The more ancient remains are simple in structure, and form with the later ones, a series that exhibits a gradually increasing complexity of structure. The study of the fossil series has brought about a very great extension of our knowledge regarding the age of the world and of the conditions under which life was evolved.
Strange Views Regarding Fossils.—But this state of our knowledge was a long time coming, and in the development of the subject we can recognize several distinct epochs, "well-marked by prominent features, but like all stages of intellectual growth, without definite boundaries." Fossils were known to the ancients, and by some of the foremost philosophers of Greece were understood to be the remains of animals and plants. After the revival of learning, however, lively controversies arose as to their nature and their meaning.
Some of the fantastic ideas that were entertained regarding the nature of fossil remains may be indicated. The fossils were declared by many to be freaks of nature; others maintained that they were the results of spontaneous generation, and were produced by the plastic forces of nature within the rocks in which they were found embedded. Another opinion expressed was that they were generated by fermentations. As the history of intellectual development shows, the mind has ever seemed benumbed in the face of phenomena that are completely misconceived; mystical explanations have accordingly been devised to account for them. Some of the pious persons of that period declared that fossils had been made and distributed by the Creator in pursuance of a plan beyond our comprehension. Another droll opinion expressed was that the Creator in His wisdom had introduced fossil forms into the rocks in order that they should be a source of confusion to the race of geologists that was later to arise.
And still another fantastic conception suggested that the fossils were the original molds used by the Creator in forming different varieties of animals and plants, some of which had been used and others discarded. It was supposed that in preparing for the creation of life He experimented and discarded some of His earliest attempts; and that fossils represented these discarded molds and also, perhaps, some that had been used in fashioning the created forms.
When large bones, as of fossil elephants, began to be exhumed, they became for the most part the objects of stupid wonder. The passage in the Scriptures was pointed out, that "there were giants in those days," and the bones were taken to be evidences of the former existence of giants. The opinions expressed regarding the fossil bones were varied and fantastic, "some saying that they were rained from Heaven, others saying that they were the gigantic limbs of the ancient patriarchs, men who were believed to be tall because they were known to be old." Following out this idea, "Henrion in 1718 published a work in which he assigned to Adam a height of 123 feet 9 inches, Noah being 20 feet shorter, and so on."
Determination of the Nature of Fossils.—In due course it came to be recognized that fossils were the remains of forms that had been alive during earlier periods of time; but in reaching this position there was continual controversy. Objections were especially vigorous from theological quarters, since such a conclusion was deemed to be contradictory to the Scriptures. The true nature of fossils had been clearly perceived by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and certain others in the sixteenth century.