Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-12-31
MATTER.
or FOssIIs--.TheIr Sequence and Distri-
button.
No 10


button.
No. 10.
Organic remains may not improperly be
called the footprints of time, for they re-
cord the strides of vegetable and animal life
upon the globe from the eozoic period, or the
dawn of life, to the present high organ
izaton Of exogenous plants and vertebrate
animals, including man. Hugh Miller calls
them the footprints of the Creator, and la
bors to prove that in certain cases a degrada-
tion of species has taken place, and hence,
lack Of uniformity in the footsteps. In the
secondary age magnificent reptiles lived and
predominated, so that that age has been called
the age of reptiles. In that age appeared
the icthyosaurus (fsh lizard) with an eye Is
inches in diameter, with jaws capable of be-
ing extended soven feet Then also appear
ed the plesiosaurus with lizard shaped head,
small and stealthy, with paddles for fins, a
crocodile tail, and neck inordinately long
and small, making this uncomely creature
more the object of disgust than of fear. The
anomalistic pterodactyl was their companion,
and the most remarkable in structure of any
animal in any age, being compromise be-
ing bird and a reptile, having bat-like wings
and reptilian jaws Cuyier calls it "the most
extraordinary of all the beings Of whose form
or existence a knowledge is granted to us,
and that which, If seen alive, would appear
most unlike anything in the present world. ~
These reptiles that held high carnival in the
secondary age long ago became extinct.
Later in the pleistocene period, appeared
gigantic birds some of them, like the dinors,
standing ~ feet high, making strides 6 feet
long with foot 10 inches in length. These
magnificent birds are also extinct. Their
nearest representative is said to be the aptery1
of New Zealand, called by the natives kiiei-
ki1i a vermivorous and wingloss bird, which
is now diminishing in numbers and will soon
disap pear
In the tertiary age (Which embraces the
pleistoceno period appeared large terrestrial
mammals, being an advance in organization
over their predecessors that now retired to
make room for the new occupants, like a re-
treating army before the march of the in
vaders. Lastly appeared the more perfect
animals of the present age, with man stand
ing prominently above them all, many of
| tne lnhuuhlla Vi INC pieCeulhB hBe haNlhS
become extinct
The doctrine of natural selection enun-
ciated by Darwin, and called by Spencer the
Survival of the fttest,' accounts for the oc-
casional degration Of species and their extinc-
tion hence, what in the Miller theory is be-
lieved to be fatal to evolution, becomes an
important element in the doctrine itself.
Moreover, it is hardly in controversy that the
earth has been from the first in transitional
state, becoming better and better adapted in
food, climate and other external conditions
to the higher forms of organic beings, while
such of the lower forms as were ill-adapted
to the change, and found the struggle for
existence" too severe to endure, dropped out
of being Hence, extinction of species is q
natural law of organic beings, as well as the
advent Of new species Pursuing a chain oi
deductive reasoning, it may be presumed thai
the advance to higher forms is not yet ended
that new species are now in a formative state
while old species are approaching the close Of
their career. In this connection the inquiry
is pertinent and startling; Is man preGmi
nently above all known organic beings in dig
nifty of form and in wealth of intellect, ye
abridged in the acquisition of knowledge by
the muddy vesture of decay, to be succeed
ed by beings of higher intelligence, of pro
founder reasoning powers, capable of deeper
research into the mysteries of science tina
now lie locked up in the vast unknown?
1t is insisted by pal@ontologists generally
atthe remainsof man are notfound below tn,
alluvum, or the recent formations and Il
form a well-connected chain, or sequence o
animal life, it is important that this theor.
be substantiated. The discovery OF humal
skeletons imbedded in limestone rock upol
the shore of Guadeloupe, has been seized b!
the advocates of the earths eternity as proc
that man appeared at vastly earlier perio'
than has been supposed, if, indeed, he is no
co-eternal with the earth itself. But shell
and corals belonging to existing species bein
found in the same formation, proves will
much certainty that the rocks belong to tn
present age, and that man is entitled to nj
greater antiquity than has been assignee
him.
In passing over this interesting subject,
is pertinent to remark that nature has reveal
ed herself in fossil remains no less marvelou
III lhth ulluAuutlhbuObb Nnhh III iholN Alhe
nitude. According to Soldani 10, 454 marin
shells were found in an ounce and half G
the carbonate of lime. One thousand o
them weighed but one grain. Ehrenber
tells US that bed in Germany II feet thic
contains fossils SO minute that 1000, 900
900 Of them occupy but cubic inch Wht
an infinite difference between the large
vertebrates standing IA feet high and th
animalcula of Ehrenberg! Yet each Wa
possessed with an organized structure an
perfectly adapted to its manner of life.
1t is hardly necessary to observe that the cl
mate of a country determines what species ca
exist in that country. Tropical animals cannt
live in high northern latitudes nor do "
find the fauna of northern latitudes in IL
70 tropical regions. Yet the remains of croo'
s diles and elephants have been found in EN-
o land and Germany, and the remains of ell
/" plants in large numbers as far north as S
t IBERIA, so that the ivory trade of that countl
/ has been lucrative business. The inquil
d naturally arises How came the remains
It tropical animals in a climate in which il is in
II possible for them to exist? One of thr,
= hypotheses must account for the phenomeno
g Either they were in the remote past capab
= of enduring lower temperature than
h present or the remains have been transpoI
r ed from their native climate or the china
II of the earth has suffered a transition by
/. change of its polarity, perhaps aided by Il
h radiation of its internal heat. The fiji
N hypothesis is untenable. species on
n adapted to the Siberian climate would
Is likely to continue under the same temper
/, ture. And it has been said that the oircuI
y stances under which the remains are foul
it indicate that the animals lived and died
y that country. Hence, change in the climat
D. condition of the globe of sufficient importan
is to radically change its fora and fauna, m
II = 4 l. l. "A