,illustration3 ,engraved by ,j4         
,sartain4--,from a original ,talbotype4 
,gould  ,lincoln1 ,boston               
,,the                                   
,,foot-,,prints ,,of ,,the ,,creator3   
,,or1                        ,,the      
,,asterolepis ,,of ,,stromness4         
,,by                                    
,,hugh ,,miller1                        
,,author ,,of 8,,the ,,old ,,red        
,,sandstone10 ,,etc4            8,when  
,i asked him how this earth could have  
been repeopled if          ever it had  
undergone the same fate it was          
threatened with by          the comet of
 #afhj1 he answered1--#8that required   
the power of a                          
,creator4'0--,conduit's 8,conversation  
with ,sir ,isaac ,newton04              
,,from ,,the ,,third ,,london ,,edition4
                           ,,with ,a    
,,memoir ,,of ,,the ,,author            
,,by ,,louis ,,agassiz4                 
,,boston3                               
,,gould ,,and ,,lincoln4                

#fi ,,washington ,,street4              
,,new ,,york3 ,,sheldon ,,and ,,company4
                       ,,cincinnati3    
,,geo4 ,s4 ,,blanchard4                 
#ahfh4           ,entered according to  
,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahej1 by
                         ,,gould1       
,,kendall ,,and ,,lincoln1       ,in the
 ,clerk's ,office of the ,district      
,court for the ,district of             
,massachusetts4          ,,to ,,sir     
,,philip ,,de ,,malpas ,,grey ,,egerton1
 ,,bart4 ,m4,p41 ,f4,r4,s4  ,g4,s4      
,to you1 ,sir1 as our highest ,british  
authority on fossil fishes1 ,i take  the
 liberty of dedicating this little      
volume4 ,in tracing the history of      
,creation1 as illustrated in that       
ichthyic division of the vertebrata     
which is at once the most ancient and   
the most extensively preserved1 ,i  have
 introduced a considerable amount of    
fact and observation1 for the  general  
integrity of which my appeal must lie1  
not to the writings of my  friends the  

geologists1 but to the strangely        
significant record inscribed  in the    
rocks1 which it is their highest merit  
justly to interpret and  faithfully to  
transcribe4 ,the ingenious and popular  
author whose views  on ,creation ,i     
attempt controverting1 virtually carries
 his appeal from  science to the want of
 it4 ,i would fain adopt an opposite    
course3 ,and  my use1 on this occasion1 
of your name1 may serve to evince the   
desire  which ,i entertain that the     
collation of my transcripts of hitherto 
uncopied portions of the geologic       
history with the history itself1  should
 be in the hands of men qualified1 by   
original vigor of faculty  and the      
patient research of years1 either to    
detect the erroneous or to  certify the 
true4 ,further1 ,i feel peculiar        
pleasure in availing myself  of the     
opportunity furnished me1 by the        
publication of this little work1  of    
giving expression to my sincere respect 
for one who1 occupying a  high place in 

society1 and deriving his descent from  
names illustrious  in history1 has      
wisely taken up the true position of    
birth and rank in  an enlightened       
country and age2 and who1 in asserting1 
by his modest1  persevering labors1 his 
proper standing in the scientific world1
 has  rendered himself first among his  
countrymen in an interesting department 
of ,natural ,science1 to which there is 
no aristocratic or 8royal road40        
,i have the honor to be1 ,sir1          
,with admiration and respect1           
,your obedient humble servant1          
,,hugh ,,miller4          ,,to ,,the    
,,reader4      ,there are chapters in   
this little volume which will1 ,i am    
afraid1 be  deemed too prolix by the    
general reader1 and which yet the       
geologist  would like less were there   
any portion of them away4 ,they refer   
chiefly  to organisms not hitherto      
figured nor described1 and must owe     
their  modicum of value to that very    
minuteness of detail which1 by critics  

of  the merely literary type1           
unacquainted with fossils1 and not      
greatly  interested in them1 may be     
regarded as a formidable defect1 suited 
to overlay the general subject of the   
work4 ,perhaps the best mode of         
compromising the matter may be to       
intimate1 as if by beacon1 at the       
outset1 the more repulsive chapters2    
somewhat in the way that the  servants  
of the ,humane ,society indicate to the 
skater who frequents in  winter the     
lakes in the neighborhood of ,edinburgh1
 those parts of the  ice on which he    
might be in danger of losing himself4 ,i
 would recommend1  then1 readers not    
particularly palontological1 to pass but
 lightly over  the whole of my fourth   
and fifth chapters1 with the latter half
 of the  third1 marking1 however1 as    
they skim the pages1 the conclusions at 
which  ,i arrive regarding the bulk and 
organization of the extraordinary animal
  described1 and the data on which these
 are founded4 ,my book1 like an  ,irish 

landscape dotted with green bogs1 has   
its portions on which it may  be        
perilous for the unpractised surveyor to
 make any considerable stand1  but      
across which he may safely take his     
sights and lay down his angles4    ,it  
will1 ,i trust1 be found1 that in       
dealing with errors which1 in at  least 
their primary bearing1 affect questions 
of science1 ,i have not  offended       
against the courtesies of scientific    
controversy4 ,true1 they  are errors    
which also involve moral consequences4  
,there is a species  of superstition    
which inclines men to take on trust     
whatever assumes  the name of science2  
and which seems to be a reaction on the 
old  superstition1 that had faith in    
witches1 but none in ,sir ,isaac        
,newton1  and believed in ghosts1 but   
failed to credit the ,gregorian         
calendar4 ,and1  owing mainly to the    
wide diffusion of this credulous spirit 
of the modern  type1 as little disposed 
to examine what it receives as its      

ancient  unreasoning predecessor1 the   
development doctrines are doing much    
harm on  both sides of the ,atlantic1   
especially among intelligent mechanics1 
and  a class of young men engaged in the
 subordinate departments of trade and   
the law4 ,and the harm1 thus            
considerable in amount1 must be         
necessarily  more than merely           
considerable in degree4 ,for it         
invariably happens1  that when persons  
in these walks become materialists1 they
 become also  turbulent subjects and bad
 men4 ,that belief in the existence     
after death1  which forms the           
distinguishing instinct of humanity1 is 
too essential  a part of man's moral    
constitution not to be missed when away2
 and so1  when once fairly eradicated1  
the life and conduct rarely fail to     
betray  its absence4 ,but ,i have not1  
from any consideration of the mischief  
thus  effected1 written as if arguments1
 like cannon-balls1 could be rendered   
more formidable than in the cool state  

by being made red-hot4 ,i have  not even
 felt1 in discussing the question1 as if
 ,i had a man before me  as an opponent2
 for though my work contains numerous   
references to the  author of the        
8,vestiges10 ,i have invariably thought 
on these occasions1  not of the         
anonymous writer of the volume1 of whom 
,i know nothing1 but  simply of an      
ingenious1 well-written book1           
unfortunate in its facts and  not always
 very happy in its reasonings4 ,further1
 ,i do not think that  palontological   
fact1 in its bearing on the points at   
issue1 is of such  a doubtful complexion
 as to leave the geologist1 however much
 from moral  considerations in earnest  
in the matter1 any very serious excuse  
for  losing his temper4    ,in my       
reference to the three great divisions  
of the geologic scale1 ,i  designate as 
,palozoic all the fossiliferous rocks1  
from the first  appearance of organic   
existence down to the close of the      
,permian system2  all as ,secondary1    

from the close of the ,permian system   
down to the  close of the ,cretaceous   
deposits2 and all as ,tertiary1 from the
 close  of the ,cretaceous deposits down
 to the introduction of man4 ,the       
wood-cuts  of the volume1 of which at   
least nine tenths of the whole represent
  objects never figured before1 were    
drawn and cut by ,mr4 ,john ,adams of   
,edinburgh1 7#h1 ,heriot ,place17 with a
 degree of care and skill which has     
left me no reason to regret my distance 
from the ,london artists and  engravers4
 ,so far at least as the objects could  
be adequately represented  on wood1 and 
in the limited space at ,mr4 ,adams'    
command1 their truth  is such that ,i   
can safely recommend them to the        
palontologist4 ,in  the accompanying    
descriptions1 and in my statements of   
geologic fact  in general1 it will1 ,i  
hope1 be seen that ,i have not          
exaggerated the  peculiar features on   
which ,i have founded1 nor rendered     
truth partial in  order to make it serve

 a purpose4 ,where ,i have reasoned and 
inferred1  the reader will of course be 
able to judge for himself whether the   
argument be sound or the deduction just2
 and to weigh1 where ,i have  merely    
speculated1 the probability of the      
speculation2 but as1 in at  least some  
of my statements of fact1 he might lie  
more at my mercy1 ,i  have striven in   
every instance to make these adequately 
representative of  the actualities to   
which they refer4 ,and so1 if it be     
ultimately found  that on some occasions
 ,i have misled others1 it will1 ,i     
hope1 be also  seen to be only in cases 
in which ,i have been mistaken myself4  
,the first  or popular title of my work1
 8,foot-prints of the ,creator10 ,i owe 
to ,dr4  ,hetherington1 the well-known  
historian of the ,church of ,scotland4  
,my  other various obligations to my    
friends1 literary and scientific1 the   
reader will find acknowledged in the    
body of the volume1 as the occasion     
occurs of availing myself of either the 

information communicated1 or the        
organism1 recent or extinct1 lent me or 
given4          ,,hugh ,,miller1        
,,author ,,of 8,,old ,,red ,,sandstone0 
,,and 8,,footprints ,,of ,,the          
,,creator40      ,the geological works  
of ,hugh ,miller have excited the       
greatest interest1  not only among      
scientific men1 but also among general  
readers4 ,there is  in them a freshness 
of conception1 a power of argumentation1
 a depth  of thought1 a purity of       
feelings1 rarely met with in works of   
that  character1 which are well         
calculated to call forth sympathy1 and  
to  increase the popularity of a science
 which has already done so much to      
expand our views of the ,plan of        
,creation4 ,the scientific illustrations
  published by ,mr4 ,miller are most    
happily combined with considerations of 
a higher order1 rendering both equally  
acceptable to the thinking reader4  ,but
 what is in a great degree peculiar to  
our author1 is the successful           

combination of ,christian doctrines with
 pure scientific truths4 ,on that       
account1 his works deserve peculiar     
attention4 ,his generalizations have    
nothing of the vagueness which too often
 characterize the writings  of those    
authors who have attempted to make the  
results of science  subservient to the  
cause of religion4 ,struck with the     
beauty of ,mr4  ,miller's works1 it has 
for some time past been my wish to see  
them more  extensively circulated in    
this country2 and ,i have obtained leave
 from  the author to publish an         
,american edition of his 8,footprints of
 the  ,creator10 for which he has most  
liberally furnished the publishers with 
the admirable wood-cuts of the original4
    ,while preparing some additional    
chapters1 and various notes illustrative
  of certain points alluded to          
incidentally in this work1 it was deemed
  advisable to preface it with a short  
biographical notice of the author4  ,i  
had already sketched such a paper1 when 

,i became acquainted with a full  memoir
 of this remarkable man1 containing most
 interesting details of  his earlier    
life1 written by that eminent historian 
of the 8,martyrs of  ,science10 the     
great natural philosopher of ,scotland4 
,it has occurred to  me that1 owing to  
the frequent references which ,i could  
not avoid to my  own researches1 ,i had 
better substitute this ample ,biography 
for my short  sketch1 with such         
alterations and additions as the        
connection in which  it is brought here 
would require4 ,i therefore proceed to  
introduce our  author with ,sir ,david  
,brewster's own words3--    ,of all the 
studies which relate to the material    
universe1 there is none1  perhaps1 which
 appeals so powerfully to our senses1 or
 which comes  into such close and       
immediate contact with our wants and    
enjoyments1  as that of ,geology4 ,in   
our hourly walks1 whether on business or
 for  pleasure1 we tread with heedless  
step upon the apparently uninteresting  

objects which it embraces3 but could we 
rightly interrogate the rounded  pebble 
at our feet1 it would read us an        
exciting chapter on the history  of     
primeval times1 and would tell us of the
 convulsions by which it  was wrenched  
from its parent rock1 and of the floods 
by which it was  abraded and transported
 to its present humble locality4 ,in our
 visit to  the picturesque and the      
sublime in nature1 we are brought into  
closer  proximity to the more           
interesting phenomena of geology4 ,in   
the precipices  which protect our       
rock-girt shores1 which flank our       
mountain glens1 or  which variegate our 
lowland valleys1 and in the shapeless   
fragments at  their base1 which the     
lichen colors1 and round which the ivy  
twines1 we  see the remnants of uplifted
 and shattered beds1 which once reposed 
in  peace at the bottom of the ocean4   
,nor does the rounded boulder1 which    
would have defied the lapidary's wheel  
of the ,giant ,age1 give forth a  less  

oracular response from its grave of     
clay1 or from its lair of sand4         
,floated by ice from some ,alpine       
summit1 or hurried along in torrents of 
mud1 and floods of water1 it may have   
traversed a quarter of the globe1  amid 
the crash of falling forests1 and the   
death shrieks of the noble  animals     
which they sheltered4 ,the mountain     
range1 too1 with its catacombs  below1  
along which the earthquake transmits its
 terrific sounds1 reminds  us of the    
mighty power by which it was            
upheaved2--while the lofty peak1  with  
its cap of ice1 or its nostrils of fire1
 places in our view the  tremendous     
agencies which have been at work beneath
 us4    ,but it is not merely amid the  
powers of external nature that the once 
hidden things of the ,earth are         
presented to our view4 ,our temples and 
our palaces are formed from the rocks of
 a primeval age2 bearing the  very      
ripple-marks of a ,pre-,adamite         
ocean1--grooved by the passage of the   

once moving boulder1 and embosoming the 
relics of ancient life1 and the  plants 
by which it was sustained4 ,our         
dwellings1 too1 are ornamented with  the
 variegated limestones1--the indurated  
tombs of molluscous life1--and  our     
apartments heated with the carbon of    
primeval forests1 and lighted  with the 
gaseous element which it confines4 ,the 
obelisk of granite1  and the colossal   
bronze which transmit to future ages the
 deeds of the  hero and the sage1 are   
equally the production of the ,earth's  
prolific  womb2 and from the green bed  
of the ocean has been raised the pure   
and  spotless marble1 to mould the      
divine lineaments of beauty1 and        
perpetuate  the expressions of          
intellectual power4 ,from a remoter age1
 and a still  greater depth1 the primary
 and secondary rocks have yielded a rich
  tribute to the chaplet of rank1 and to
 the processes of art4    ,exhibiting1  
as it peculiarly does1 almost all those 
objects of interest  and research1      

,scotland has been diligently studied   
both by native  and foreign observers2  
and she has sent into the geological    
field a  distinguished group of         
inquirers1 who have performed a noble   
feat in  exploring the general structure
 of the ,earth1 in decyphering its      
ancient  monuments1 and in unlocking    
those storehouses of mineral wealth1    
from  which civilized man derives the   
elements of that gigantic power which   
his  otherwise feeble arm wields over   
nature4    ,the occurrence of shells on 
the highest mountains1 and the remains  
of  plants and animals1 which the most  
superficial observer could not fail  to 
notice1 in the rocks around him1 have   
for centuries commanded the  attention  
and exercised the ingenuity of every    
student of nature4 ,but  though sparks  
of geological truth were from time to   
time elicited by  speculative minds1 it 
was not till the end of the last century
 that  its great lights broke forth1 and
 that it took the form and character  of

 one of the noblest of the sciences4    
,without undervaluing the labors  of    
,werner1 and other illustrious          
foreigners1 or those of our southern    
countrymen1 ,mitchell and ,smith1 at the
 close of the last century1 we  may     
characterize the commencement of the    
present as the brightest  period of     
geological discovery1 and place its most
 active locality in  the northern       
metropolis of our island4 ,it was       
doubtless from the ,royal  ,society of  
,edinburgh1 as a centre1 that a great   
geological impulse was  propagated      
southward1 and it was by the collision  
of the ,wernerian and  ,huttonian views1
 the antagonist theories of water and of
 fire1 that men  of intellectual power  
were summoned from other studies2 and   
that grand  truths1 which fanaticism and
 intolerance had hitherto abjured1 rose 
triumphant over the ignorance and       
bigotry of the age4 ,the ,geological    
,society of ,london1 which doubtless    
sprung from the excitement in the       

,scottish metropolis1 entered on the new
 field of research with a  faltering    
step4 ,the prejudices of the ,english   
mind had been marshalled  with illiberal
 violence against the ,huttonian        
doctrines4 ,infidelity and  ,atheism    
were charged against their supporters2  
and had there been a  ,protestant       
,inquisition in ,england at that period 
of general political  excitement1 the   
geologists of the north would have been 
immured in its  deepest dungeons4       
,truth1 however1 marched apace2 and     
though her simple but majestic          
procession be often solemn and slow1 and
 her votaries few and dejected1  yet on 
this1 as on every occasion1 she         
triumphed over the most inveterate      
prepossessions1 and finally took up her 
abode in those very halls and           
institutions where she had been         
persecuted and reviled4 ,when their     
science had been thus acquitted of the  
charge of impiety and irreligion1  the  
members of the ,geological ,society left

 their humble and timid  position of    
being the collectors only of the        
materials of future  generalizations1   
and became at once the most successful  
observers of  geological phenomena1 and 
the boldest asserters of geological     
truth4    ,in this field of research1 in
 which the physical1 as well as the     
intellectual1 frame of the philosopher  
is made tributary to science1 two  of   
our countrymen--,sir ,roderick          
,murchison and ,sir ,charles            
,lyell--have been  among our most active
 laborers4 ,from the study of their     
native glens1  these distinguished      
travellers1 like the ,humboldts and the 
,von ,buchs of  the continent1 have     
passed into foreign lands1 exploring the
 north and  the south of ,europe1 and   
extending their labors to the eastern   
ranges of  the ,ural and the ,timan1 and
 to the ,apallachians and the           
,alleghanies in  the far west4 ,but     
while our two countrymen were           
interrogating the strata  of other      

lands1 many able and active laborers had
 been at work in their  own4    ,among  
the eminent students of the structure of
 the earth1 ,mr4 ,hugh  ,miller holds a 
lofty place1 not merely from the        
discovery of new and  undescribed       
organisms in the ,old ,red ,sandstone1  
but from the accuracy and  beauty of his
 descriptions1 the purity and elegance  
of his composition1  and the high tone  
of philosophy and religion which        
distinguishes all  his writings4 ,mr4   
,miller is one of the few individuals in
 the history  of ,scottish science who  
have raised themselves above the labors 
of an  humble profession1 by the force  
of their genius and the excellence of   
their character1 to a comparatively high
 place in the social scale4  ,mr4       
,telford1 like ,mr4 ,miller1 followed   
the profession of a stone-mason1  before
 his industry and self-tuition qualified
 him for the higher  functions of an    
architect and an engineer4 ,and ,mr4    
,watt and ,mr4 ,rennie  rose to wealth  

and fame without the aid of a university
 education4 ,but1  distinguished as     
these individuals were1 none of them    
possessed those  qualities of mind which
 ,mr4 ,miller has exhibited in his      
writings2 and1  with the exception of   
,burns1 the uneducated genius which has 
done honor  to ,scotland during the last
 century1 has never displayed that      
mental  refinement1 and classical taste1
 and intellectual energy1 which mark all
  the writings of our author4 ,we wish  
that we could have gratified our        
readers with an authentic and even      
detailed narrative of the previous      
history of so remarkable a writer1 and  
of the steps by which his  knowledge was
 acquired1 and the difficulties which he
 encountered in its  pursuit2 but though
 this is not1 to any great extent1 in   
our power1 we  shall at least be able1  
chiefly from ,mr4 ,miller's own         
writings1 to follow  him throughout his 
geological career4    ,mr4 ,miller was  
born at ,cromarty1 of humble but        

respectable parents1 whose  history     
would have possessed no inconsiderable  
interest1 even if it had  not derived   
one of a higher kind from the genius and
 fortunes of their  child4 ,by the      
paternal side he was descended from a   
race of sea-faring  people1 whose family
 burying-ground1 if we judge from the   
past1 seems to  be the sea4 ,under its  
green waves his father sleeps3 his      
grandfather1 his  two granduncles1 one  
of whom sailed round the world with     
,anson1 lie also  there2 and the same   
extensive cemetery contains the relics  
of several of  his more distant         
relatives4 ,his father was but an infant
 of scarcely a  year old1 at the death  
of our author's grandfather1 and had to 
commence  life as a poor ship-boy2 but  
such was the energy of his mind1 that1  
when  little turned of thirty1 he had   
become the master and owner of a fine   
large sloop1 and had built himself a    
good house1 which entitled his son  to  
the franchise on the passing of the     

,reform ,bill4 ,having unfortunately    
lost his sloop in a storm1 he had to    
begin the world anew1 and he soon       
became master and owner of another1 and 
would have thriven1 had he lived2  but  
the hereditary fate was too strong for  
him1 and when our author was a  little  
boy of five summers1 his father's fine  
new sloop foundered at sea  in a        
terrible tempest1 and he and his crew   
were never more heard of4 ,mr4  ,miller 
had two sisters younger than himself1   
both of whom died ere they  attained to 
womanhood4 ,his mother experienced the  
usual difficulties  which a widow has to
 encounter in the decent education of   
her family2 but  she struggled honestly 
and successfully1 and ultimately found  
her reward  in the character and fame of
 her son4 ,it is from this excellent    
woman  that ,mr4 ,miller has inherited  
those sentiments and feelings which have
  given energy to his talents as the    
defender of revealed truth1 and the     
champion of the ,church of his fathers4 

,she was the great granddaughter of  a  
venerable man1 still well known to      
tradition in the north of ,scotland  as 
,donald ,roy of ,nigg1--a sort of       
northern ,peden1 who is described in    
the history of our ,church as the single
 individual who1 at the age of  eighty1 
when the presbytery of the district had 
assembled in the empty  church for the  
purpose of inducting an obnoxious       
presentee1 had the  courage to protest  
against the intrusion1 and to declare   
8that the blood  of the people of ,nigg 
would be required at their hands1 if    
they settled  a man to the walls of that
 church40 ,tradition has represented him
 as  a seer of visions1 and a prophesier
 of prophecies2 but whatever credit  may
 be given to stories of this kind1 which
 have been told also of ,knox1  ,welsh1 
and ,rutherford1 this ancient champion  
of ,non-,intrusion was a man  of genuine
 piety1 and the savor of his ennobling  
beliefs and his strict  morals has      
survived in his family for generations4 

,if the child of such  parents did not  
receive the best education which his    
native town could  afford1 it was not   
their fault1 nor that of his teacher4   
,the fetters  of a gymnasium are not    
easily worn by the adventurous youth who
 has  sought and found his pleasures    
among the hills and on the waters4 ,they
  chafe the young and active limb that  
has grown vigorous under the blue  sky1 
and never known repose but at midnight4 
,the young philosopher of  ,cromarty was
 a member of this restless community2   
and he had been the  hero of adventures 
and accidents among rocks and woods1    
which are still  remembered in his      
native town4 ,the parish school was     
therefore not the  scene of his         
enjoyments2 and while he was a truant1  
and1 with reverence  be it spoken1 a    
dunce1 while under its jurisdiction1 he 
was busy in the  fields and on the      
sea-shore in collecting those stores of 
knowledge  which he was born to dispense
 among his fellow-men4 ,he escaped1     

however1  from school1 with the         
knowledge of reading1 writing1 and a    
little  arithmetic1 and with the credit 
of uniting a great memory with a little 
scholarship4 ,unlike his illustrious    
predecessor1 ,cuvier1 he had studied    
,natural ,history in the fields and     
among the mountains ere he had sought   
for it in books2 while the ,french      
philosopher had become a learned        
naturalist before he had even looked    
upon the world of ,nature4 ,this        
singular contrast is not difficult to   
explain4 ,with a sickly constitution    
and a delicate frame1 the youthful      
,cuvier wanted that physical activity   
which the observation of ,nature        
demands4 ,our ,scottish geologist1 on   
the  contrary1 in vigorous health1 and  
with an iron frame1 rushed to the rocks 
and the sea-shore in search of the      
instruction which was not provided for  
him at school1 and which he could find  
no books to supply4    ,after receiving 
this measure of education1 ,mr4 ,miller 

set out in  ,february1 #ahba1 with a    
heavy heart1 as he himself confesses1   
8to make his  first acquaintance with a 
life of labor and restraint30--         
8,i was but a slim1 loose-jointed boy at
 the time1 fond of the      pretty      
intangibilities of romance1 and of      
dreaming when broad      awake2 and     
woful change6 ,i was now going to work  
at what ,burns      has instanced in his
 #8,twa ,dogs' as one of the most       
disagreeable      of all employments--to
 work in a quarry4 ,bating the passing  
uneasiness occasioned by a few gloomy   
anticipations1 the      portion of my   
life which had already gone by had been 
happy      beyond the common lot4 ,i had
 been a wanderer among rocks and        
woods1--a reader of curious books1 when 
,i could get them1--a      gleaner of   
old traditionary stories1--and now ,i   
was going to      exchange all my       
day-dreams and all my amusements for the
 kind      of life in which men toil    
every day that they may be enabled to   

eat1 and eat every day that they may be 
enabled to toil4 ,the      quarry in    
which ,i wrought lay on the southern    
shore of a noble      inland bay1 or    
frith1 rather1 7the ,bay of ,cromarty17 
with a      little1 clear stream on the 
one side1 and a thick fir wood on       
the other4 ,it had been opened in the   
,old ,red ,sandstone of the             
district1 and was overtopped by a huge  
bank of diluvial clay1      and which   
rose over it in some places to the      
height of nearly      thirty            
feet40--,old ,red ,sandstone1 p4 #d4    
,after removing the loose fragments     
below1 picks and wedges and levers  were
 applied in vain by our author and his  
brother workmen to tear up and  remove  
the huge strata beneath4 ,blasting by   
gunpowder became necessary4 ,a  mass of 
the diluvial clay came tumbling down1   
8bearing with it two dead  birds1 that  
in a recent storm had crept into one of 
the deeper fissures1  to die in the     
shelter40 ,while admiring the pretty    

cock goldfinch1 and the  light-blue and 
grayish-yellow woodpecker1 and          
moralizing on their fate1  the workmen  
were ordered to lay aside their tools1  
and thus ended the  first day's labor of
 our young geologist4 ,the sun was then 
sinking behind  the thick fir wood      
behind him1 and the long dark shadows of
 the trees  stretching to the shore4    
,notwithstanding his blistered hands1   
and the  fatigue which blistered them1  
he found himself next morning as light  
of  heart as his fellow-laborers1 and   
able to enjoy the magnificent scenery   
around him1 which he thus so beautifully
 describes3--        8,there had been a 
smart frost during the night1 and the   
rime      lay white on the grass as we  
passed onwards through the fields2      
but the sun rose in a clear atmosphere1 
and the day mellowed      as it advanced
 into one of those delightful days of   
early      spring which give so pleasing
 an earnest of whatever is mild      and
 genial in the better half of the year4 

,all the workmen      rested at midday1 
and ,i went to enjoy my half hour alone 
on a      mossy knoll in the neighboring
 wood1 which commands through the       
trees a wide prospect of the bay and the
 opposite shore4 ,there      was not a  
wrinkle on the water1 nor a cloud in the
 sky2 and      the branches were as     
moveless in the calm as if they had been
      traced on canvas4 ,from a wooded  
promontory that stretched half      way 
across the frith1 there ascended a thin 
column of smoke4 ,it      rose straight 
on the line of a plummet for more than a
 thousand      yards2 and then1 as      
reaching a thinner stratum of air1      
spread      out equally on every side1  
like the foliage of a stately tree4     
,ben ,wevis rose to the west1 white with
 the yet unwasted snows      of winter1 
and as sharply defined in the clear     
atmosphere as      if all its sunny     
slopes and blue retiring hollows had    
been      chiselled in marble4 ,a line  
of snow ran along the opposite          

hills2 all above was white1 and all     
below was purple40--,old ,red           
,sandstone1 pp4 #f1 #g4    ,in raising  
from its bed the large mass of strata   
which the gunpowder had  loosened1 on   
the surface of the solid stone1 our     
young quarrier descried  the ridged and 
furrowed ripple marks which the tide    
leaves upon every  sandy shore1 and he  
wondered what had become of the waves   
that had thus  fretted the solid rock1  
and of what element they had been       
composed4 ,his  admiration was equally  
excited by a circular depression in the 
sandstone1  8broken and flawed in every 
direction1 as if it had been the bottom 
of a  pool recently dried up1 which had 
shrunk and split in the hardening40 ,and
  before the day closed1 a series of    
large stones had rolled down from the   
clay1 8all rounded and water-worn1 as if
 they had been tossed in the sea  or the
 bed of a river for hundreds of years40 
,was the clay which enclosed  them      
created on the rock upon which it lay8  

,no workman ever manufactures  a        
half-worn article6--were the            
ejaculations of the geologist at his    
alphabet4    ,our author and his        
companions were soon removed to an      
easier wrought  quarry1 and one more    
pregnant with interest1 which had been  
opened 8in  a lofty wall of cliffs that 
overhangs the northern shore of the     
,moray  ,frith40 ,here the geology of   
the district exhibited itself in        
section4        8,we see in one place   
the primary rock1 with its veins of     
granite and quartz1--its dizzy          
precipices of gneiss1 and its      huge 
masses of hornblende2 we find the       
secondary rock in      another1 with its
 bed of sandstone and shale1--its spars1
 its      clays1 and its nodular        
limestones4 ,we discover the still      
little      known but highly interesting
 fossils of the ,old ,red ,sandstone    
in one deposition2 we find the          
beautifully preserved shells and        
lignites of the lias in another4 ,there 

are the remains of two      several     
creations at once before us4 ,the shore1
 too1 is heaped      with rolled        
fragments of almost every variety of    
rock1--basalts1      ironstones1        
hypersthenes1 porphyries1 bituminous    
shales1 and      micaceous schists4 ,in 
short1 the young geologist1 had he all  
,europe before him1 could hardly choose 
for himself a better      field4 ,i had1
 however1 no one to tell me so at the   
time1 for      geology had not yet      
travelled so far north2 and so1 without 
guide or vocabulary1 ,i had to grope my 
way as ,i best might1      and find out 
all its wonders for myself4 ,but so slow
 was the      process1 and so much was  
,i a seeker in the dark1 that the facts 
contained in these few sentences were   
the patient gatherings of               
years40--,old ,red ,sandstone1 pp4 #i1  
#aj4    ,in this rich field of inquiry1 
our author encountered1 almost daily1   
new  objects of wonder and instruction4 
,in one nodular mass of limestone he    

found the beautiful ammonite1 like one  
of the finely sculptured volutes  of an 
,ionic capital4 ,within others1         
fish-scales and bivalve shells2  and in 
the centre of another he detected a     
piece of decayed wood4 ,upon  quitting  
the quarry for the building upon which  
the workmen were to be  employed1 the   
workmen received half a holiday1 and our
 young philosopher  devoted this        
valuable interval to search for certain 
curiously shaped  stones1 which one of  
the quarriers told him resembled the    
heads of  boarding-pikes1 and which1    
under the name of thunder-bolts1 were   
held  to be a sovereign remedy for      
cattle that had been bewitched4 ,on the 
shore two miles off1 where he expected  
these remarkable bodies1 he found       
deposits quite different either from the
 sandstone cliffs or the primary  rocks 
further to the west4 ,they consisted of 
8thin strata of limestone1  alternating 
with thicker beds of a black slaty      
substance10 which burned  with a bright 

flame and a bituminous odor4 ,though    
only the eighth part  of an inch thick1 
each layer contained thousands of       
fossils peculiar to  the lias1--scallops
 and gryphites1 ammonites1 twigs and    
leaves of plants1  cones of pine1 pieces
 of charcoal1 and scales of fishes1--the
 impressions  being of a chalky         
whiteness1 contrasting strikingly with  
their black  bituminous lair4 ,among    
these fragments of animal and vegetable 
life1 he  at last detected his          
thunder-bolt in the form of a           
,belemnite1 the  remains of a kind of   
cuttle-fish long since extinct4    ,in  
the exercise of his profession1 which   
8was a wandering one10 our  author      
advanced steadily1 though slowly and    
surely1 in his geological  acquirements4
        8,i remember10 says he1 8passing
 direct on one occasion from the        
wild western coast of ,ross-shire1 where
 the ,old ,red ,sandstone      leans at 
a high angle against the prevailing     
quartz rock of      the district1 to    

where1 on the southern skirts of        
,mid-,lothian1      the mountain        
limestone rises amid the coal4 ,i have  
resided      one season on a raised     
beach on the ,moray ,frith4 ,i have     
spent      the season immediately       
following amid the ancient granites     
and contorted schists of the central    
,highlands4 ,in the north1      ,i have 
laid open by thousands the shells and   
lignites of the      ,oolite2 in the    
south1 ,i have disinterred from their   
matrices      of stone or of shale the  
huge reeds and tree ferns of the        
carboniferous period4444 ,in the north1 
there occurs a vast gap      in the     
scale4 ,the ,lias leans unconformably   
against the ,old ,red      ,sandstone2  
there is no mountain limestone1 no coal 
measures1      none of the ,new ,red    
,marls or ,sandstones4 ,there are at    
least      three entire systems omitted4
 ,but the upper portion of the          
scale is well-nigh complete4 ,in one    
locality we may pass from      the      

,lower to the ,upper ,lias1 in another  
from the ,inferior to      the ,great   
,oolite1 and onward to the ,oxford ,clay
 and the ,coral      ,rag4 ,we may      
explore in a third locality beds        
identical in their      organisms with  
the ,wealden of ,sussex4 ,in a fourth1  
we find the      flints and fossils of  
the chalk4 ,the lower part of the scale 
is also well-nigh complete4 ,the ,old   
,red ,sandstone is amply      developed 
in ,moray1 ,caithness1 and ,ross1 and   
the ,grauwacke very      extensively in 
,banffshire4 ,but to acquaint one's self
 with      the three missing            
formations1--to complete one's knowledge
 of      the entire scale1 by filling up
 the hiatus1--it is necessary      to   
remove to the south4 ,the geology of the
 ,lothians is the      geology of at    
least two thirds of the gap1 and perhaps
 a little      more2--the geology of    
,arran wants only a few of the upper    
beds of the ,new ,red ,sandstone to fill
 it entirely40--,old ,red               

,sandstone1 pp4 #ac-ag4    ,after having
 spent nearly fifteen years in the      
profession of a  stone-mason1 ,mr4      
,miller was promoted to a position more 
suited to his  genius4 ,when a bank was 
established in his native town of       
,cromarty1 he  received the appointment 
of accountant1 and he was thus employed1
 for  five years1 in keeping ledgers and
 discounting bills4 ,when the contest in
  the ,church of ,scotland had come to a
 close1 by the decision of the ,house   
of ,lords in the ,auchterurder ,case1   
,mr4 ,miller's celebrated letter to     
,lord  ,brougham attracted the          
particular attention of the party which 
was about  to leave the ,establishment1 
and he was selected as the most         
competent  person to conduct the        
,witness newspaper1 the principal       
metropolitan  organ of the ,free        
,church4 ,the great success which this  
journal has  met with is owing1         
doubtless1 to the fine articles1        
political1  ecclesiastical1 and         

geological1 which ,mr4 ,miller has      
written for it4 ,in  the few leisure    
hours which so engrossing an occupation 
has allowed him  to enjoy1 he has       
devoted himself to the ardent           
prosecution of scientific  inquiries2   
and we trust the time is not far distant
 when the liberality  of his country1 to
 which he has done so much honor1 will  
allow him to  give his whole time to the
 prosecution of science4    ,geologists 
of high character had believed that the 
,old ,red ,sandstone  was defective in  
organic remains2 and it was not till    
after ten years'  acquaintance with it  
that ,mr4 ,miller discovered it to be   
richly  fossiliferous4 ,the labors of   
other ten years were required to assign 
to  its fossils their exact place in the
 scale4    ,among the fossils discovered
 by our author1 the ,pterichthys or     
winged  fish is doubtless the most      
remarkable4 ,he had disinterred it so   
early as  #ahca1 but it was only in     
#ahch that he 8introduced it to the     

acquaintance  of geologists40 ,it was   
not till #ahca that ,mr4 ,miller began  
to receive  assistance in his studies   
from without4 ,in the appendix to       
,messrs4  ,anderson of ,inverness's     
admirable ,guide to the ,highlands and  
,islands of  ,scotland1 which 8he       
perused with intense interest10 he found
 the most  important information        
respecting the geology of the ,north of 
,scotland2  and during a correspondence 
with the accomplished authors of that   
work1  many of his views were developed1
 and his difficulties removed4 ,in      
#ahch1 he communicated to ,dr4          
,malcolmson of ,madras1 then in ,paris1 
a  drawing and description of the       
,pterichthys4 ,his letter was submitted 
to ,agassiz1 and subsequently a restored
 drawing was communicated to the  ,elgin
 ,scientific ,society4 ,the great       
naturalist1 as well as the members  of  
the provincial society1 were surprised  
at the new form of life  which ,mr4     
,miller had disclosed1 and some of them1

 no doubt1 regarded  it with a sceptical
 eye4 8,not many months after1 however1 
a true bona  fide ,pterichthys was      
turned up in one of the newly-discovered
 beds of  ,nairnshire40 ,in his last    
visit to ,scotland1 ,agassiz found six  
species of  the ,pterichthys1 three of  
which1 and the wings of a fourth1 were  
in ,mr4  ,miller's collection4    ,this 
remarkable animal has less resemblance  
than any other fossil of  the ,old ,red 
,sandstone to anything that now exists4 
,when first brought  to view by the     
single blow of a hammer1 there appeared 
on a ground of  light-colored limestone 
the effigy of a creature1 fashioned     
apparently  out of jet1 with a body     
covered with plates1 two powerful       
looking arms  articulated at the        
shoulders1 a head as entirely lost in   
the trunk as  that of the ray1 7or      
skate17 and a long angular tail1 equal  
in length to  a third of the entire     
figure4 ,its general resemblance is to  
the letter  ,t1--the upper part of the  

vertical line being swelled out1 and the
 lower  part ending in an angular point1
 the two horizontal portions being1 in  
the opinion of ,agassiz1 organs of      
locomotion4 ,to this remarkable fossil  
,m4 ,agassiz has given the appropriate  
name of ,pterichthys ,milleri4 ,an      
account of it1 accompanied with two fine
 specimens1 was communicated  to the    
,geological ,section of the ,british    
,association at ,glasgow1 in            
,september1 #ahdj2 and the most ample   
details1 with accurate drawings1  were  
afterwards published1 in #ahda1 in ,mr4 
,miller's first work1 ,the ,old  ,red   
,sandstone1 which was dedicated to ,sir 
,roderick ,murchison1 who was  born on  
the ,old ,red ,sandstone of the ,north1 
in the same district as ,mr4  ,miller1  
and whose great acquirements and        
distinguished labors are known  all over
 the world among scientific men4 ,this  
admirable work has already  passed      
through three editions4 ,from the       
originality and accuracy of its         

descriptions1 and the importance of the 
researches which it contains1 it  has   
obtained for its author a high          
reputation among geologists2 while  from
 the elegance and purity of its style1  
and the force and liveliness  of its    
illustrations1 it has received the      
highest praise from its more  general   
readers4#a    ,although we have been    
obliged1 from the information which it  
contains  of our author's early studies1
 to mention the 8,old ,red ,sandstone0  
as if  it had been his first work2 yet  
so early as #ahcj1 after he had made his
  first fossil discoveries at ,cromarty1
 he composed a paper on the subject1    
7his first published production17 which 
appeared as one of the chapters  of a   
small legendary and descriptive work1   
entitled ,the ,traditional  ,history of 
,cromarty1 which did not appear till    
#ahce4 ,this chapter1  entitled 8,the   
,antiquary of the ,world10 possesses a  
high degree of  interest4 ,after        
describing the scene around him in its  

pictorial aspect1  and under the warm   
associations1 which link it with        
existing life1 he  surveys it with the  
cool eye of an 8antiquary of the world10
 studying  its once buried monuments1   
and decyphering the alphabet of plants  
and  animals1 the hieroglyphics which   
embosom the history of past times and   
of successive creations4 ,the gigantic  
,ben ,wevis1 with its attendant  hills1 
rose abruptly to the west4 ,the distant 
peaks of ,ben ,vaichard  appeared in the
 south1 and far to the north were       
descried the lofty  hills of            
,sutherland1 and even the ,ord-hill of  
,caithness4 ,descending from  the towers
 of nature's lofty edifice he surveys   
its ruins1 its broken  sculptures1 and  
its half-defaced inscriptions1 as       
exhibited in certain  ,ichthyic remains 
of the ,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone which
 had then no name1  and which were      
unknown to the most accomplished        
geologists4 ,among these  he specially  
notices 8a confused bituminous-looking  

mass that had much  the appearance of a 
toad or frog10 thus shadowing forth in  
the morning  twilight the curious       
,pterichthys1 which he was able         
afterwards1 in  better specimens1 to    
exhibit in open day4 ,as we have already
 referred1  with some minuteness1 to the
 fossils which our author had at this   
time  discovered in the great           
charnel-house of the old world1 we shall
 indulge  our readers with a specimen of
 the noble sentiments which they        
inspired1  and of the beautiful language
 in which these sentiments are clothed4 
8,but let us quit this wonderful city of
 the dead1 with all      its reclining  
obelisks1 and all its sculptured tumuli1
 the      memorials of a race that exist
 only in their tombs4 ,and yet1      ere
 we go1 it were well1 perhaps1 to       
indulge in some of those      serious   
thoughts which we so naturally associate
 with the      solitary burying-ground  
and the mutilated remains of the        
departed4 ,let us once more look around 

us1 and say1 whether1      of all men1  
the ,geologist does not stand most in   
need of      the ,bible1 however much he
 may contemn it in the pride of         
speculation4 ,we tread on the remains of
 organized and sentient      creatures1 
which1 though more numerous at one      
period than the      whole family of    
man1 have long since ceased to exist2   
the      individuals perished one after 
one--their remains served only      to  
elevate the floor on which their        
descendants pursued the      various    
instincts of their nature1 and then     
sunk1 like the      others1 to form a   
still higher layer of soil2 and now that
 the      whole race has passed from the
 earth1 and we see the animals      of a
 different tribe occupying their places1
 what survives of      them but a mass  
of inert and senseless matter1 never    
again      to be animated by the        
mysterious spirit of vitality--that     
spirit which1 dissipated in the air1 or 
diffused in the ocean1      can1 like   

the sweet sounds and pleasant odors of  
the past1      be neither gathered up   
nor recalled6 ,and ,o1 how dark the     
analogy which would lead us to          
anticipate a similar fate for           
ourselves6 ,as individuals1 we are but  
as yesterday2 to-morrow      we shall be
 laid in our graves1 and the tread of   
the coming      generation shall be over
 our heads4 ,nay1 have we not seen a    
terrible disease sweep away1 in a few   
years1 more than eighty      millions of
 the race to which we belong2 and can we
 think of      this and say that a time 
may not come when1 like the fossils     
of these beds our whole species shall be
 mingled with the      soil1 and when1  
though the sun may look down in his     
strength      on our pleasant dwellings 
and our green fields1 there shall be    
silence in all our borders1 and         
desolation in all our gates1      and we
 shall have no thought of that past     
which it is now our      delight to     
recall1 and no portion in that future   

which it is      now our very nature to 
anticipate4 ,surely it is well to       
believe      that a widely different    
destiny awaits us--that the ,god who    
endowed us with those wonderful powers1 
which enable us to      live in every   
departed era1 every coming period1 has  
given us      to possess these powers   
forever2 that not only does he number   
the hairs of our heads1 but that his    
cares are extended to      even our very
 remains2 that our very bones1 instead  
of being      left1 like the exuvi      
around us1 to form the rocks and clays  
of a future world1 shall1 like those in 
the valley of vision1      be again     
clothed with muscle and sinew1 and that 
our bodies1      animated by the warmth 
and vigor of life1 shall again connect  
our souls to the matter existing around 
us1 and be obedient to      every       
impulse of the will4 ,it is surely no   
time1 when we walk      amid the dark   
cemeteries of a departed world1 and see 
the cold      blank shadows of the tombs

 falling drearily athwart the way--it   
is surely no time to extinguish the     
light given us to shine so      fully   
and so cheerfully on our own proper     
path1 merely because      its beams do  
not enlighten the recesses that yawn    
around us4      ,and ,o1 what more      
unworthy of reasonable men than to      
reject      so consoling a revelation on
 no juster quarrel1 than when it        
unveils to us much of what could not    
otherwise be known1 and      without the
 knowledge of which we could not be     
other than      unhappy1 it leaves to   
the invigorating exercises of our own   
powers whatever1 in the wide circle of  
creation1 lies fully      within their  
grasp60--,the ,antiquary of the ,world1 
pp4 #ef-eh4    ,the next work published 
by ,mr4 ,miller was entitled 8,first    
,impressions  of ,england and its       
,people10#b a popular and interesting   
volume1 which  has already gone through 
two editions1 and which may be read with
 equal  interest by the geologist1 the  

philanthropist1 and the general reader4 
,it  is full of knowledge and of        
anecdote1 and is written in that        
attractive  style which commands the    
attention even of the most incurious    
readers4    ,this delightful work1      
though only in one volume1 is equal to  
three of  the ordinary type1 and cannot 
fail to be perused with high            
gratification  by all classes of        
readers4 ,it treats of every subject    
which is presented  to the notice of an 
accomplished traveller while he visits  
the great  cities and romantic          
localities of merry ,england4 ,we know  
of no tour  in ,england written by a    
native in which so much pleasant reading
 and  substantial instruction are       
combined2 and though we are occasionally
  stopped in a very delightful locality 
by a precipice of the ,old ,red         
,sandstone1 or frightened by a          
disinterred skeleton1 or sobered by the 
burial-service over ,palozoic graves1 we
 soon recover our equanimity1  and again

 enter upon the sunny path to which our 
author never fails to  restore us4      
,mr4 ,miller's new work1 the            
8,footprints of the ,creator10 of which 
we publish now another edition1         
authorized by the writer1 is very       
appropriately dedicated to ,sir ,philip 
,grey ,egerton1 ,bart41 ,m4 ,p4 for     
,cheshire--a gentleman who possesses a  
magnificent collection of fossils1  and 
whose skill and acquirements in this    
department of geology is  known and     
appreciated both in ,europe and         
,america4 ,the work itself is  divided  
into fifteen chapters1 in which the     
author treats of the fossil  geology of 
the ,orkneys1 as exhibited in the       
vicinity of ,stromness2 of  the         
development hypothesis1 and its         
consequences2 of the history and        
structure of that remarkable fish1 the  
,asterolepis2 of the fishes of the      
,upper and ,lower ,silurian rocks2 of   
the progress of degradation1 and its    
history2 of the ,lamarckian hypothesis  

of the origin of plants1 and its        
consequences2 of the ,marine and        
,terrestrial floras2 and of final       
causes1  and their bearing on geological
 history4 ,in the course of these       
chapters  ,mr4 ,miller discusses the    
development hypothesis1 or the          
hypothesis of  natural law1 as          
maintained by ,lamarck and by the author
 of the ,vestiges  of ,creation1 and has
 subjected it1 in its geological aspect1
 to the most  rigorous examination4     
,driven by the discoveries of ,lord     
,rosse from the  domains of astronomy1  
where it once seemed to hold a plausible
 position1  it might have lingered with 
the appearance of life among the        
ambiguities  of the ,palozoic           
formations2 but ,mr4 ,miller has1 with  
an ingenuity and  patience worthy of a  
better subject1 stripped it even of its 
semblance  of truth1 and restored to the
 ,creator1 as ,governor of the universe1
 that  power and those functions which  
he was supposed to have resigned at its 

birth4    ,having imposed upon himself  
the task of examining in detail the     
various  fossiliferous formations of    
,scotland1 our author extended his      
inquiries  into the mainland of ,orkney1
 and resided for some time in the       
vicinity  of the busy seaport town of   
,stromness1 as a central point from     
which the  structure of the ,orkney     
group of islands could be most          
advantageously  studied4 ,like that of  
,caithness1 the geology of these islands
 owes its  principal interest to the    
immense development of the ,lower ,old  
,red  ,sandstone formation1 and to the  
singular abundance of its vertebrate    
fossils4 ,though the ,orkneys contain   
only the third part of the ,old  ,red   
,sandstone1 which1 but a few years ago1 
was supposed to be the least  productive
 in fossils of any of the geological    
formations1 yet it  furnishes1 according
 to ,mr4 ,miller1 more fossil fish than 
every other  geological system in       
,england1 ,scotland1 and ,wales1 from   

the ,coal ,measures  to the ,chalk1     
inclusive4 ,it is1 in short1 8the land  
of fish10 and  8could supply with       
ichthyolites1 by the ton and by the     
ship-load1 the  museums of the world40  
,its various deposits1 with the curious 
organisms  which they inclose1 have been
 upheaved from their original position  
against a granitic axis1 about six miles
 long and one broad1 8forming the  great
 back-bone of the western district of   
the ,island ,pomona2 and on this        
granitic axis1 fast jambed in between a 
steep hill and the sea1 stands  the town
 of ,stromness40    ,the mass or pile of
 strata thus uplifted is described by   
,mr4 ,miller as a  three-barred pyramid 
resting on its granite base1 exhibiting 
three broad  tiers--red1 black1 and     
gray--sculptured with the hieroglyphics 
in which  its history is recorded4 ,the 
great conglomerate base on which it     
rests1  covering from #aj1jjj to #ae1jjj
 square miles1 from the depth of from   
#ajj  to #djj feet1 consists of rough   

sand and water-worn pebbles2 and above  
this have been deposited successive     
strata of mud1 equal in height to  the  
highest of our mountains1 now containing
 the remains of millions and  tens of   
millions of fish which had perished in  
some sudden and mysterious  catastrophe4
    ,in the examination of the different
 beds of the three-barred formation1    
our author discovered a well-marked     
bone1 like a petrified large roofing    
nail1 in a grayish-colored layer of hard
 flag1 about #ajj yards over the        
granite1 and about #afj feet over the   
upper stratum of the conglomerate4      
,this singular bone1 which ,mr4 ,miller 
has represented in a figure1 was        
probably the oldest vertebrate organism 
yet discovered in ,orkney4 ,it was  #e  
inches long1 #b inches across the head1 
and ths of an inch thick  in the stem1  
and formed a characteristic feature of  
the ,asterolepis1 as  yet the most      
gigantic of the ganoid fishes1 and      
probably one of the first  of the ,old  

,red ,sandstone4 ,in his former         
researches1 our author had found  that  
all of the many hundred ichthyolites    
which he had disinterred from  the      
,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone were        
comparatively of a small size1 while    
those in the ,upper ,old ,red were of   
great bulk2 and hence he had naturally  
inferred1 that vertebrate life had      
increased towards the close of the      
system--that1 in short1 it began with an
 age of dwarfs1 and ended with an  age  
of giants2 but he had thus greatly      
erred1 like the supporters of the       
development system1 in founding positive
 conclusions on merely negative         
evidence2 for here1 at the very base of 
the system1 where no dwarfs were  to be 
found1 he had discovered one of the most
 colossal of its giants4    ,after this 
most important discovery1 ,mr4 ,miller  
extended his inquiries  easterly for    
several miles along the bare and        
unwooded ,lake of ,stennis1  about      
fourteen miles in circumference1 and    

divided into an upper arm  lower sheet  
of water by two long promontories       
jutting out from each side  and nearly  
meeting in the middle4 ,the sea enters  
this lake through the  openings of a    
long rustic bridge1 and hence the lower 
division of the  lake 8is salt in its   
nether reaches1 and brackish in its     
upper ones2  while the higher division  
is merely brackish in its nether        
reaches1 and  fresh enough in its upper 
ones to be potable40 ,the fauna and     
flora of  the lake are therefore of a   
mixed character1 the marine and fresh   
water  animals having each their own    
reaches1 though each kind makes certain 
encroachments on the province of the    
other4    ,in the marine and lacustrine 
floras of the lake1 ,mr4 ,miller        
observed  changes still more palpable4  
,at the entrance of the sea1 the ,fucus 
nodosus and ,fucus vesiculosus flourish 
in their proper form and  magnitude4 ,a 
little farther on in the lake1 the ,f4  
nodosus disappears1  and the ,f4        

vesiculosus1 though continuing to exist 
for mile after mile1  grows dwarfish and
 stunted1 and finally disappears1 giving
 place to  rushes and other aquatic     
grasses1 till the lacustrine has        
entirely  displaced the marine flora4   
,from these two important facts1 the    
existence  of the fragment of           
,asterolepis in the lower flagstones of 
the ,orkneys1  and of the 8curiously    
mixed semi-marine semi-lacustrine       
vegetation in the  ,loch of ,stennis10  
which our author regards as bearing     
directly on the  development hypothesis1
 he takes occasion to submit that       
hypothesis to a  severe examination1 and
 to point out its consequences--its     
incompatibility  with the great truths  
of morality and revealed religion4      
,according  to ,professor ,oken1 one of 
the ablest supporters of the development
  theory1 8,there are two kinds of      
generation in the world1 the creation   
proper1 and the propagation that is     
sequent thereon1 or the original  and   

secondary generation4 ,consequently1 no 
organism has been created  of larger    
size than an infusorial point4 ,no      
organism is1 or ever has  been created1 
which is not microscopic4 ,whatever is  
large has not been  created1 but        
developed4 ,man has not been created1   
but developed40 ,hence  it follows that 
during the great geological period1 when
 race after race  was destroyed1 and new
 forms of life called into being1       
8nature had been  pregnant with the     
human race10 and that immortal and      
intellectual ,man is  but the           
development of the ,brute--itself the   
development of some monad or  mollusc1  
which has been smitten into life by the 
action of electricity  upon a portion of
 gelatinous matter4    ,if the          
development theory be true1 8the early  
fossils ought to be very  small in      
size10 and 8very low in organization40  
,in the earliest strata we  ought to    
find only 8mere embryos and ftuses2 and 
if we find instead  the full-grown and  

mature1 then must we hold that the      
testimony of  geology is not only not in
 accordance with the theory1 but in     
positive  opposition to it40 ,having    
laid this down as the principle by which
  the question is to be decided1 our    
author proceeds to consider 8what  are  
the facts40 ,the ,asterolepis of        
,stromness seems to be the  oldest      
organism yet discovered in the most     
ancient geological system of  ,scotland1
 in which vertebrate remains occur4 ,it 
is probably the oldest  ,clacanth that  
the world has yet produced1 for there is
 no certain trace  of this family in the
 great ,silurian system1 which lies     
underneath1 and  on which1 according to 
our existing knowledge1 organic         
existence first  began4 8,how1 then10   
asks ,mr4 ,miller1 8on the two relevant 
points--bulk and  organization--does it 
answer to the demands of the development
 hypothesis8  ,was it a mere ftus of the
 finny tribe1 of minute size and        
imperfect  embryonic faculty8 ,or was it

 of1 at least1 the ordinary bulk1 and1  
for  its class1 of the average          
organization80    ,in order to answer   
these questions1 ,mr4 ,miller proceeds  
in his third  chapter to give the recent
 history of the ,asterolepis2 in his    
fourth1  to ascertain the cerebral      
development of the earlier vertebrata2  
and in  his fifth chapter to describe   
the structure1 bulk1 and aspect of the  
,asterolepis4 ,in the rocks of ,russia  
certain fossil remains had been long    
ago discovered1 of such a singular      
nature as to have perplexed ,lamarck    
and other naturalists4 ,their true place
 among fishes was subsequently          
ascertained by ,m4 ,eichwald1 a living  
naturalist2 and ,sir ,roderick          
,murchison found that they were         
,ichthyolites of the ,old ,red          
,sandstone4  ,agassiz gave them the name
 of ,chelonichthys2 but in consequence  
of very  fine specimens having been     
found in the ,old ,red ,sandstone of    
,russia1  which ,professor ,asmus of    

,dorpat sent to the ,british ,museum1   
and which  exhibited star-like markings1
 he abandoned his name of               
,chelonichthys1  and adopted that of    
,asterolepis1 or star-scale1 which      
,eichwald had  proposed4 ,many points1  
however1 respecting this curious fossil 
remained  to be determined1 and it was  
fortunate for science that ,mr4 ,miller 
was  enabled to accomplish this object  
by means of a variety of excellent      
specimens which he received from ,mr4   
,robert ,dick1 8an intelligent          
tradesman of ,thurso1 one of those      
working men of ,scotland1 of active     
curiosity and well developed intellect1 
that give character and standing  to the
 rest40 ,agassiz had inferred1 from very
 imperfect fragments1 that  the         
,asterolepis was a strongly-helmed fish 
of the ,clacanths1 or  hollow spine     
family--that it was probably a          
flat-headed animal1 and that  the       
discovery of a head or of a jaw might   
prove that the genus ,dendrodus  did not

 differ from it4 ,all these conjectures 
were completely confirmed  by ,mr4      
,miller1 after a careful examination of 
the specimens of ,mr4 ,dick4    ,before 
proceeding to describe the structure of 
the gigantic ,asterolepis1  ,mr4 ,miller
 devotes a long and elaborate chapter to
 the subject of the  cerebral           
development of the earlier vertebrata1  
in order to ascertain  in what manner   
their true brains were lodged1 and to   
discover the  modification which the    
cranium1 as their protecting box1       
received in  subsequent periods4 ,this  
inquiry1 which he has conducted with    
great skill  and ability1 is not only   
highly interesting in itself1 but will  
be found  to have a direct bearing on   
the great question which it is his      
object to  discuss and decide4    ,the  
facts and reasonings contained in this  
chapter will1 we doubt not1  shake to   
its very base the bold theory of        
,professor ,oken1 which has been  so    
generally received abroad1 and which is 

beginning to find supporters  even among
 the solid thinkers of our own country4 
,in the ,isis of #ahah1  ,professor     
,lorenz ,oken has given the following   
account of the hypothesis  to which we  
allude4 8,in ,august1 #ahjf10 says he1  
8,i made a journey over  the ,hartz4 ,i 
slid down through the wood on the south 
side1 and straight  before me1 at my    
very feet1 lay a most beautiful blanched
 skull of  a hind4 ,i picked it up1     
turned it round1 regarded it            
intensely2--the  thing was done4 #8,it  
is a vertebral column1' struck me like a
 flood of  lightning1 #8to the marrow   
and bone2' and since that time the skull
 has  been regarded as a vertebral      
column40    ,this remarkable hypothesis 
was at first received with enthusiasm by
 the  naturalists of ,germany1 and1     
among others1 by ,agassiz1 who1 from    
grounds  not of a geological kind1 has  
more recently rejected it4 ,it has been 
adopted by our distinguished countryman1
 ,professor ,owen1 and forms the        

central idea in his lately published and
 ingenious work 8,on the ,nature  of    
,limbs40 ,the conclusion at which he    
arrives1 that the fore-limbs of  the    
vertebrata are the ribs of the occipital
 bone or vertebra set free1  and 7in all
 the vertebrata higher in the scale than
 the ordinary fishes7  carried down     
along the vertebral column by a sort of 
natural dislocation1  is a deduction    
from the idea that startled ,professor  
,oken in the forest  of the ,hartz4     
,whatever support this hypothesis might 
have expected from  ,geology1 has been  
struck from beneath it by this          
remarkable chapter of  ,mr4 ,miller's   
work2 and though anatomists may for a   
while maintain it  under the influence  
of so high an authority as ,professor   
,owen1 we are  much mistaken if it ever 
forms a part of the creed of the        
geologist4  ,mr4 ,miller indeed has1 by 
a most skilful examination of the heads 
of  the earliest vertebrata known to    
geologists1 proved that the hypothesis  

derives no support from the structure   
which they exhibit1 and ,agassiz has    
even upon general principles rejected it
 as untenable4    ,mr4 ,miller's next   
chapter on the structure1 bulk1 and     
aspect of the  ,asterolepis1 is1 like   
that which precedes it1 the work of a   
master1  evincing the highest powers of 
observation and analysis4 ,its size in  
the  larger specimens must have been    
very great2 and from a comparison of the
  proportion of the head in the ,ganoids
 to the length of the body1 which  is   
sometimes as one to five1 or one to six1
 or one to six and a half1  or even one 
to seven1 our author concludes that the 
total length of the  specimens in his   
possession must have been at least eight
 feet three  inches1 or from nine feet  
nine to nine feet ten inches4 ,the      
remains of an  ,asterolepis found by    
,mr4 ,dick at ,thurso1 indicate a length
 of from twelve  feet five to thirteen  
feet eight inches2 and one of the       
,russian specimens  of ,professor ,asmus

 must have been from eighteen to        
twenty-three feet  long4 8,hence10 says 
,mr4 ,miller1 8in the not unimportant   
circumstance  of size--the most ancient 
,clacanths yet known1 instead of taking 
their  places agreeably to the demands  
of the development hypothesis among the 
sprats1 sticklebacks1 and minnows of    
their class1 took their place among  its
 huge basking sharks1 gigantic          
sturgeons1 and bulky swordfishes4  ,they
 were giants1 not dwarfs40 ,again1      
judging by the analogies which  its     
structure exhibits to that of fishes of 
the existing period1 the  ,asterolepis  
must have been a fish high in the scale 
of organization4    ,a specimen of      
,asterolepis1 discovered by ,mr4 ,dick1 
among the ,thurso  rocks1 and sent to   
,mr4 ,miller1 exhibited the singular    
phenomenon of a  quantity of thick tar  
lying beneath it1 which stuck to the    
fingers when  lifting the pieces of     
rock4 8,what had been once the nerves1  
muscles1 and  blood of this ancient     

,ganoid1 still lay under its bones10 a  
phenomenon  which our author had        
previously seen beneath the body of a   
poor suicide1  whose grave in a sandy   
bank had been laid open by the          
encroachments of a  river1 the sand     
beneath it having been 8consolidated    
into a dark colored  pitchy mass10      
extending a full yard beneath the body4 
,in like manner1  the animal juices of  
the ,asterolepis had preserved its      
remains1 by 8the  pervading bitumen1    
greatly more conservative in its effects
 than the oil  and gum of an old        
,egyptian undertaker40 ,the bones1      
though black as pitch  retained to a    
considerable degree the peculiar        
qualities of the original  substance1 in
 the same manner as the adipocire of wet
 burying-grounds  preserves fresh and   
green the bones which it encloses4      
,in support of his anti-development     
views1 ,mr4 ,miller devotes his next and
  sixth chapter to the recent history1  
order1 and size of the fishes of  the   

,upper and ,lower ,silurian rocks4 ,of  
these ancient formations1 the bone  bed 
of the ,upper ,ludlow rocks is the only 
one which1 besides defensive  spines of 
fish1 contains teeth1 fragments of jaws1
 and shagreen points1  whereas1 in the  
inferior deposits1 defensive spates     
alone are found4 ,the  species          
discovered by ,professor ,phillips1 in  
the ,wenlock shale1 were  microscopic2  
and the author of the ,vestiges took    
advantage of this  insulated fact to    
support his views1 by pronouncing the   
little creatures  to which the species  
belonged as the ftal embryos of their   
class4 ,mr4  ,miller has1 however1 even 
on this ground1 defeated his opponent4  
,by  comparing the defensive spines of  
the ,onchus ,murchisoni of the ,upper   
,ludlow bed with those of a recent      
,spinax ,acanthias1 or dog-fish1 and  of
 the ,cestracion ,phillippi1 or ,port   
,jackson shark1 he arrives at the       
conclusion1 that the fishes to which the
 species belonged must be all of        

considerable size2 and in the following 
chapter on the high standing  of the    
,placoids he shews that the same early  
fishes were high in  intelligence and   
organization4    ,in his ninth chapter  
on the ,history and ,progress of        
,degradation1  our author enters upon a 
new and interesting subject4 ,the object
 of  it is to determine the proper      
ground on which the standing of the     
earlier vertebrata should be decided1   
namely1 the test of what he terms       
homological symmetry of organization4   
,in nature there are monster  families1 
just as there are in families monster   
individuals--men without  feet1 hands1  
or eyes1 or with them in a wrong        
place--sheep with legs  growing from    
their necks1 ducklings with wings on    
their haunches1 and  dogs and cats with 
more legs than they require4 ,we have   
thus1 according  to our author--#a1     
monstrosity through defect of parts2 #b1
 monstrosity  through redundancy of     
parts2 and #c1 monstrosity through      

displacement of  parts4 ,this last      
species1 united in some cases with the  
other two1 our  author finds curiously  
exemplified in the geological history of
 the fish1  which he considers better   
known than that of any other division of
 the  vertebrata2 and he is convinced   
that it is from a survey of the progress
  of degradation in the great ,ichthyic 
division that the standing of the       
kingly fishes of the earlier periods is 
to be determined4    ,in the earliest   
vertebrate period1 namely1 the          
,silurian1 our author  shews that the   
fishes were homologically symmetrical in
 their  organization1 as exhibited in   
the ,placoids4 ,in the second great     
,ichthyic  period1 that of the ,old ,red
 ,sandstone1 he finds the first example 
in  the class of fishes of monstrosity1 
by displacement of parts4 ,in all  the  
,ganoids of the period1 there is the    
same departure from symmetry  as would  
take place in man if his neck was       
annihilated1 and the arms  stuck to the 

back of the head4 ,in the ,coccosteus   
and ,pterichthys  of the same period1 he
 finds the first example of degradation 
through  defect1 the former resembling a
 human monster without hands1 and the   
latter one without feet4 ,after ages and
 centuries have passed away1  and then  
after the termination of the ,palozoic  
period1 a change takes  place in the    
formation of the fish tail4 8,other ages
 and centuries pass  away1 during which 
the reptile class attains to its fullest
 development  in point of size1         
organization1 and number2 and then1     
after the times  of the cretaceous      
deposits have begun1 we find yet another
 remarkable  monstrosity of displacement
 introduced among all the fishes of one 
very  numerous order1 and among no      
inconsiderable proportion of the fishes 
of another4 ,in the newly-introduced    
,ctenoids 7,acanthopterygii17 and  in   
those families of the ,cycloids which   
,cuvier erected into the order          
,malacopterygii sub-brachiati1 the      

hinder limbs are brought forward and    
stuck on to the base of the previously  
misplaced fore limbs4 ,all the  four    
limbs1 by a strange monstrosity of      
displacement1 are crowded into  the     
place of the extinguished neck4 ,and    
such1 in the present day1 is the        
prevalent type among fishes4            
,monstrosity through defect is also     
found  to increase2 so that the         
snake-like apoda1 or feet-wanting       
fishes1  form a numerous order1 some of 
whose genera are devoid1 as in the      
common  eels and the congers1 of only   
the hinder limbs1 while in others1 as in
  the genera ,murna and ,synbranchus1   
both hinder and fore-limbs are          
wanting40 ,from these and other facts1  
our author concludes that as in         
existing fishes we find many more proofs
 of the monstrosity1 both from          
displacement and defect of parts1 than  
in all the other three classes  of the  
vertebrata1 and as these monstrosities  
did not appear early1 but  late1 8the   

progress of the race as a whole1 though 
it still retains  not a few of the      
higher forms1 has been a progress not of
 development  from the low to the high1 
but of degradation from the high to the 
low40  ,an extreme example of the       
degradation of distortion1 superadded to
  that of displacement1 may be seen in  
the flounder1 plaice1 halibut1 or       
turbot1--fishes of a family of which    
there is no trace in the earlier        
periods4 ,the creature is twisted half  
round and laid on its side4 ,the  tail1 
too1 is horizontal4 ,half the features  
of its head are twisted to  one side1   
and the other half to the other1 while  
its wry mouth is in  keeping with its   
squint eyes4 ,one jaw is straight1 and  
the other like  a bow2 and while one    
contains from four to six teeth1 the    
other  contains from thirty to          
thirty-five4    ,aided by facts like    
these1 an ingenious theorist might1 as  
our author  remarks1 8get up as         
unexceptionable a theory of degradation 

as of  development40 ,but however this  
may be1 the principle of degradation    
actually exists1 and 8the history of its
 progress in creation bears  directly   
against the assumption that the earlier 
vertebrata were of a  lower type than   
the vertebrata of the same ,ichthyic    
class which exist  now40    ,in his next
 and tenth chapter1 our author          
controverts with his usual  power the   
argument in favor of the development    
hypothesis1 drawn from  the predominance
 of the ,brachiopods among the ,silurian
 ,molluscs4 ,the  existence of the      
highly organized ,cephalopods1 in the   
same formation1  not only neutralizes   
this argument1 but authorizes the       
conclusion that  an animal of a very    
high order of organization existed in   
the earliest  formation4 ,it is of no   
consequence whether the ,cephalopods1 or
 the  ,brachiopods were most numerous4  
,had there been only one cuttle fish in 
the ,silurian seas1 and a million of    
,brachiopods1 the fact would equally    

have overturned the development system4 
,in the same chapter1 ,mr4 ,miller      
treats of the geological history of  the
 ,fossil flora1 which has been pressed  
into the service of the  development    
hypothesis4 ,on the authority of        
,adolphe ,brongniart1 it was  maintained
 that1 previous to the age of the ,lias1
 8,nature had failed to  achieve a      
tree--and that the rich vegetation of   
the ,coal ,measures had  been           
exclusively composed of magnificent     
immaturities of the vegetable  kingdom1 
of gigantic ferns and club mosses1 that 
attained to the size  of forest trees1  
and of thickets of the swamp-loving     
horse-tail family  of plants40 ,true    
exogenous trees1 however1 do exist of   
vast size1 and  in great numbers1 in all
 the coal-fields of our own country1 as 
has  been proved by ,mr4 ,miller4 ,nay1 
he himself discovered in the ,old ,red  
,sandstone1 ,lignite1 which is proved to
 have formed part of a true             
gymnospermous tree1 represented by the  

pines of ,europe and ,america1 or  more 
probably1 as ,mr4 ,miller believes1 by  
the ,araucarians of ,chili and  ,new    
,zealand4 ,this important discovery is  
pregnant with instruction4 ,the  ancient
 ,conifer must have waved its green     
foliage over dry land1 and it  is not   
probable that it was the only tree in   
the primeval forest4 8,the  ship        
carpenter10 as our author observes1     
8might have hopefully taken  axe in hand
 to explore the woods for some such     
stately pine as the one  described by   
,milton1--        #8,hewn on ,norwegian 
hills1 to be the mast      ,of some     
great admiral4'0    ,viewing this olive 
leaf of the ,old ,red ,sandstone as not 
at all devoid  of poetry1 our author    
invites us to a voyage from the latest  
formation up  to the first zone of the  
,silurian formation1--thus passing from 
ancient to  still more ancient scenes of
 being1 and finding1 as at the          
commencement  of our voyage1 a graceful 
intermixture of land and water1         

continent1  river1 and sea4    ,but     
though the existence of a true ,placoid1
 a real vertebrated fish1 in  the       
,cambrian limestone of ,bala1 and of    
true wood at the base of the ,old  ,red 
,sandstone1 are utterly incompatible    
with the development hypothesis1  its   
supporters1 thus driven to the wall1 may
 take shelter under the  vague and      
unquestioned truth that the lower plants
 and animals preceded  the higher1 and  
that the order of creation was fish1    
reptiles1 birds1  mammalia1 quadrumana1 
and man4 ,from this resource1 too1 our  
author  has cut off his opponents1 and  
proceeds to show that such an order of  
creation1 8at once wonderful and        
beautiful10 does not afford even the    
slightest presumption in favor of the   
hypothesis which it is adduced to       
support4    ,this argument is carried on
 in a popular and amusing dialogue in   
the  eleventh chapter4 ,mr4 ,miller     
shows1 in the clearest manner1 that     
8superposition is not parental          

relation10 or that an organism lying    
above another gives us no ground for    
believing that the lower organism  was  
the parent of the higher4 ,the theorist1
 however1 looks only at those  phases of
 truth which are in unison with his own 
views2 and1 when truth  presents no such
 favorable aspect1 he finally wraps     
himself up in the  folds of ignorance   
and ambiguity--the winding-sheet of     
error refuted  and exposed4 ,we have not
 yet penetrated1 says he1 in feeble     
accents1  to the formations which       
represent the dawn of being1 and the    
simplest  organism may yet be detected  
beneath the lowest fossiliferous rocks4 
,this undoubtedly may be1 and ,sir      
,charles ,lyell and ,mr4 ,leonard       
,horner  are of opinion that such rocks 
may yet be discovered2 while ,sir       
,roderick  ,murchison and ,professor    
,sedgwick and ,mr4 ,miller are of an    
opposite  opinion4 ,but even were such  
rocks discovered to-morrow1 it would not
  follow that their organisms gave the  

least support to the development        
hypothesis4 ,in the year #ahcg1 when    
fishes were not discovered in the       
,upper ,silurian rocks1 the theorist    
would have rightly predicted the        
existence of lower fossiliferous beds2  
but when they are discovered1 and  their
 fossils examined1 they furnish the     
strongest argument that could  be       
desired against the theory they were    
expected to sustain4 ,this fact1  no    
doubt1 is so far in favor of the        
supposition that there may be still     
lower fossil-bearing strata2 but1 as    
,mr4 ,miller observes1 8,the pyramid of 
organized existence1 as it ascends into 
the by-past eternity1 inclines  sensibly
 towards its apex1--that apex of        
#8beginning' on which1 on far  other    
than geological grounds1 it is our      
privilege to believe4 ,the broad  base  
of the superstructure planted on the    
existing scene stretches across  the    
entire scale on life1 animal and        
vegetable2 but it contracts as it  rises

 into the past2--man1--the              
quadrumana1--the quadrupedal man1--the  
bird  and the reptile are each in       
succession struck from off its breadth1 
till  we at length see it with the      
vertebrata1 represented by only the     
fish1  narrowing as it were to a point2 
and though the clouds of the upper      
region may hide its apex1 we infer1 from
 the declination of its sides1  that it 
cannot penetrate much farther into the  
profound40    ,in our author's next     
chapter1 the twelfth of the series1 he  
proceeds  to examine the 8,lamarckian   
hypothesis of the origin of plants1 and 
its  consequences40    ,in his          
thirteenth chapter1 on 8,the two        
,floras1 marine and terrestrial10  he   
has shown that all our experience is    
opposed to the opinion1 that the  one   
has been transmuted into the other4 ,if 
the marine had been converted  into     
terrestrial vegetation1 we ought to     
have1 in the ,lake of ,stennis1  for    
example1 plants of an intermediate      

character between the alg of the  sea1  
and the monocotyledons of the lake4 ,but
 no such transition-plants  are found4  
,the alg1 as our author observes1 become
 dwarfish and  ill-developed4 ,they     
cease to exist as the water becomes     
fresher1 8until  at length we find1     
instead of the brown1 rootless1         
flowerless fucoids and  conferv of the  
ocean1 the green1 rooted1 flowering     
flags1 rushes1 and  aquatic grasses of  
the fresh water4 ,many thousands of     
years have failed  to originate a single
 intermediate plant40 ,the same         
conclusion may be  drawn from the       
character of the vegetation along the   
extensive shores of  ,britain and       
,ireland4 ,no botanist has ever found a 
single plant in the  transition state4  
,the fourteenth chapter of the          
8,footprints0 will be perused with great
  interest by the general reader4 ,it is
 a powerful and argumentative  exposure 
of the development hypothesis1 and of   
the manner in which the  subject has    

been treated in the 8,vestiges40        
,whether we consider it in  its nature1 
in its history1 or in the character of  
the intellects with  whom it originated1
 or by whom it has been received and    
supported1 ,mr4  ,miller has shown that 
it has nothing to recommend it4 ,it     
existed as a  wild dream before ,geology
 had any being as a science4 ,it was    
broached  more than a century ago by ,de
 ,maillet1 who knew nothing of the      
geology  even of his day4 ,in a         
translation of his ,telhamed1 published 
in #agej1  ,mr4 ,miller finds very      
nearly the same account given of the    
origin of  plants and animals1 as that  
in the 8,vestiges10 and in which the sea
  is described as that 8great and       
fruitful womb of nature1 in which       
organization and life first begin40     
,lamarck1 though a skilful botanist  and
 conchologist1 was unacquainted with    
geology2 and as he first  published his 
development hypothesis in #ahjb1 7an    
hypothesis identical  with that of the  

8,vestiges107 it is probable that he was
 not then a very  skilful zoologist4    
,nor has ,professor ,oken any higher    
claims to geological  acquirements4 ,he 
confesses that he wrote the first       
edition of his work  in a kind of       
inspiration6 and it is not difficult to 
estimate the  intelligence of the       
inspiring idol that announced to the    
,german sage that  the globe was a vast 
crystal1 a little flawed in the facets1 
and that  quartz1 feldspar1 and mica1   
the three constituents of granite1 were 
the  hail-drops of heavy showers of     
stone that fell into the original ocean1
  and accumulated into rocks at the     
bottom6    ,such is the unscientific    
parentage of the theories promulgated in
 the  8,vestiges40 ,but the author of   
this work appeals in the first instance 
to  science4 ,astronomy1 ,geology1      
,botany1 and ,zoology are called upon to
 give  evidence in his favor2 but the   
astronomer1 geologist1 botanist1 and the
  zoologist1 all refuse him their       

testimony1 deny his premises1 and reject
  his results4 8,it is not10 as ,mr4    
,miller happily observes1 8the illiberal
  religionist that casts him off4 ,it is
 the inductive philosopher40 ,science   
addresses him in the language of the    
possessed3 8,the astronomer ,i know1    
and the geologist ,i know2 but who are  
ye80 ,thus left alone in a cloud  of    
star-dust1 or in brackish water between 
the marine and terrestrial  flora1 he   
8appeals from science to the want of    
it10 casts a stone at  our ,scientific  
,institutions1 and demands a jury of    
8ordinary readers10  as the only        
8tribunal0 by which 8the new philosophy 
is to be truly and  righteously judged40
    ,the last and fifteenth chapter of  
,mr4 ,miller's work1 8,on the ,bearing  
of ,final ,causes on ,geologic          
,history10 if read with care and        
thought1  will prove at once delightful 
and instructive4 ,the principle of final
  causes1 or the conditions of          
existence1 affords a wide scope to our  

reason in ,natural ,history1 but        
especially in ,geology4 ,it becomes an  
interesting inquiry1 if any reason can  
be assigned why at certain periods      
species began to exist1 and became      
extinct after the lapse of lengthened   
periods of time1 and why the higher     
classes of being succeeded the lower  in
 the order of creation8 ,the            
incompleteness of geological science1   
however1 does not permit us to remove1  
for the present1 the veil which  hangs  
over this mysterious chronology2 but our
 author is of opinion that  in about a  
quarter of a century1 in a favored      
locality like the ,british  ,islands1   
geological history 8will assume a very  
extraordinary form40    ,it is a        
singular fact1 which will yet lead to   
singular results1 that  ,cuvier's       
arrangement of the four classes of      
vertebrate animals should  exhibit the  
same order as that in which they are    
found in the strata of  the earth4 ,in  
the fish1 the average proportion of the 

brain to the  spinal cord is only as #b 
to #a4 ,in the reptile1 the ratio is #b 
to #a4  ,in the bird1 it is as #c to #a4
 ,in the mammalia1 it is as #d to #a2   
and  in man1 it is as #bc to #a4 ,no    
less remarkable is the ftal progress of 
the human brain4 ,it first becomes a    
brain resembling that of a fish2 then   
it grows into the form of that of a     
reptile2 then into that of a bird2  then
 into that of a mammiferous quadruped1  
and finally it assumes the  form of a   
human brain1 8thus comprising in its    
ftal progress an epitome  of geological 
history1 as if man were in himself a    
compendium of all  animated nature1 and 
of kin to every creature that lives40   
,with these considerations1 ,mr4 ,miller
 has brought his subject to the  point  
at which ,science in its onward progress
 now stands4 ,it is to  embryology we   
are in future to look for further       
information upon the  most intimate     
relations which exist between all       
organized beings4 ,we may  fairly       

entertain the hope that the time is not 
far when we shall not  only fully       
understand the ,plan of ,creation1 but  
even lift some corner  of the veil which
 has hitherto prevented us from forming 
adequate ideas  of the first            
introduction of animal and vegetable    
life upon earth1 and  of the changes    
which both kingdoms have undergone in   
the succession of  geological ages4     
,l4 ,,agassiz4    ,,cambridge1          
,september1 #ahej4          ,,contents  
,,page        ,,stromness ,,and ,,its   
,,asterolepis4--,,the ,,lake ,,of       
,,stennis                  #ba          
,,the ,,development ,,hypothesis1 ,,and 
,,its ,,consequences                    
#cg        ,,the ,,recent ,,history ,,of
 ,,the ,,asterolepis4--,,its ,,family   
#dh        ,,cerebral ,,development ,,of
 ,,the ,,earlier ,,vertebrata4--,,its   
,,apparent ,,principle                  
#fb        ,,the ,,asterolepis4--,,its  
,,structure1 ,,bulk1 ,,and ,,aspect     
#id        ,,fishes ,,of ,,the          

,,silurian ,,rocks1 ,,upper ,,and       
,,lower4--,,their ,,recent              
,,history1 ,,order1 ,,and ,,size        
#acj        ,,high ,,standing ,,of ,,the
 ,,placoids4--,,objections ,,considered 
#adg        ,,the ,,placoid             
,,brain4--,,embryonic ,,characteristics 
,,not ,,necessarily        ,,of ,a ,,low
 ,,order                                
#afj        ,,the ,,progress ,,of       
,,degradation4--,,its ,,history         
#aha        ,,evidence ,,of ,,the       
,,silurian ,,molluscs4--,,of ,,the      
,,fossil ,,flora4--,,ancient            
,,tree                                  
#bje        ,,superposition ,,not       
,,parental ,,relation4--,,the           
,,beginnings ,,of ,,life        #bcj    
,,lamarckian ,,hypothesis ,,of ,,the    
,,origin ,,of ,,plants4--,,its          
,,consequences    #bdc        ,,the     
,,two ,,floras1 ,,marine ,,and          
,,terrestrial4--,,bearing ,,of ,,the    
,,experience ,,argument                 
#bfb        ,,the ,,development         

,,hypothesis ,,in ,,its ,,embryonic     
,,state4--,,older ,,than        ,,its   
,,alleged ,,foundations                 
#bgg        ,,final ,,causes--,,their   
,,bearing ,,on ,,geologic               
,,history--,,conclusion          #cjc   
,,list ,,of ,,wood-,,cuts               
,,page         #a4 ,internal ridge of   
hyoid plate of ,asterolepis             
#ca         #b4 ,shagreen of ,raja      
clavata3--of ,sphagodus                 
#ed         #c4 ,scales of ,acanthodes  
sulcatus3--shagreen of ,scyllium        
stellare                                
#ee         #d4 ,scales of              
,cheiracanthus microlepidotus3--shagreen
 of            ,spinax ,acanthias       
#ef         #e4 ,section of shagreen of 
,scyllium stellare3--of scales of       
,cheiracanthus microlepidotus           
#ef         #f4 ,scales of ,osteolepis  
microlepidotus3--of an undescribed      
species of ,glyptolepis                 
#eg         #g4 ,osseous points ,of     
,placoid ,cranium                       

#fe         #h4 ,osseous centrum of     
,spinax ,acanthias3--of ,raja clavata   
#fg         #i4 ,portions of caudal fin 
of ,cheiracanthus3--of ,cheirolepis     
#fi        #aj4 ,upper surface of       
cranium of ,cod                         
#gb        #aa4 ,cranial buckler of     
,coccosteus                             
#gd        #ab4 ,cranial buckler of     
,osteolepis                             
#ge        #ac4 ,upper surface of head  
of ,osteolepis                          
#gg        #ad4 ,under surface of head  
of ,osteolepis                          
#gi        #ae4 ,head of ,osteolepis1   
seen in profile                         
#hj        #af4 ,cranial buckler of     
,diplopterus                            
#ha        #ag4 ,ditto                  
#hb        #ah4 ,palatal dart-head1 and 
group of palatal teeth1 of ,dipterus    
#hc        #ai4 ,cranial buckler of     
,dipterus                               
#he        #bj4 ,base of cranium of     
,dipterus                               

#hf        #ba4 ,under jaw of ,dipterus 
#hg        #bb4 ,longitudinal section of
 head of ,dipterus                      
#hh        #bc4 ,section of vertebral   
centrum of ,thornback                   
#ib        #bd4 ,dermal tubercles of    
,asterolepis                            
#ie        #be4 ,scales of ,asterolepis 
#if        #bf4 ,portion of carved      
surface of scale                        
#if        #bg4 ,cranial buckler of     
,asterolepis                            
#ih        #bh4 ,inner surface of       
cranial buckler of ,asterolepis         
#ii        #bi4 ,plates of cranial      
buckler of ,asterolepis                 
#ajb        #cj4 ,portion of under jaw  
of ,asterolepis                         
#ajc        #ca4 ,inner side of portion 
of under jaw of ,asterolepis            
#ajd        #cb4 ,portion of transverse 
section of reptile tooth of             
,asterolepis                            
#aje        #cc4 ,section of jaw of     
,asterolepis                            

#ajf        #cd4 ,maxillary bone8       
#ajh        #ce4 ,inner surface of      
operculum of ,asterolepis               
#aji        #cf4 ,hyoid plate           
#aaj        #cg4 ,nail-like bone of     
hyoid plate                             
#aaa        #ch4 ,shoulder plate of     
,asterolepis                            
#aab        #ci4 ,dermal bones of       
,asterolepis                            
#aac        #dj4 ,internal bones of     
,asterolepis                            
#aad        #da4 ,ditto                 
#aae        #db4 ,ischium of            
,asterolepis                            
#aaf        #dc4 ,joint of ray of       
,thornback3--of ,asterolepis            
#aag        #dd4 ,coprolites of         
,asterolepis                            
#aah        #de4 ,hyoid plate of ,thurso
 ,asterolepis                           
#abd        #df4 ,hyoid plate of        
,russian ,asterolepis                   
#abg        #dg4 ,spine of ,spinax      
,acanthias3--fragment of ,onondago spine

        #adc        #dh4 ,tail of       
,spinax ,acanthius3--of ,ichthyosaurus  
tenuirostris    #agb        #di4 ,port  
,jackson ,shark 7,cestracion ,phillippi7
                    #agg        #ej4    
,tail of ,osteolepis                    
#aie        #ea4 ,tail of ,lepidosteus  
osseus                                  
#aif        #eb4 ,tail of ,perch        
#aig        #ec4 ,altingia excelsa      
7,norfolk-,island ,pine7                
#bab        #ed4 ,fucoids of the ,lower 
,old ,red ,sandstone                    
#baf        #ee4 ,two species of ,old   
,red ,fucoids                           
#bag        #ef4 ,fern 787 of the ,lower
 ,old ,red ,sandstone                   
#bai        #eg4 ,lignite of the ,lower 
,old ,red ,sandstone                    
#bba        #eh4 ,internal structure of 
lignite of ,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone  
#bbc          ,,stromness ,,and ,,its   
,,asterolepis4 ,,the ,,lake ,,of        
,,stennis4      ,when engaged in        
prosecuting the self-imposed task of    

examining in detail  the various        
fossiliferous deposits of ,scotland1 in 
the hope of ultimately  acquainting     
myself with them all1 ,i extended my    
exploratory ramble1 about  two years    
ago1 into the ,mainland of ,orkney1 and 
resided for some time in  the vicinity  
of ,stromness4    ,this busy seaport    
town forms that special centre1 in this 
northern  archipelago1 from which the   
structure of the entire group can be    
most  advantageously studied4 ,the      
geology of the ,orkneys1 like that of   
,caithness1 owes its chief interest to  
the immense development which  it       
exhibits of one formation1--the ,lower  
,old ,red ,sandstone1--and to the       
extraordinary abundance of its          
vertebrate remains4 ,it is not too much 
to affirm1 that in the comparatively    
small portion which this cluster  of    
islands contains of the third part of a 
system regarded only a  few years ago as
 the least fossiliferous in the geologic
 scale1 there  are more fossil fish     

enclosed than in every other geologic   
system  in ,england1 ,scotland1 and     
,wales1 from the ,coal ,measures to the 
,chalk  inclusive4 ,orkney is           
emphatically1 to the geologist1 what a  
juvenile  ,shetland poetess designates  
her country1 in challenging for it a    
standing  independent of the 8,land of  
,cakes10--a 8,land of ,fish20 and1 were 
the trade  once fairly opened up1 could 
supply with ichthyolites1 by the ton and
 the  ship-load1 the museums of the     
world4 ,its various deposits1 with all  
their  strange organisms1 have been     
uptilted from the bottom against a      
granitic  axis1 rather more than six    
miles in length by about a mile in      
breadth1  which forms the great         
back-bone of the western district of    
,pomona2 and on  this granitic          
axis--fast jammed in between a steep    
hill and the sea--stands  the town of   
,stromness4 ,situated thus at the bottom
 of the upturned  deposits of the       
island1 it occupies exactly such a point

 of observation  as that which the      
curious eastern traveller would select1 
in front of  some huge pyramid or       
hieroglyphic-covered obelisk1 as a      
proper site for  his tent4 ,it presents1
 besides1 not a few facilities for      
studying with  the geological phenomena1
 various interesting points in physical 
science  of a cognate character4        
,resting on its granitic base1 in front 
of  the strangely sculptured pyramid of 
three broad tiers1--red1 black1 and     
gray1--which the ,old ,red ,sandstone of
 these islands may be regarded as       
forming1 it is but a short half mile    
from the ,great ,conglomerate base  of  
the formation1 and scarcely a quarter of
 a mile more from the older  beds of its
 central flagstone deposit2 while an    
hour's sail on the one  hand opens to   
the explorer the overlying arenaceous   
deposit of ,hoy1 and  an hour's walk on 
the other introduces him to the ,loch of
 ,stennis1 with  its curiously mixed    
flora and fauna4 ,but of the ,loch of   

,stennis and its  productions more anon4
    ,the day was far spent when ,i      
reached ,stromness3 but as ,i had a fine
  bright evening still before me1 longer
 by some three or four degrees of  north
 latitude than the midsummer evenings of
 the south of ,scotland1  ,i set out1   
hammer in hand1 to examine the junction 
of the granite and  the ,great          
,conglomerate1 where it has been laid   
bare by the sea along  the low          
promontory which forms the western      
boundary of the harbor4 ,the  granite   
here is a ternary of the usual          
components1 somewhat intermediate  in   
grain and color between the granites of 
,peterhead and ,aberdeen2  and the      
conglomerate consists of materials      
almost exclusively derived  from        
it1--evidence enough of itself1 that    
when this ancient mechanical  deposit   
was in course of forming1 the           
granite--exactly such a compound  then  
as it is now--was one of the surface    
rocks of the locality1 and  much exposed

 to disintegrating influences4 ,this    
conglomerate base of  the ,lower ,old   
,red ,sandstone of ,scotland--which     
presents1 over an area  of many thousand
 square miles1 such an identity of      
character1 that  specimens taken from   
the neighborhood of ,lerwick1 in        
,shetland1 or of  ,gamrie1 in ,banff1   
can scarce be distinguished from        
specimens detached  from the hills which
 rise over the ,great ,caledonian       
,valley1 or from the  cliffs immediately
 in front of the village of             
,contin--seems to have been  formed in a
 vast oceanic basin of primary rock1--a 
,palozoic ,hudson's or  ,baffin's       
,bay1--partially surrounded1 mayhap1 by 
primary continents1 swept  by numerous  
streams1 rapid and headlong1 and charged
 with the broken  debris of the         
inhospitable regions which they drained4
 ,the graptolite  bearing grauwacke of  
,banffshire seems to have been the only 
fossiliferous  rock that occurred       
throughout the entire extent of this    

ancient northern  basin2 and its few    
organisms now serve to open the sole    
vista through  which the geological     
explorer to the north of the ,grampians 
can catch a  glimpse of an earlier      
period of existence than that           
represented by the  ichthyolites of the 
,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone4    ,very   
many ages must have passed ere1 amid    
waves and currents1 the  water-worn     
debris which now forms the ,great       
,conglomerate could have  accumulated   
over tracts of sea-bottom from ten to   
fifteen thousand  square miles in area1 
to its present depth of from one to four
 hundred  feet4 ,at length1 however1 a  
thorough change took place2 but we can  
only  doubtfully speculate regarding its
 nature or cause4 ,the bottom of the    
,palozoic basin became greatly less     
exposed4 ,some protecting circle of     
coast had been thrown up around it2 or1 
what is perhaps more probable1  it had  
sunk to a profounder depth1 and the     
ancient shores and streams  had receded1

 through the depression1 to much greater
 distances4 ,and1 in  consequence1 the  
deposition of rough sand and rolled     
pebbles was followed  by a deposition of
 mud4 ,myriads of fish1 of forms the    
most ancient  and obsolete1 congregated 
on its banks or sheltered in its        
hollows2  generation succeeded          
generation1 millions and tens of        
millions perished  mysteriously by      
sudden death2 shoals after shoals were  
annihilated2 but  the productive powers 
of nature were strong1 and the waste was
 kept  up4 ,but who among men shall     
reckon the years or centuries during    
which  these races existed1 and this    
muddy ocean of the remote past spread   
out  to unknown and nameless shores     
around them8 ,as in those great cities  
of  the desert that lie uninhabited and 
waste1 we can but conjecture their  term
 of existence from the vast extent of   
their cemeteries4 ,we only  know that   
the dark1 finely-grained schists in     
which they so abundantly  occur must    

have been of comparatively slow         
formation1 and that yet the  thickness  
of the deposit more than equals the     
height of our loftiest  ,scottish       
mountains4 ,it would seem as if a period
 equal to that in which  all human      
history is comprised might be cut out of
 a corner of the period  represented by 
the ,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone1 and be 
scarce missed when  away2 for every year
 during which man has lived upon earth1 
it is not  improbable that the          
,pterichthys and its contemporaries may 
have lived a  century4 ,their last hour1
 however1 at length came4 ,over the     
dark-colored  ichthyolitic schists so   
immensely developed in ,caithness and   
,orkney1  there occurs a pale-tinted1   
unfossiliferous sandstone1 which in the 
island of ,hoy rises into hills of from 
fourteen to sixteen hundred feet  in    
height2 and among the organisms of those
 newer formations of the ,old  ,red     
which overlie this deposit1 not a       
species of ichthyolite identical  with  

the species entombed in the lower       
schists has yet been detected4 ,in  the 
blank interval which the arenaceous     
deposit represents1 tribes and  families
 perished and disappeared1 leaving none 
of their race to succeed  them1 that    
other tribes and families might be      
called into being1 and fall  into their 
vacant places in the onward march of    
creation4    ,such1 so far as the       
various hieroglyphics of the pile have  
yet rendered  their meanings to the     
geologist1 is the strange story recorded
 on the  three-barred pyramid of        
,stromness4 ,i traced the formation     
upwards this  evening along the edges of
 the upturned strata1 from where the    
,great  ,conglomerate leans against the 
granite1 till where it merges into the  
ichthyolitic flagstones2 and then       
pursued these from older and lower to   
newer and higher layers1 desirous of    
ascertaining at what distance over  the 
base of the system its more ancient     
organisms first appear1 and what  their 

character and kind4 ,and1 embedded in a 
grayish-colored layer of  hard flag1    
somewhat less than a hundred yards over 
the granite1 and about  a hundred and   
sixty feet over the upper stratum of the
 conglomerate1 ,i  found what ,i        
sought1--a well-marked bone1--in all    
probability the oldest  vertebrate      
remain yet discovered in ,orkney4 ,what1
 asks the reader1 was  the character of 
this ancient organism of the ,palozoic  
basin8    ,as shown by its cancellated  
texture1 palpable to the naked eye1 and 
still more unequivocally by the         
irregular complexity of fabric which  it
 exhibits under the microscope1--by its 
speck-like life-points or  canaliculi1  
that remind one of air-bubbles in       
ice1--its branching  channels1 like     
minute veins1 through which the blood   
must once have  flown1--and its general 
groundwork of irregular lines of        
corpuscular  fibre1 that wind through   
the whole like currents in a river      
studded with  islands1--it was as truly 

osseous in its composition as the solid 
bones of  any of the reptiles of the    
,secondary1 or the quadrupeds of the    
,tertiary  periods4 ,and in form it     
closely resembled a large roofing-nail4 
,with this  bone our more practised     
palontologists are but little           
acquainted1 for  no remains of the      
animal to which it belonged have yet    
been discovered  in ,britain to the     
south of the ,grampians1#c nor1 except  
in the ,old ,red  ,sandstone of ,russia1
 has it been detected any where on the  
,continent4  ,nor am ,i aware that1 save
 in the accompanying wood-cut1 7fig4    
#a17 it has  ever been figured4 ,the    
amateur geologists of ,caithness and    
,orkney have1  however1 learned to      
recognize it as the 8petrified nail40   
,the length  of the entire specimen in  
this instance was five seven eighth     
inches1  the transverse breadth of the  
head two inches and a quarter1 and the  
thickness of the stem nearly three tenth
 parts of an inch4 ,this nail-like  bone

 formed a characteristic portion of the 
,asterolepis1--so far as  is yet known1 
the most gigantic ganoid of the ,old    
,red ,sandstone1 and1  judging from the 
place of this fragment1 apparently one  
of the first4    ,illustration3 ,fig4   
#a4    ,,internal ,,ridge ,,of ,,hyoid  
,,plate ,,of ,,asterolepsis4#d    7,one 
third the natural size1 linear47        
,there were various considerations which
 led me to regard the 8petrified  nail0 
in this case as one of the most         
interesting fossils ,i had ever  seen2  
and1 before quitting ,orkney1 to pursue 
my explorations farther to  the south1  
,i brought two intelligent geologists of
 the district1#e to  mark its place and 
character1 that they might be able to   
point it out to  geological visitors in 
the future1 or1 if they preferred       
removing it to  their town museum1 to   
indicate to them the stratum in which it
 had lain4  ,it showed me1 among other  
things1 how unsafe it is for the        
geologist to  base positive conclusions 

on merely negative data4 ,founding on   
the fact  that1 of many hundred         
ichthyolites of the ,lower ,old ,red    
,sandstone which  ,i had disinterred and
 examined1 all were of comparatively    
small size1  while in the ,upper ,old   
,red many of the ichthyolites are of    
great mass and  bulk1 ,i had inferred   
that vertebrate life had been restricted
 to minuter  forms at the commencement  
than at the close of the system4 ,it had
 begun1  ,i had ventured to state in the
 earlier editions of a little work on   
the  8,old ,red ,sandstone10 with an age
 of dwarfs1 and had ended with an age   
of giants4 ,and now1 here1 at the very  
base of the system1 unaccompanied  by   
aught to establish the contemporary     
existence of its dwarfs1--which  appear1
 however1 in an overlying bed about a   
hundred feet higher up1--was  there     
unequivocal proof of the existence of   
one of the most colossal of  its giants4
 ,but not unfrequently1 in the geologic 
field1 has the practice  of basing      

positive conclusions on merely negative 
grounds led to a  misreading of the     
record4 ,from evidence of a kind exactly
 similar to that  on which ,i had built1
 it was inferred1 some two or three     
years ago1 that  there had lived no     
reptiles during the period of the ,coal 
,measures1 and  no fish in the times of 
the ,lower ,silurian ,system4    ,i     
extended my researches1 a few days      
after1 in an easterly direction from    
the town of ,stromness1 and walked for  
several miles along the shores of  the  
,loch of ,stennis1--a large lake about  
fourteen miles in circumference1  bare  
and treeless1 like all the other lakes  
and lochs of ,orkney1 but  picturesque  
of outline1 and divided into an upper   
and lower sheet of  water by two low1   
long promontories1 that jut out from    
opposite sides1  and so nearly meet in  
the middle as to be connected by a      
thread-like  line of road1 half mound1  
half bridge4 8,the ,loch of ,stennis10  
says ,mr4  ,david ,vedder1 the          

sailor-poet of ,orkney1 8is a beautiful 
,mediterranean in  miniature40 ,it gives
 admission to the sea by a narrow       
strait1 crossed1  like that which       
separates the two promontories in the   
middle1 by a  long rustic bridge2 and1  
in consequence of this peculiarity1 the 
lower  division of the lake is salt in  
its nether reaches and brackish in its  
upper ones1 while the higher division is
 merely brackish in its nether  reaches1
 and fresh enough in its upper ones to  
be potable4 ,viewed from  the east1 in  
one of the long1 clear1 sunshiny        
evenings of the ,orkney  summer1 it     
seems not unworthy the eulogium of      
,vedder4 ,there are moory  hills and a  
few rude cottages in front2 and in the  
background1 some  eight or ten miles    
away1 the bold1 steep mountain masses of
 ,hoy2 while  on the promontories of the
 lake1 in the middle distance1          
conspicuous  in the landscape1 from the 
relief furnished by the blue ground of  
the  surrounding waters1 stand the tall 

gray obelisks of ,stennis--one group on 
the northern promontory1 the other on   
the south1--        8,old even beyond   
tradition's breath40    ,the shores of  
both the upper and lower divisions of   
the lake were  strewed1 at the time ,i  
passed1 by a line of wrack1 consisting1 
for  the first few miles from where the 
lower loch opens to the sea1 of only    
marine plants1 then of marine plants    
mixed with those of fresh-water  growth1
 and then1 in the upper sheet of water1 
of lacustrine plants  exclusively4 ,and 
the fauna of the loch is1 ,i was        
informed1 of as mixed a  character as   
its flora1--the marine and fresh-water  
animals having each  their own reaches1 
with certain debatable tracts between1  
in which each  kind expatiates with more
 or less freedom1 according to its      
specific  nature and constitution1--some
 of the sea-fish advancing far on the   
fresh  water1 and others1 among the     
proper denizens of the lake1 encroaching
  far on the salt4 ,the common          

fresh-water eel strikes out1 ,i was     
told1  farthest into the sea-water2 in  
which1 indeed1 reversing the habits  of 
the salmon1 it is known in various      
places to deposit its spawn4 ,it  seeks1
 too1 impatient of a low temperature1 to
 escape from the cold of  winter1 by    
taking refuge in water brackish enough1 
in a climate such  as ours1 to resist   
the influence of frost4 ,of the marine  
fish1 on the  other hand1 ,i found that 
the flounder got greatly higher than any
 of  the others1 inhabiting reaches of  
the lake almost entirely fresh4 ,i  have
 had an opportunity elsewhere of        
observing a curious change which  fresh 
water induces in this fish4 ,in the     
brackish water of an estuary1  the      
animal becomes1 without diminishing in  
general size1 thicker and  more fleshy  
than when in its legitimate habitat1 the
 sea3 but the flesh  loses in quality   
what it gains in quantity2--it grows    
flabby and insipid1  and the margin-fin 
lacks always its strip of transparent   

fat4 ,but the  change induced in the two
 floras of the lake--marine and         
lacustrine--is  considerably more       
palpable and obvious than that induced  
in its two  faunas4 ,as ,i passed along 
the strait1 through which it gives      
admission  to the sea1 ,i found the     
commoner fucoids of our sea-coasts      
streaming  in great luxuriance in the   
tideway1 from the stones and rocks of   
the  bottom4 ,i marked1 among the       
others1 the two species of kelp-weed1 so
  well known to our ,scotch             
kelp-burners1--,fucus nodosus and ,fucus
  vesiculosus1--flourishing in their    
uncurtailed proportions2 and the  not   
inelegant ,halidrys siliquosa1 or 8tree 
in the sea10 presenting  its amplest    
spread of pod and frond4 ,a little      
farther in1 ,halidrys  and ,fucus       
nodosus disappear1 and ,fucus           
vesiculosus becomes greatly  stunted1   
and no longer exhibits its              
characteristic double rows of  bladders4
 ,but for mile after mile it continues  

to exist1 blent with some  of the       
hardier conferv1 until at length it     
becomes as dwarfish and  nearly as slim 
of frond as the conferv themselves2 and 
it is only by  tracing it through the   
intermediate forms that we succeed in   
convincing  ourselves that1 in the brown
 stunted tufts of from one to three     
inches  in length1 which continue to    
fringe the middle reaches of the lake1  
we have in reality the well-known ,fucus
 before us4 ,rushes1 flags1 and  aquatic
 grasses may now be seen standing in    
diminutive tufts out of the  water2 and 
a terrestrial vegetation at least       
continues to exist1 though  it can      
scarce be said to thrive1 on banks      
covered by the tide at full4  ,the      
lacustrine flora increases1 both in     
extent and luxuriance1 as that of  the  
sea diminishes2 and in the upper reaches
 we fail to detect all trace  of marine 
plants3 the alg1 so luxuriant of growth 
along the straits of  this 8miniature   
,mediterranean10 altogether cease2 and a

 semi-aquatic  vegetation attains1 in   
turn1 to the state of fullest           
development any  where permitted by the 
temperature of this northern locality4  
,a memoir  descriptive of the ,loch of  
,stennis1 and its productions1 animal   
and  vegetable1 such as old ,gilbert    
,white of ,selborne could have produced1
  would be at once a very valuable and  
curious document1 important to the      
naturalist1 and not without its use to  
the geological student4    ,i know not  
how it may be with others2 but the      
special phenomena connected  with       
,orkney that most decidedly bore fruit  
in my mind1 and to which  my thoughts   
have most frequently reverted1 were     
those exhibited in  the neighborhood of 
,stromness4 ,i would more particularly  
refer to the  characteristic fragment of
 ,asterolepis1 which ,i detected in its 
lower  flagstones1 and to the curiously 
mixed1 semi-marine1 semi-lacustrine     
vegetation of the ,loch of ,stennis4    
,both seem to bear very directly on     

that development hypothesis1--fast      
spreading among an active and ingenious 
order of minds1 both in ,britain and    
,america1 and which has been long  known
 on the ,continent1--that would fain    
transfer the work of creation  from the 
department of miracle to the province of
 natural law1 and would  strike down1 in
 the process of removal1 all the old    
landmarks1 ethical  and religious4      
,,the ,,development ,,hypothesis1 ,,and 
,,its ,,consequences4      ,every       
individual1 whatever its species or     
order1 begins and increases  until it   
attains to its state of fullest         
development1 under certain  fixed laws1 
and in consequence of their operation4  
,the microscopic  monad develops into a 
ftus1 the ftus into a child1 the child  
into  a man2 and1 however marvellous the
 process1 in none of its stages is      
there the slightest mixture of miracle2 
from beginning to end1 all is           
progressive development1 according to a 
determinate order of things4  ,has      

,nature1 during the vast geologic       
periods1 been pregnant1 in like  manner1
 with the human race8 and is the        
species1 like the individual1  an effect
 of progressive development1 induced and
 regulated by law8 ,the  assertors of   
the revived hypothesis of ,maillet and  
,lamarck reply in the  affirmative4     
,nor1 be it remarked1 is there positive 
atheism involved in  the belief4 ,god   
might as certainly have originated the  
species by a  law of development1 as he 
maintains it by a law of development2   
the  existence of a ,first ,great ,cause
 is as perfectly compatible with the    
one scheme as with the other2 and it may
 be necessary thus broadly to  state the
 fact1 not only in justice to the       
,lamarckians1 but also fairly  to warn  
their non-geological opponents1 that in 
this contest the old  anti-atheistic    
arguments1 whether founded on the       
evidence of design1 or  on the          
preliminary doctrine of final causes1   
cannot be brought to bear4    ,there    

are1 however1 beliefs1 in no degree less
 important to the moralist  or the      
,christian than even that in the being  
of a ,god1 which seem wholly            
incompatible with the development       
hypothesis4 ,it1 during a period so     
vast as to be scarce expressible by     
figures1 the creatures now human  have  
been rising1 by almost infinitesimals1  
from compound microscopic               
cells1--minute vital globules within    
globules1 begot by electricity on  dead 
gelatinous matter1--until they have at  
length become the men and  women whom we
 see around us1 we must hold either the 
monstrous belief1  that all the         
vitalities1 whether those of monads or  
of mites1 of fishes  or of reptiles1 of 
birds or of beasts1 are individually and
 inherently  immortal and undying1 or   
that human souls are not so4 ,the       
difference  between the dying and the   
undying1--between the spirit of the     
brute that  goeth downward1 and the     
spirit of the man that goeth upward1--is

 not a  difference infinitesimally1 or  
even atomically small4 ,it possesses    
all the breadth of the eternity to come1
 and is an infinitely great  difference4
 ,it cannot1 if ,i may so express       
myself1 be shaded off by  infinitesimals
 or atoms2 for it is a difference       
which--as there can be  no class of     
beings intermediate in their nature     
between the dying and  the              
undying--admits not of gradation at all4
 ,what mind1 regulated by the  ordinary 
principles of human belief1 can possibly
 hold that every one  of the thousand   
vital points which swim in a drop of    
stagnant water are  inherently fitted to
 maintain their individuality throughout
 eternity8 ,or  how can it be rationally
 held that a mere progressive step1 in  
itself no  greater or more important    
than that effected by the addition of a 
single  brick to a house in the building
 state1 or of a single atom to a body   
in the growing state1 could ever have   
produced immortality8 ,and yet1  if the 

spirit of a monad or of a mollusc be not
 immortal1 then must  there either have 
been a point in the history of the      
species at which  a dying               
brute--differing from its offspring     
merely by an inferiority of             
development1 represented by a few atoms1
 mayhap by a single atom--produced  an  
undying man1 or man in his present state
 must be a mere animal1  possessed of no
 immortal soul1 and as irresponsible for
 his actions to  the ,god before whose  
bar he is1 in consequence1 never to     
appear1 as his  presumed relatives and  
progenitors the beasts that perish4 ,nor
 will it  do to attempt escaping from   
the difficulty1 by alleging that ,god at
 some  certain link in the chain might  
have converted a mortal creature into   
an immortal existence1 by breathing into
 it a 8living soul20 seeing that  a     
renunciation of any such direct         
interference on the part of ,deity in   
the work of creation forms the prominent
 and characteristic feature of  the     

scheme1--nay1 that it constitutes the   
very nucleus round which the  scheme has
 originated4 ,and thus1 though the      
development theory be not  atheistic1 it
 is at least practically tantamount to  
atheism4 ,for1 if man  be a dying       
creature1 restricted in his existence to
 the present scene of  things1 what does
 it really matter to him1 for any one   
moral purpose1  whether there be a ,god 
or no8 ,if in reality on the same       
religious level  with the dog1 wolf1 and
 fox1 that are by nature atheists1--a   
nature most  properly coupled with      
irresponsibility1--to what one practical
 purpose  should he know or believe in a
 ,god whom he1 as certainly as they1 is 
never to meet as his ,judge8 or why     
should he square his conduct by  the    
requirements of the moral code1 farther 
than a low and convenient  expediency   
may chance to demand8#f    ,nor does the
 purely ,christian objection to the     
development hypothesis  seem less1 but  
even more insuperable than that derived 

from the  province of natural theology4 
,the belief which is perhaps of all     
others  most fundamentally essential to 
the revealed scheme of salvation1 is    
the belief that 8,god created man       
upright10 and that man1 instead of      
proceeding onward and upward from this  
high and fair beginning1 to a yet       
higher and fairer standing in the scale 
of creation1 sank and became  morally   
lost and degraded4 ,and hence the       
necessity for that second  dispensation 
of recovery and restoration which forms 
the entire burden  of ,god's revealed   
message to man4 ,if1 according to the   
development  theory1 the progress of the
 8first ,adam0 was an upward progress1  
the  existence of the 8second           
,adam0--that 8happier man10 according to
 ,milton1  whose special work it is to  
8restore0 and 8regain the blissful seat0
 of  the lapsed race--is simply a       
meaningless anomaly4 ,christianity1 if  
the  development theory be true1 is     
exactly what some of the more extreme   

,moderate divines of the last age used  
to make it--an idle and unsightly       
excrescence on a code of morals that    
would be perfect were it away4    ,i may
 be in error in taking this serious view
 of the matter2 and1 if so1  would feel 
grateful to the man who could point out 
to me that special  link in the chain of
 inference at which1 with respect to the
 bearing of  the theory on the two      
theologies--natural and revealed--the   
mistake has  taken place4 ,but if ,i be 
in error at all1 it is an error into    
which ,i  find not a few of the first   
men of the age1--represented1 as a      
class1 by  our ,professor ,sedgwicks and
 ,sir ,david ,brewsters1--have also     
fallen2 and  until it be shown to be an 
error1 and that the development theory  
is in  no degree incompatible with a    
belief in the immortality of the        
soul--in  the responsibility of man to  
,god as the final ,judge--or in the     
,christian  scheme of salvation--it is  
every honest man's duty to protest      

against any  ex parte statement of the  
question1 that would insidiously        
represent  it as ethically an           
indifferent one1 or as unimportant in   
its theologic  bearing1 save to 8little 
religious sects and scientific          
coteries40 ,in  an address on the fossil
 flora1 made in ,september last by a    
gentleman  of ,edinburgh to the ,st4    
,andrew's ,horticultural ,society1 there
 occurs  the following passage on this  
subject3 8,life is governed by external 
conditions1 and new conditions imply new
 races2 but then as to their  creation1 
that is the #8mystery of mysteries4'    
,are they created by an  immediate fiat 
and direct act of the ,almighty8 or has 
,he originally  impressed life with an  
elasticity and adaptability1 so that it 
shall  take upon itself new forms and   
characters1 according to the conditions 
to which it shall be subjected8 ,each   
opinion has had1 and still has1  its    
advocates and opponents2 but the truth  
is1 that science1 so far  as it knows1  

or rather so far as it has had the      
honesty and courage to  avow1 has yet   
been unable to pronounce a satisfactory 
decision4 ,either  way1 it matters      
little1 physically or morally1 either   
mode implies  the same omnipotence1 and 
wisdom1 and foresight1 and protection2  
and it  is only your little religious   
sects and scientific coteries which make
  a pother about the matter1--sects and 
coteries of which it may be justly      
said1 that they would almost exclude    
,god from the management of his own     
world1 if not managed and directed in   
the way that they would have it40  ,now1
 this is surely a most unfair           
representation of the consequences1     
ethical and religious involved in the   
development hypothesis4 ,it is not  its 
compatibility with belief in the        
existence of a ,first ,great ,cause     
that has to be established1 in order to 
prove it harmless2 but its              
compatibility with certain other        
all-important beliefs1 without which    

simple ,theism is of no moral value     
whatever--a belief in the immortality   
and responsibility of man1 and in the   
scheme of salvation by a ,mediator  and 
,redeemer4 ,dissociated from these      
beliefs1 a belief in the existence  of a
 ,god is of as little ethical value as a
 belief in the existence of  the great  
sea-serpent4    ,let us see whether we  
cannot determine what the testimony of  
,geology1  on this question of creation 
by development1 really is4 ,it is always
  perilous to under-estimate the        
strength of an enemy2 and the danger    
from  the development hypothesis to an  
ingenious order of minds1 smitten with  
the novel fascinations of physical      
science1 has been under-estimated  very 
considerably indeed4 ,save by a few     
studious men1 who to the  cultivation of
 ,geology and the cognate branches add  
some acquaintance  with metaphysical    
science1 the general correspondence of  
the line of  assault taken up by this   
new school of infidelity1 with that     

occupied  by the old1 and the consequent
 ability of the assailants to bring1 not
  only the recently forged1 but also the
 previously employed artillery into     
full play along its front1 has not only 
not been marked1 but even not  so much  
as suspected4 ,and yet1 in order to show
 that there actually is  such a         
correspondence1 it can be but necessary 
to state1 that the great  antagonist    
points in the array of the opposite     
lines1 are simply the  law of           
development versus the miracle of       
creation4 ,the evangelistic  ,churches  
cannot1 in consistency with their       
character1 or with a due  regard to the 
interests of their people1 slight or    
overlook a form of  error at once       
exceedingly plausible and consummately  
dangerous1 and which  is telling so     
widely on society1 that one can scarce  
travel by railway or  in a steamboat1 or
 encounter a group of intelligent       
mechanics1 without  finding decided     
trace of its ravages4    ,but ere the   

,churches can be prepared competently to
 deal with it1 or with  the other       
objections of a similar class which the 
infidelity of an age so  largely engaged
 as the present in physical pursuits    
will be from time to  time originating  
they must greatly extend their          
educational walks into  the field of    
physical science4 ,the mighty change    
which has taken place  during the       
present century1 in the direction in    
which the minds of the  first order are 
operating1 though indicated on the face 
of the country in  characters which     
cannot be mistaken1 seems to have too   
much escaped the  notice of our         
theologians4 ,speculative theology and  
the metaphysics are  cognate branches of
 the same science2 and when1 as in the  
last and the  preceding ages1 the higher
 philosophy of the world was            
metaphysical1 the  ,churches took ready 
cognizance of the fact1 and1 in due     
accordance with  the requirements of the
 time1 the battle of the ,evidences was 

fought on  metaphysical ground4 ,but1   
judging from the preparations made in   
their  colleges and halls1 they do not  
now seem sufficiently aware--though the 
low thunder of every railway1 and the   
snort of every steam engine1 and  the   
whistle of the wind amid the wires of   
every electric telegraph1  serve to     
publish the fact--that it is in the     
departments of physics1 not  of         
metaphysics1 that the greater minds of  
the age are engaged1--that the  ,lockes1
 ,humes1 ,kants1 ,berkeleys1 ,dugald    
,stewarts1 and ,thomas ,browns1  belong 
to the past1--and that the philosophers 
of the present time1 tall  enough to be 
seen all the world over1 are the        
,humboldts1 the ,aragos1 the            
,agassizes1 the ,liebigs1 the ,owens1   
the ,herschels1 the ,bucklands1 and the 
,brewsters4 ,in that educational course 
through which1 in this country1         
candidates for the ministry pass1 in    
preparation for their office1  ,i find  
every group of great minds which has in 

turn influenced and  directed the mind  
of ,europe for the last three centuries1
 represented1  more or less adequately1 
save the last4 ,it is an epitome of all 
kinds  of learning1 with the exception  
of the kind most imperatively required1 
because most in accordance with the     
genius of the time4 ,the restorers of   
classic literature--the ,buchanans and  
,erasmuses--we see represented in our   
,universities by the ,greek and what are
 termed the ,humanity courses2 the      
,galileos1 ,boyles1 and ,newtons1 by the
 ,mathematical and ,natural ,philosophy 
courses2 and the ,lockes1 ,kants1       
,humes1 and ,berkeleys1 by the          
,metaphysical  course4 ,but the         
,cuviers1 the ,huttons1 the             
,cavendishes1 and the ,watts1  with     
their successors1 the practical         
philosophers of the present age1--men   
whose achievements in physical science  
we find marked on the surface of  the   
country in characters which might be    
read from the moon1--are not  adequately

 represented4 ,it would be perhaps more 
correct to say1 that  they are not      
represented at all2#g and the clergy1 as
 a class1 suffer  themselves to linger  
far in the rear of an intelligent and   
accomplished  laity--a full age behind  
the requirements of the time4 ,let them 
not shut  their eyes to the danger which
 is obviously coming4 ,the battle of the
  ,evidences will have as certainly to  
be fought on the field of physical      
science1 as it was contested in the last
 age on that of the metaphysics4  ,and  
on this new arena the combatants will   
have to employ new weapons1  which it   
will be the privilege of the challenger 
to choose4 ,the old1  opposed to these1 
would prove but of little avail4 ,in an 
age of muskets  and artillery1 the bows 
and arrows of an obsolete school of     
warfare  would be found greatly less    
than sufficient1 in the field of battle1
 for  purposes either of assault or     
defence4    8,there are two kinds of    
generation in the world10 says          

,professor ,lorenz  ,oken1 in his       
8,elements of ,physio-philosophy20 8the 
creation proper1 and  the propagation   
that is sequent thereupon--or the       
generatio originaria  and secundaria4   
,consequently1 no organism has been     
created of larger  size than an         
infusorial point4 ,no organism is1 nor  
ever has one been  created1 which is not
 microscopic4 ,whatever is larger has   
not been  created1 but developed4 ,man  
has not been created1 but developed40   
,such1  in a few brief dogmatic         
sentences1 is the development theory4   
,what1  in order to establish its truth1
 or even to render it in some degree    
probable1 ought to be the geological    
evidence regarding it8 ,the reply  seems
 obvious4 ,in the first place1 the      
earlier fossils ought to be very  small 
in size2 in the second1 very low in     
organization4 ,in cutting  into the     
stony womb of nature1 in order to       
determine what it contained  mayhap     
millions of ages ago1 we must expect1 if

 the development theory  be true1 to    
look upon mere embryos and ftuses4 ,and 
if we find1 instead1  the full grown and
 the mature1 then must we hold that the 
testimony of  ,geology is not only not  
in accordance with the theory1 but in   
positive  opposition to it4 ,such1      
palpably1 is the principle on which1 in 
this  matter1 we ought to decide4 ,what 
are the facts8    ,the oldest organism  
yet discovered in the most ancient      
geological  system of ,scotland in which
 vertebrate remains occur1 seems to be  
the  ,asterolepis of ,stromness4 ,after 
the explorations of many years over a   
wide area1 ,i have detected none other  
equally low in the system2 nor have  ,i 
ascertained that any brother-explorer in
 the same field has been more           
fortunate4 ,it is1 up to the present    
time1 the most ancient ,scotch witness  
of the great class of fishes that can in
 this case be brought into court2  nay1 
it is in all probability the oldest     
ganoid witness the world has  yet       

produced2 for there appears no certain  
trace of this order of fishes  in the   
great ,silurian system which lies       
underneath1 and in which1 so far  as    
geologists yet know1 organic existence  
first began4 ,how1 then1 on the  two    
relevant points--bulk and               
organization--does it answer to the     
demands  of the development hypothesis8 
,was it a mere ftus of the finny tribe1 
of minute size1 and imperfect1 embryonic
 faculty8 ,or was it of at least  the   
ordinary bulk1 and1 for its class1 of   
the average organization8  ,may ,i      
solicit the forbearance of the          
non-geological reader1 should my  reply 
to these apparently simple questions    
seem unnecessarily prolix and           
elaborate8 ,peculiar opportunities of   
observation1 and the possession of  a   
set of unique fossils1 enable me to     
submit to our palontologists a  certain 
amount of information regarding this    
ancient ganoid1 which they  will deem at
 once interesting and new2 and the      

bearing of my statements  on the general
 argument will1 ,i trust1 become        
apparent as ,i proceed4          ,,the  
,,recent ,,history ,,of ,,the           
,,asterolepis4 ,,its ,,family4      ,it 
had been long known to the continental  
naturalists1 that in certain  ,russian  
deposits1 very extensively developed1   
there occur in considerable  abundance  
certain animal organisms2 but for many  
years neither their  position nor       
character could be satisfactorily       
determined4 ,by some they  were placed  
too high in the scale of organized      
being2 by others too low4  ,kutorga1 a  
writer not very familiarly known in this
 country1 described  the remains as     
those of mammals2--the ,russian rocks   
contained1 he said1  bones of           
quadrupeds1 and1 in especial1 the teeth 
of swine3 whereas  ,lamarck1 a better   
known authority1 though not invariably a
 safe one1--for  he had a trick of      
dreaming when wide awake1 and of calling
 his dreams  philosophy1--assigned to   

them a place among the corals4 ,they    
belonged1  he asserted1 as shown by     
certain star-like markings with which   
they are  fretted1 to the ,polyparia4   
,he even erected for their reception a  
new  genus of ,astrea1 which he         
designated1 from the little rounded     
hillock  which rises in the middle of   
each star1 the genus ,monticularia4 ,it 
was  left to a living naturalist1 ,m4   
,eichwald1 to fix their true position   
zoologically among the class of fishes1 
and to ,sir ,roderick ,murchison  to    
determine their position geologically as
 ichthyolites of the ,old ,red          
,sandstone4    ,sir ,roderick1 on his   
return from his great ,russian          
campaigns1 in which  he fared far       
otherwise than ,napoleon1 and           
accomplished more1 submitted  to        
,agassiz a series of fragments of these 
gigantic ,ganoids2 and the  celebrated  
ichthyologist1 who had been introduced  
little more than  a twelvemonth before  
to the ,pterichthys of ,cromarty1 was at

 first  inclined to regard them as the  
remains of a large cuirassed fish of    
the ,cephalaspian type1 but generically 
new4 ,under this impression he  bestowed
 upon the yet unknown ichthyolite of    
which they had formed part1  the name   
,chelonichthys1 from the resemblance    
borne by the broken  plates to those of 
the carapace and plastron of some of the
 ,chelonians4  ,at this stage1 however1 
the ,russian ,old ,red yielded a set of 
greatly  finer remains than it had      
previously furnished2 and of these casts
 were  transmitted by ,professor ,asmus1
 of the ,university of ,dorpat1 to the  
,british and ,london ,geological        
,museums1 and to ,agassiz4 8,i knew not 
at  first what to do10 says the         
ichthyologist1 8with bones of so        
singular  a conformation that ,i could  
refer them to no known type40           
,detecting1  however1 on their exterior 
surfaces the star-like markings which   
had  misled ,lamarck1 and which he had  
also detected on the lesser fragments   

submitted to him by ,sir ,roderick1 he  
succeeded in identifying both the       
fragments and bones as remains of the   
same genus and on ascertaining  that ,m4
 ,eichwald had bestowed upon it1 from   
these characteristic  sculpturings1 the 
generic name ,asterolepis1 or           
star-scale1 he suffered  the name which 
he himself had originated to drop4 ,even
 this second name1  however1 which the  
ichthyolite still continues to bear1 is 
in some degree  founded in error4 ,its  
true scales1 as ,i shall by and by show1
 were not  stelliferous1 but fretted by 
a peculiar style of ornament1 consisting
  of waved anastomosing ridges1 breaking
 atop into angular-shaped dots1  scooped
 out internally like the letter ,v2 and 
were evidently intermediate  in their   
character between the scales which cover
 the ,glyptolepis  and those of the     
,holoptychius4 ,and the stellate        
markings which ,m4  ,eichwald           
graphically describes as minute paps    
rising out of the middle  of star-like  

wreaths of little leaflets1 were        
restricted to the dermal  plates of the 
head4    ,agassiz ultimately succeeded  
in classing the bones which had at first
 so  puzzled him1 into two              
divisions--interior and dermal2 and the 
latter he  divided yet further1 though  
not without first lodging a             
precautionary  protest1 founded on the  
extreme obscurity of the subject1 into  
cranial  and opercular4 ,of the interior
 bones he specified two1--a             
super-scapular  bone1                   
7supra-scapulaire17--that bone which in 
osseous fishes completes  the scapular  
arch or belt1 by uniting the scapula to 
the cranium2 and  a maxillary or upper  
jaw-bone4 ,but his world-wide           
acquaintance with  existing fishes could
 lend him no assistance in determining  
the places  of the dermal bones3 they   
formed the mere fragments of a broken   
puzzle1  of which the key was lost4     
,even in their detached and irreducible 
state1  however1 he succeeded in basing 

upon them several shrewd deductions4 ,he
  inferred1 in the first place1 that the
 ,asterolepis was not1 as had  been at  
first supposed1 a cuirassed fish1 which 
took its place among  the               
,cephalaspians1 but a strongly helmed   
fish of that ,clacanth family  to which 
the ,holoptychius and ,glyptolepis      
belong2 in the second1  that1 like      
several of its bulkier cogeners1 it was 
in all probability  a broad1 flat-headed
 animal2 and1 in the third1 that as its 
remains  are found associated in the    
,russian beds with numerous detached    
teeth  of large size1--the boar tusks of
 ,kutorga--which present internally that
  peculiar microscopic character on     
which ,professor ,owen has erected his  
,dendrodic or tree-toothed family of    
fishes1--it would in all likelihood  be 
found that both bones and teeth belonged
 to the same group4 8,it  appears more  
than probable10 he said1 8that one day1 
by the discovery of  a head or an entire
 jaw1 it will be shown that the genera  

,dendrodus  and ,asterolepis form but   
one40 ,as we proceed1 the reader will   
see how  justly the ichthyologist       
assigned to the ,asterolepis its place  
among  the ,clacanths1 and how entirely 
his two other conjectures regarding it  
have been confirmed4 8,i have had in    
general10 he concluded1 8but small  and 
mutilated fragments of the creature's   
bones submitted to me1 and  of these1   
even the surface ornaments not well     
preserved2 but ,i hope  the immense     
materials with which the ,old ,red      
,sandstone of ,russia has  furnished the
 savans of that country will not be lost
 to science2 and  that my labors on this
 interesting genus1 incomplete as they  
are1 will  excite more and more the     
attention of geologists1 by showing them
 how  ignorant we are of all the        
essential facts concerning the history  
of the  first inhabitants of our globe40
    ,i know not what the savans of      
,russia have been doing for the last few
  years2 but mainly through the labors  

of an intelligent tradesman of  ,thurso1
 ,mr4 ,robert ,dick1--one of those      
working men of ,scotland of active      
curiosity and well-developed intellect1 
that give character and standing  to the
 rest1--,i am enabled to justify the    
classification and confirm the          
conjectures of ,agassiz4 ,mr4 ,dick1    
after acquainting himself1 in the       
leisure hours of a laborious profession1
 with the shells1 insects1 and  plants  
of the northern locality in which he    
resides1 had set himself to  study its  
geology2 and with this view he procured 
a copy of the little  treatise on the   
,old ,red ,sandstone to which ,i have   
already referred1 and  which was at that
 time1 as ,agassiz's ,monograph of the  
,old ,red fishes had  not yet appeared1 
the only work specially devoted to the  
palontology  of the system1 so largely  
developed in the neighborhood of        
,thurso4 ,with  perhaps a single        
exception1--for the ,thurso rocks do not
 yet seem to have  yielded a            

,pterichthys1--he succeeded in finding  
specimens1 in a state  of better or     
worse keeping1 of all the various       
ichthyolites which ,i had  described as 
peculiar to the ,lower ,old ,red        
,sandstone4 ,he found1 however1  what ,i
 had not described1--the remains of     
apparently a very gigantic  ichthyolite2
 and1 communicating with me through the 
medium of a common  friend1 he submitted
 to me1 in the first instance1 drawings 
of his new  set of fossils2 and         
ultimately1 as ,i could arrive at no    
satisfactory  conclusion from the       
drawings1 he with great liberality made 
over to me  the fossils themselves4     
,agassiz's ,monograph was not yet       
published2 nor  had ,i an opportunity of
 examining1 until about a twelvemonth   
after1  the casts1 in the ,british      
,museum1 of the fossils of ,professor   
,asmus4  ,besides1 all the little       
information1 derived from various       
sources1 which  ,i had acquired         
respecting the ,russian                 

,chelonichthys1--for such was its  name 
at the time1--referred it to the        
cuirassed type1 and served but to       
mislead4 ,i was assured1 for instance1  
that ,professor ,asmus regarded  his set
 of remains as portions of the plates   
and paddles of a gigantic  ,pterichthys1
 of from twenty to thirty feet in       
length4 ,and so1 as ,i had  recognized  
in the ,thurso fossils the peculiarities
 of the ,holoptychian  7,clacanth7      
family1 ,i at first failed to identify  
them with the remains  of the great     
,russian fish4 ,all the larger bones    
sent me by ,mr4 ,dick were1  ,i found1  
cerebral2 and the scales associated with
 these indicated1 not  a                
cuirass-protected1 but a scale-covered  
body and exhibited1 in their  sculptured
 and broadly imbricated surfaces1 the   
well-marked ,clacanth  style of         
disposition and ornament4 ,but though ,i
 could not recognize in  either bones or
 scales the remains of one ichthyolite  
more of the ,old  ,red ,sandstone1 8that

 could be regarded as manifesting as    
peculiar a type  among fishes as do the 
,ichthyosauri and ,plesiosauri among    
reptiles10#h  ,i was engaged at the time
 in a course of inquiry regarding the   
cerebral  development of the earlier    
vertebrata1 that made me deem them      
scarce less  interesting than if ,i     
could4 ,ere1 however1 ,i attempt        
communicating to the  reader the result 
of my researches1 ,i must introduce him1
 in order that  he may be able to set   
out with me to the examination of the   
,asterolepis  from the same             
starting-point1 to the ,clacanth        
family1--indisputably one  of the       
oldest1 and not the least interesting1  
of its order4    ,illustration3 ,fig4   
#b4    a4 ,shagreen of the ,thornback   
7,raja clavata47    b4 ,shagreen of     
,sphagodus1--a placoid of the ,upper    
,silurian4#i    ,so far as is yet known1
 all the fish of the earliest           
fossiliferous  system belonged to the   
placoid or 8broad plated0 order1--a     

great  division of fishes1 represented  
in the existing seas by the ,sharks and 
,rays1--animals that to an internal     
skeleton of cartilage unite a dermal    
covering of points1 plates1 or spines of
 enamelled bone1 and have their  gills  
fixed4 ,the dermal or cuticular bones of
 this order vary greatly in  form1      
according to the species or family3 in  
some cases they even vary1  according to
 their place1 on the same individual4   
,those button-like  tubercles1 for      
instance1 with an enamelled thorn1 bent 
like a hook1  growing out of the centre 
of each1 which run down the back and    
tail1 and  stud the pectorals of the    
thorn-back1 7,raja clavata17 differ very
 much  from the smaller thorns1 with    
star-formed bases1 which roughen the    
other  parts of the creature's body2 and
 the bony points which mottle the back  
and sides of the sharks are1 in most of 
the known species1 considerably  more   
elongated and prickly than the points   
which cover their fins1 belly1  and     

snout4 ,the extreme forms1 however1 of  
the shagreen tubercle or plate  seem to 
be those of the upright prickle or spine
 on the one hand1 and of  the           
slant-laid1 rhomboidal1 scale-shaped    
plate on the other4 ,the minuter  thorns
 of the ray 7fig4 #b1 a7 exemplify the  
extreme of the prickly  type2 the fins1 
abdomen1 and anterior part of the head  
of the spotted  dog-fish 7,scyllium     
stellare7 are covered by lozenge-shaped 
little  plates1 which glisten with      
enamel1 and are so thickly set that they
 cover  the entire surface of the skin1 
7fig4 #c1 b17--and these seem equally   
illustrative of the scale-like form4    
,they are shagreen points passing  into 
osseous scales1 without1 however1       
becoming really such2 though they       
approach them so nearly in the shape and
 disposition of their upper  disks1 that
 the true scales1 also osseous1 of the  
,acanthodes sulcatus1  7fig4 #c1 a17 a  
,ganoid of the ,coal ,measures1 can     
scarce be distinguished  from them1 even

 when microscopically examined4 ,it is  
only when seen in  section that the     
distinctive difference appears4 ,the    
true scale of the  ,acanthodes1 though  
considerably elevated in the centre1    
seems to have  been planted on the skin2
 whereas the scale-like shagreen of the 
dog-fish  is elevated over it on an     
osseous pedicle or footstalk 7fig4 #e1  
a7 as  a mushroom is elevated over the  
sward on its stem2 and the base of the  
stalk is found to resemble in its       
stellate character that of a shagreen   
point of the prickly type4 ,the apparent
 scale is1 we find1 a bony prickle  bent
 at right angles a little over its base1
 and flattened into a  rhomboidal disk  
atop4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4    a4 
,scales of ,acanthodes sulcatus4    b4  
,shagreen of ,scyllium stellare1        
7,snout47    7,mag4 eight diameters47   
,illustration3 ,fig4 #d4    a4 ,scales  
of ,cheiracanthus microlepidotus4    b4 
,shagreen of ,spinax ,acanthias4        
7,snout47    7,mag4 eight diameters47   

,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4    a4 ,section 
of shagreen of ,scyllium stellare4    b4
 ,under surface of do4    c4 ,section of
 scales of ,cheiracanthus               
microlepidotus4    d4 ,under surface of 
do4    7,mag4 eight diameters47    ,in  
small fragments of shagreen1 7fig4 #b b7
 which have been detected in  the       
bone-bed of the ,upper ,ludlow ,rocks1  
7,upper ,silurian17 and constitute  the 
most ancient portions of this substance 
known to the palontologist1  the osseous
 tubercles are1 as in the minuter spikes
 of the ray1 of the  upright thorn-like 
type2 they merely serve to show that the
 placoids  of the first period          
possessed1 like those of the existing   
seas1 an  ability of secreting solid    
bone on their cuticular surfaces2 and   
that1  though at least such of them as  
have bequeathed to us specimens of      
their dermal armature possessed it in   
the form farthest removed from  that of 
their immediate successors the ganoid   
fishes1 they resembled  them not less in

 the substance of which their           
dermoskeletal1 than in  that of which   
their endoskeletal1 parts were composed4
 ,for the internal  skeleton in both    
orders1 during these early ages1 seems  
to have been  equally cartilaginous1 and
 the cuticular skeleton equally osseous4
 ,in  the ichthyolitic formation        
immediately over the ,silurians1--that  
of the  ,lower ,old ,red                
,sandstone1--the ,ganoids first appear2 
and the members of at  least one of the 
families of the deposit1 the            
,acanths1--a family rich in  genera and 
species1--seem to have formed connecting
 links between this  second order and   
their placoid predecessors4 ,they were  
covered with true  scales 7fig4 #d1 a17 
and their free gills were protected by  
gill-covers2  and so they must be       
regarded as real ,ganoids but as the    
shagreen of the  spotted dog-fish nearly
 approaches1 in form and character1 to  
ganoid  scales1 without being really    
such1 the scales of this family1 on the 

other hand1 approached equally near1    
without changing their nature1 to  the  
shagreen of the ,placoids1 especially to
 that of the spiked dogfish1  7,spinax  
,acanthias47 7,fig4 #d1 b47 ,we even    
find on their under surfaces  what seems
 to be an approximation to the          
characteristic footstalk4  ,they so     
considerably thicken in the middle from 
their edges inwards1  7fig4 #e1 c17 as  
to terminate in their centres in obtuse 
points4  ,with these shagreen-like      
scales1 the heads1 bodies1 and fins of  
all  the species of at least two of the 
,acanth genera1--,cheiracanthus and     
,diplacanthus1--were as thickly covered 
as the heads1 bodies1 and fins  of the  
sharks are with their shagreen2 and so  
slight was the degree of  imbrication1  
that the portion of each scale overlaid 
by the two scales in  immediate advance 
of it did not exceed the one twelfth    
part of its entire  area4 ,in the scale 
of the ,cheiracanthus we find the       
covered portion  indicated by a smooth1 

narrow band1 that ran along its anterior
 edges1  and which the furrows that     
fretted the exposed surface did not     
traverse4  ,it may be added1 that both  
genera had the anterior edge of their   
fins  armed with strong spines1--a      
characteristic of several of the        
,placoid  families4    ,illustration3   
,fig4 #f4    a4 ,scales of ,osteolepis  
macrolepidotus4    b4 ,scales of an     
undescribed species of ,glyptolepis4#aj 
7,the single scales mag4 two            
diameters2--the others nat4 size47      
,in the ,dipterian genera ,osteolepis   
and ,diplopterus the scales  were more  
unequivocally such than in the ,acanths1
 and more removed  from shagreen4 ,the  
under surface of each was traversed     
longitudinally  by a raised bar1 which  
attached it to the skin1 and which1 in  
the  transverse section1 serves to      
remind one of the shagreen footstalk4   
,they are1 besides1 of a rhomboidal     
form2 and1 when seen in the finer       
specimens1 lying in their proper places 

on what had been once the  creature's   
body1 they seem merely laid down side by
 side in line1 like  those rows of      
glazed tiles that pave a cathedral      
floor2 but on more  careful examination1
 we find that each little tile was      
deeply grooved  on its higher side and  
end1 7for it lay diagonally in relation 
to the  head17 like the flags of a stone
 roof1 7fig4 #f1 a17--that its lateral  
and anterior neighbors impinged upon it 
along these grooves to the  extent of   
about one third its area1--and that it  
impinged1 in turn1  to the same extent  
on the scales that bordered on it       
posteriorly and  latero-posteriorly4    
,now1 in the ,clacanth family1 7and on  
this special  point the foregoing       
remarks are intended to bear17 the      
scales1 which were  generally of a round
 or irregularly oval form1 7fig4 #f1 b17
 overlapped  each other to as great an  
extent as in any of the existing fishes 
of  the ,cycloid or ,ctenoid orders1--to
 as great an extent1 for instance1 as   

in the carp1 salmon1 or herring4 ,in a  
slated roof there is no part on  which  
the slates do not lie double1 and along 
the lower edge of each  tier they lie   
triple2--there is more of slate covered 
than of slate seen3  whereas in a       
tile-roof1 the covered portion is       
restricted to a small  strip running    
along the top and one of the edges of   
each tile1 and the  tiles do not lie    
double in more than the same degree in  
which the slates  lie triple4 ,the scaly
 cover of the two genera of ,dipterians 
to which  ,i have referred was a cover  
on the tile-roof principle2 and this is 
an exceedingly common characteristic of 
the scales of the ,ganoids4 ,the  scaly 
cover of the ,clacanths1 on the other   
hand1 was a cover on the  slate-roof    
principle2--there was in some of their  
genera about one third  more of each    
scale covered than exposed2 and this is 
so rare a ganoidal  mode of arrangement1
 that1 with the exception of the        
,dipterus1--a genus  which1 though it   

gives its name to the ,dipterian sept1  
differed greatly  from every other      
,dipterian1--,i know not1 beyond the    
limits of the ancient  ,clacanth family1
 a single ,ganoid that possessed it4    
,the bony covering of  the ,clacanths   
was farthest removed in character from  
shagreen1 as that  of their             
contemporaries the ,acanths approximated
 to it most nearly2 they  were1 in this 
respect1 the two extremes of their      
order2 and did we find  the ,clacanths  
in but the later geological formations1 
while the ,acanths  were restricted to  
the earlier1 it might be argued by      
assertors of the  development           
hypothesis1 that the amply imbricated1  
slate-like scale of  the latter had been
 developed in the lapse of ages from the
 shagreen  tubercle1 by passing in its  
downward course--broadening and         
expanding  as it descended--through the 
minute1 scarcely imbricated disks of the
  ,acanths1 and the more amply          
imbricated tile-like rhombs of the      

,dipterians  and ,palonisci1 until it   
had reached its full extent of          
imbrication in  the familiar modern type
 exemplified in both the ,clacanths and 
the  ordinary fishes4 ,but such is not  
the order which nature has              
observed2--the  two extremes of the     
ganoid scale appear together in the same
 early  formation3 both become extinct  
at a period geologically remote2 and the
  ganoid scales of the existing state of
 things which most nearly resemble      
those of ancient time are scales formed 
on the intermediate or tile-roof        
principle4    ,the scales of the        
,clacanths were1 in almost all the      
genera which  compose the family1 of    
great size2 in some species1 of the     
greatest size  to which this kind of    
integument ever attained4 ,of a         
,clacanth of the  ,coal ,measures1 the  
,holoptychius ,hibberti1 the scales in  
the larger  specimens were occasionally 
from five to six inches in diameter4    
,even  in the ,holoptychius             

nobilissimus1 in an individual scarcely 
exceeding  two and a half feet in       
length1 they measured from an inch and a
 half to  an inch and three quarters    
each way4 ,in the splendid specimen of  
this  last species1 in the ,british     
,museum1 there occur but fourteen scales
  between the ventrals1 though these lie
 low on the creature's body1 and  the   
head2 and in a specimen of a smaller    
species1--the ,holoptychius             
,andersoni1--but about seventeen4 ,the  
exposed portion of the scale was  in    
most species of the family curiously    
fretted by intermingled ridges  and     
furrows1 pits and tubercles1 which were 
either boldly relieved1 as  in the      
,holoptychius1 or existed1 as in the    
,glyptolepis1 as slim1  delicately      
chiselled threads1 lines1 and dots4 ,the
 head was covered by  strong plates1    
which were roughened with tubercles     
either confluent or  detached1 or       
hollowed1 as in the ,bothriolepis1 into 
shallow pits4 ,the  jaws were thickly   

set with an outer range of true fish    
teeth1 and more  thinly with an inner   
range of what seem reptile teeth1 that  
stood up1  tall and bulky1 behind the   
others1 like officers on horseback seen 
over  the heads of their foot-soldiers  
in front4 ,the double fins1--pectorals  
and ventrals1--were characterized each  
by a thick1 angular1 scale-covered      
centre1 fringed by the rays2 and they   
must have borne externally  somewhat the
 form of the sweeping paddles of the    
,ichthyosaurian genus1--a  peculiarity  
shared also by the double fins of the   
,dipterus4 ,the  single fins1 in all the
 members of the family of which         
specimens  have been found sufficiently 
entire to indicate the fact1 were four  
in  number1--an anal1 a caudal1 and two 
dorsal fins2 and1 with the exception  of
 the anterior dorsal1 which was         
comparatively small1 and bent downwards 
along the back1 as if its rays had been 
distorted when young1#aa they  were all 
of large size4 ,they crowded thickly on 

the posterior portion of  the body1--the
 anterior dorsal opposite the ventrals1 
and the posterior  dorsal opposite the  
anal fin4 ,the fin-rays of the various  
members of the  family1 and such of     
their spinous processes as have been    
detected1 were  hollow tubular bones2 or
 rather1 like the larger pieces in the  
framework  of the ,placoids1 they were  
cartilaginous within1 and covered       
externally  by a thin osseous crust or  
shell1 which alone survives2 and to this
  peculiarity they owe their family     
name1 ,clacanth1 or 8hollow-spine40     
,the internal hollow1 i4 e4             
cartilaginous centre1 was1 however1     
equally a characteristic of the spinous 
processes of the ,coccosteus4  ,in their
 general proportions1 the ,clacanths1 if
 we perhaps except one  species1--the   
,glyptolepis microlepidotus1--were all  
squat1 robust1  strongly-built fishes1  
of the ,dirk ,hatterick or              
,balfour-of-,burley type2  and not only 
in the larger specimens gigantic in     

their proportions1 but  remarkable for  
the strength and weight of their armor1 
even when of but  moderate stature4 ,the
 specimen of ,holoptychius nobilissimus 
in the  ,british ,museum could have     
measured little more than three feet    
from snout  to tail when most entire2   
but it must have been nearly a foot in  
breadth1  and a bullet would have       
rebounded flattened from its scales4    
,and such  was that ancient ,clacanth   
family1 of which the oldest of our      
,scotch  ,ganoids1--the ,asterolepis of 
,stromness1--formed one of the members1 
and  which for untold ages has had no   
living representative4    ,let us now   
enter on our proposed inquiry regarding 
the cerebral  development of the earlier
 vertebrata1 and see whether we cannot  
ascertain after what manner the first   
true brains were lodged1 and  what those
 modifications were which their         
protecting box1 the cranium1  received  
in the subsequent periods4              
,independently of its own special       

interest1 the inquiry will be found to  
have a direct bearing on our  general   
subject4          ,,cerebral            
,,development ,,of ,,the ,,earlier      
,,vertebrata4 ,,its ,,apparent          
,,principle4      ,it is held by a class
 of naturalists1 some of them of the    
highest  standing1 that the skulls of   
the vertebrata consist1 like the columns
  to which they are attached1 of        
vertebral joints1 composed each1 in the 
more typical forms of head1 as they are 
in the trunk1 of five parts or          
elements1--the centrum or body1 the two 
spinous processes which enclose  the    
spinal cord1 and the two ribs4 ,these   
cranial vertebr1 four in  number1       
correspond1 it is said1 to the four     
senses that have their seat  in the     
head3 there is the nasal vertebra1 the  
centrum of which is the  vomer1 its     
spinal processes the nasal and ethmoid  
bones1 and its ribs the  upper jaws2    
there is the ocular vertebra1 the       
centrum of which is the  anterior       

portion of the sphenoid bone1 its spinal
 processes the frontals1  and its ribs  
the under jaws2 there is the lingual    
vertebra1 the centrum  of which is the  
posterior sphenoid bone1 its spinal     
processes the  parietals1 and its ribs  
the hyoid and branchial bones1--portions
 of the  skeleton largely developed in  
fishes2 and1 lastly1 there is the       
auditory  vertebra1 the centrum of which
 is the base of the occipital bone1 and 
its  spinal processes the occipital     
crest1 and which in the osseous fishes  
bears attached to it1 as its ribs1 the  
bones of the scapular ring4 ,and  the   
cerebral segments thus constructed we   
find represented in typical  diagrams of
 the skull1 as real vertebr4 ,professor 
,owen1 in his lately  published treatise
 on 8,the ,nature of ,limbs10--work     
charged with valuable  fact1 and        
instinct with philosophy1--figures in   
his draught of the  archetypal skeleton 
of the vertebrata1 the four vertebr of  
the head1 in  a form as unequivocally   

such as any of the vertebr of the neck  
or body4    ,now1 for certain purposes  
of generalization1 ,i doubt not that the
  conception may have its value4 ,there 
are in all nature and in all  philosophy
 certain central ideas of general       
bearing1 round which1 at  distances less
 or more remote1 the subordinate and    
particular ideas  arrange themselves1   
8,cycle and epicycle1 orb in orb40      
,in the classifications of the          
naturalist1 for instance1 all species   
range round some central generic idea2  
all genera round some central  idea1 to 
which we give the name of order2 all    
orders round some central  idea of      
class2 all classes round some central   
idea of division2  and all divisions    
round the interior central idea which   
constitutes  a kingdom4 ,sir ,joshua    
,reynolds forms his theory of beauty on 
this  principle of central ideas4       
8,every species of the animal1 as well  
as  of the vegetable creation10 he      
remarks1 8may be said to have a fixed   

or determinate form1 towards which      
nature is continually inclining1  like  
various lines terminating in a centre2  
or it may be compared to  pendulums     
vibrating in different directions over  
one central point1  which they all      
cross1 though only one of their number  
passes through  any other point40 ,he   
instances1 in illustrating his theory1  
the ,grecian  beau ideal of the human   
nose1 as seen in the statues of the     
,greek  deities4 ,it formed a straight  
line2 whereas all deformity of nose is  
of  a convex or concave character1 and  
occasioned by either a rising above  or 
a sinking below this medial line of     
beauty4 ,and it may be of use1 as  it is
 unquestionably of interest1 to         
conceive1 after this manner1 of a       
certain type of skeleton1 embodying1 as 
it were1 the central or primary  type of
 all vertebral skeletons1 and consisting
 of a double range of  rings1 united by 
the bodies of the vertebr1 as the two   
rings of a  figure #h are united at     

their point of junction2 the upper ring 
forming  the enclosure of the           
brain1--spinal1 and cephalic2 the lower 
that of  the viscera1--respiratory1     
circulatory1 and digestive4 ,such is the
 idea  embodied in ,professor ,owen's   
archetypal skeleton4 ,it is a series of 
vertebr composing double rings1--their  
brain-rings comparatively small  in the 
vertebr of the trunk1 but of much       
greater size in the vertebr  of the     
head4 ,but it must not be forgotten1    
that central ideas1 however  necessary  
to the classification of the naturalist1
 are not historic  facts4 ,we may safely
 hold1 with the philosophic painter1    
that the outline  of the typical human  
nose is a straight line2 but it would be
 very  unsafe to hold1 as a consequence1
 that the first men had all straight    
noses4 ,and when we find it urged by at 
least one eminent assertor of the       
development hypothesis1--,professor     
,oken1--that light was the main agent in
  developing the substance of           

nerve1--that the nerves1 ranged in      
pairs1 in  turn developed the vertebr1  
each vertebra being but 8the periphery  
or  envelope of a pair of nerves10--and 
that the nerves of those four senses  of
 smell1 sight1 taste1 and hearing1      
which1 according to the ,professor1     
8make up the head10 originated the four 
cranial vertebr which constitute  the   
skull1--it becomes us to test the       
central idea1 thus converted into a     
sort of historic myth1 by the realities 
of actual history4 ,what1 then1  let us 
inquire1 is the real history of the     
cerebral development of the  vertebrata1
 as recorded in the rocks of the earlier
 geologic periods8    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #g4    ,osseous points of placoid 
cranium4#ab    7,mag4 twelve diameters7 
,though the vertebrata existed in the   
ichthyic form throughout the vastly     
extended ,silurian period1 we find in   
that system no remains of the  cranium3 
the ,silurian fishes seem1 as has been  
already said1 7page  #ec17 to have been 

exclusively ,placoid1 and the purely    
cartilaginous box  formed by nature for 
the protection of the brain in this     
order has in  no case been preserved4   
,teeth1 and1 in at least one or two     
instances1  the minute jaws over which  
they were planted have been found1 but  
no  portion of the skull4 ,we know1     
however1 that in the fishes of the same 
order which now exist1 the cranium      
consists of one undivided piece of a    
cartilaginous substance1 set thickly    
over its outer surface with minute      
polygonal points of bone1 7fig4 #g17    
composed internally of star-like  rays1 
that radiate from the centre of         
ossification1 and that present1 in      
consequence1 seen through a microscope1 
the appearance of the polygonal  cells  
of a coral of the genus ,astrea4 ,the   
pattern induced is that of  stars set   
within polygons4 ,along the sides or top
 of this unbroken  cranial box1 that    
exhibits no mark of suture1 we find the 
perforations  through which the nerves  

of smell1 sight1 taste1 and hearing     
passed from  the brain outwards1 and see
 that they have failed to originate     
distinct  vertebral envelopes for       
themselves2--they all lodge in one      
undivided  mansion-house1 and have      
merely separate doors4 ,we find1        
further1 that  the homotypal ribs of the
 entire cranium consist1 not of four1   
but  simply of a single pair1 attached  
to the occiput1 and which serves both   
to suspend the jaws1 upper and nether1  
in their place under the middle of  the 
head1 and to lend support to the hyoid  
and branchial framework2 while  the     
scapular ring we find existing1 as in   
the higher vertebrata1 not as  a        
cerebral1 but as a cervical or dorsal   
appendage4 ,in the wide range  of the   
animal kingdom there are scarce any two 
pieces of organization  that less       
resemble one another in form than the   
vertebr of the placoids  resemble their 
skulls2 and the difference is not merely
 external1 but  extends to even their   

internal construction4 ,in both skull   
and vertebr  we detect an union of bone 
and cartilage2 but the bone of each     
vertebra  forms an internal continuous  
nucleus1 round which the cartilage is   
arranged1 whereas in the skulls it is   
the cartilage that is internal1 and  the
 bone is spread in granular points over 
it4 ,if we dip the body of one  of the  
dorsal vertebr of a herring into melted 
wax1 and then withdraw  it1 we will find
 it to represent in its crusted state   
the vertebral  centrum of a             
,placoid1--soft without1 and osseous    
within2 but in order  to represent the  
placoid skull1 we would have first to   
mould it out of  one unbroken piece of  
wax1 and then to cover it over with a   
priming of  bone-dust4 ,and such is the 
effect of this arrangement1 that1 while 
the  skull of a ,placoid1 exposed to a  
red heat1 falls into dust1 from the     
circumstance that the supporting        
framework on which the granular bone    
was arranged perishes in the fire1 the  

vertebral centrum1 whose internal       
framework is itself bone1 and so not    
perishable1 comes out in a state  of    
beautiful entireness1--resembling in the
 thornback a squat sand-glass1          
elegantly fenced round by the lateral   
pillars1 7fig4 #h1 b27 and in  the      
dog-fish 7a7 a more elongated           
sand-glass1 in which the lateral        
pillars are wanting4 ,such are the heads
 and vertebral joints of the  existing  
,placoids2 and such1 reasoning from     
analogy1 seem to have been  the         
character and construction of the heads 
and vertebral joints of the  ,placoids  
of the ,silurian period1--earliest-born 
of the ,vertebrata4    ,illustration3   
,fig4 #h4    a4 ,osseous centrum of     
,spinax ,acanthias4    b4 ,osseous      
centrum of ,raja clavata4    7,nat4     
size47    ,the most ancient             
brain-bearing craniums that have come   
down to us  in the fossil state1 are    
those of the ,ganoids of the ,lower ,old
 ,red  ,sandstone2 and in these fishes  

the true skull appears to have been  as 
entirely a simple cartilaginous box1 as 
that of the ,placoids of  either the    
,silurian period or of the present time1
 or of those existing  ,ganoids1 the    
sturgeons4 ,in the ,lower ,old ,red     
genera ,cheiracanthus and               
,diplacanthus1 though the heads are     
frequently preserved as amorphous       
masses of colored matter1 we detect no  
trace of internal bone1 save  perhaps in
 the gill-covers of the first-named     
genus1 which were fringed  by from      
eighteen to twenty minute osseous rays4 
,the cranium seems to have  been        
covered1 as in the shark family1 by     
skin1 and the skin by minute            
shagreen-like scales2 and all of the    
interior cerebral framework which       
appears underneath exists simply as     
faint impressions of an undivided  body1
 covered by what seem to be osseous     
points1--the bony molecules1  it is     
probable1 which encrusted the cartilage4
 ,the jaws1 in the better  specimens1   

are also preserved in the same doubtful 
style1 and this state  of keeping is the
 common one in deposits in which every  
true bone1  however delicate1 presents  
an outline as sharp as when it occupied 
its  place in the living animal4 ,the   
dermal or skin-skeleton of both genera1 
which consisted1 as has been shown      
7pages #ee1 #ef7 of shagreen-like       
osseous scales and slender spines1 both 
brilliantly enamelled1 is  preserved    
entire2 where as the interior framework 
of the head exists as  mere point       
speckled impressions2 and the inference 
appears unavoidable  that parts which so
 invariably differ in their state of    
keeping now1 must  have essentially     
differed in their substance originally4 
,illustration3 ,fig4 #i4    a4 ,portion 
of caudal fin of ,cheiracanthus4#ac     
b4 ,portion of caudal fin of            
,cheirolepis ,cummingi4    7,mag4 three 
diameters47    ,now1 in the             
,cheiracanthus we detect the first faint
 indications of  a peculiar arrangement 

of the dermal skeleton1 in relation to  
certain  parts of the skeleton within1  
which--greatly more developed in some of
 its  contemporaries--led to important  
results in the general structure of     
these  ,ganoids1 and furnishes the true 
key to the character of the early ganoid
  head4 ,in such of the existing        
,placoids as ,i have had an opportunity 
of  examining1 the only portions of the 
dermal skeleton of bone which conform   
in their arrangement to portions of the 
interior skeleton of cartilage1  are the
 teeth1 which are always laid on a base 
of skin right over the  jaws3 there is  
also an approximation to arrangement of 
a corresponding  kind1 though a distant 
one1 in those hook-armed tubercles of   
certain  species of rays which run along
 the vertebral column2 but in the       
shagreen  by which the creatures are    
covered ,i have been able to detect no  
such  arrangement4 ,whether it occurs on
 the fins1 the body1 or the head1 or in 
the scale form1 or in that of the       

prickle1 it manifests the same careless 
irregularity4 ,and on the head and body 
of the ,cheiracanthus1 and on  all its  
fins save one1 the shagreen-like scales1
 though laid down more  symmetrically in
 lines than true shagreen1 manifested an
 equal absence  of arrangement in       
relation to the framework within4 ,on   
that one fin1  however2--the            
caudal1--the scales1 passing from their 
ordinary rhomboidal  to a more          
rectangular form1 ranged themselves in  
right lines over the  internal rays1    
7fig4 #i1 a17 and imparted to these such
 strength as a  splint of wood or       
whalebone fastened over a fractured toe 
or finger  imparts to the injured       
digit1--a provision which was probably  
rendered  necessary in the case of this 
important organ of motion1 from the     
circumstance that it was the only fin   
which the creature possessed that  was  
not strengthened and protected          
anteriorly by a strong spine4 ,in the   
,cheirolepis1--a contemporary fish1     

characterized1 like its cogeners the    
,cheiracanthus and ,diplacanthus1 by    
shagreen-like scales1 but in which  the 
spines were wanting1--we find a farther 
development of the provision4  ,in all  
the fins the richly-enamelled           
dermal-covering was arranged in  lines  
over the rays1 7fig4 #i1 b27 and the    
scale1 which assumes in the  fins1 like 
the scales on the tail of the           
,cheiracanthus1 though somewhat  more   
irregularly1 a rectangular shape1 is so 
considerably elongated1  that it assumes
 for its normal character as a scale1   
that of the joint  of an external ray4  
,a similar arrangement of external      
protection takes  place in this genus   
over the bones of the head2 the         
cartilaginous jaws  receive their       
osseous dermal covering1 and1 with      
these1 the hyoid bones1  the opercules1 
and the cranium4 ,and it is in these    
dermal plates1  which covered an        
interior skull1 of which1 save in one   
genus1--the  ,dipterus1--not a vestige  

remains in any of the ,old ,red fishes  
thus  protected1 that we first trace    
what seem to be the homologues of the   
cranial bones of the osseous fishes1--at
 least their homologues so far as  the  
cuticular can represent the internal4   
,they appear for the first  time1 not as
 modified spinous processes1 broadened1 
as in the carapace  of the ,chelonians1 
into osseous plates1 but like those     
corneous  external plates of this order 
of reptiles1 7known in one species as   
the  tortoise-shell of commerce17 the   
origin of which is purely cuticular1    
and which evince so little              
correspondence in their divisions with  
the  sutures of the bones on which they 
rest1 that they have been instanced1  in
 their relation to the joinings beneath1
 as admirable illustrations of  the     
cross-banding of the mechanician4    ,in
 the heads of the osseous fishes1 the   
cranium proper1 though  consisting1 like
 the skulls of birds1 reptiles1 and     
mammals1 of several  bones1 exists from 

snout to nape1 and from mastoid to      
mastoid1 as  one unbroken box2 whereas  
all the other bones of the head1 such as
  the maxillaries and intermaxillaries1 
the lower jaws1 the opercular           
appendages1 the branchial arches1 and   
the branchiostegous rays1  are connected
 but by muscle and ligament1 and fall   
apart under the  putrefactive           
influences1 or in the process of        
boiling4 ,this unbroken box1  which     
consists1 in the cod1 of twenty-five    
bones1 is the homologue of  that cranial
 box of the ,placoids which consists of 
one entire piece1 and  the homotype1    
according to ,oken1 of the bodies and   
spinal processes of  four vertebr2 while
 the looser bones which drop away       
represent their  ribs4 ,the upper       
surface of the box1--that extending from
 the nasal  bone to the nape1--is the   
only part over which a dermal buckler   
could  be laid1 as it is the only part  
with which the external skin comes in   
contact2 and so it is between this upper

 surface and the cranial bucklers  of   
the earlier ,ganoids that we have to    
institute comparisons4 ,for it  is a    
curious fact1 that1 with the exception  
of the ,old ,red genera  ,acanthodus1   
,cheiracanthus1 and ,diplacanthus1#ad   
all the ,ganoids of  the period in which
 ,ganoids first appear have dermal      
bucklers placed  right over their true  
skulls1 and that these1 though as united
 in their  parts as the bones proper to 
the cranium in quadrupeds and fishes1   
are  composed of several pieces1        
furnished each with its independent     
centre  of ossification4 ,the           
,dipterians1 the ,clacanths1 the        
,cephalaspians1 and  at least one genus 
placed rather doubtfully among the      
,acanths1--the genus  ,cheirolepis1--all
 possessed cranial bucklers extending   
from the nape to  the snout1 in which   
the plates1 various1 in the several     
genera1 in form  and position1 were fast
 soldered together1 though in every     
instance the  lines of suture were      

distinctly marked4    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #aj4    ,,upper ,,surface ,,of    
,,cranium ,,of ,,cod4#ae    ,a1         
,occipital bone4 ,b1 ,b1 ,parietals4 ,c1
 ,c1 ,c1 ,superior frontal4 ,d1  ,d1    
,anterior frontal4 ,i1 ,nasal bone4 ,f1 
,f1 ,posterior frontals4 ,e1 ,e1        
,mastoid bones4 #b1 #b1 ,eye orbits4 a1 
a1 ,par-occipital bones4    ,on each    
side of this external cranium the       
various cerebral plates1 like  the      
corresponding cerebral ribs in the      
osseous fishes1 were free1 at  least not
 anchylosed together2 and some of their 
number unequivocally  performed1 in part
 at least1 the functions of two of these
 cerebral  ribs1 viz4 the upper and     
under jaws1 with the functions of the   
opercular  appendages attached to the   
latter4 ,in the cod1 as in most other   
osseous  fishes1 the upper portion of   
the cranium consists of thirteen bones1 
which represent1 however1 only seven    
bones in the human skull1--the nasal1   
the frontal1 the two parietal1 the      

occipital1 and one-half the two         
temporal bones4 ,and whereas in man1 and
 in most of the mammals1 there are  four
 of these placed in the medial          
line1--the four which1 according to the 
assertors of the vertebral theory1 form 
the spinal crests of the four  cerebral 
vertebr1--in the cod there are but      
three4 ,the super-occipital  bone1 ,a1  
7fig4 #aj17 pieces on to the superior   
frontal1 ,c1 ,c1 ,c2 and the  parietals1
 ,b1 ,b1 which in the human subject from
 the upper and middle  portions of the  
cranial vault1 are thrust out laterally 
and posteriorly1  and take their places1
 in a subordinate capacity1 on each side
 of the  super-occipital4 ,this is not  
an invariable arrangement among         
fishes2--in  the carp genus1 for        
instance1 the parietals assume their    
proper medial  place between the        
occipital and frontal bones2 but so very
 general is  the displacement1 that     
,professor ,owen regards it as          
characteristic of  the great ichthyic   

class1 and as the first example in the  
vertebrata1  reckoning from the lower   
forms upwards1 of a sort of natural     
dislocation  among the bones1--8a       
modification10 he remarks1 8which1      
sometimes  accompanied by great change  
of place1 has tended most to obscure the
  essential nature of parts1 and their  
true relations to the archetype40       
,illustration3 ,fig4 #aa4    ,,cranial  
,,buckler ,,of ,,coccosteus ,,decipiens4
    a1 a1 ,points of attachment to the  
cuirass which covered the upper part  of
 the creature's body4    ,of all the    
cerebral bucklers of the first ganoid   
period1 that which  best bears          
comparison with the cranial front of the
 cod is the buckler  of the ,coccosteus1
 7fig4 #aa47 ,the general proportions of
 this portion  of the ancient           
,cephalaspian head differ very          
considerably from those of  the         
corresponding part in the modern cycloid
 one2 but in their larger  divisions1   
the modern and the ancient answer bone  

to bone4 ,three osseous  plates in the  
,coccosteus1 ,a1 ,c1 ,i1 the homologues1
 apparently1 of the  occipital1 frontal1
 and nasal bones1 range along the medial
 line4 ,the  apparent homologues of the 
parietals1 ,b1 ,b1 occupy the same      
position  of lateral displacement as the
 parietals of the cod and of so many    
other fishes4 ,the posterior frontals1  
,f1 and the anterior frontals1  ,d1 also
 occupy places relatively the same1     
though the latter1 which  are of greater
 proportional size1 encroach much       
further1 laterally and  posteriorly1 on 
the superior frontal ,c1 ,c1 ,c1 and    
sweep entirely round  the upper half of 
the eye orbits1 #b1 #b4 ,the apparent   
homologue of the  mastoid bone1 ,e1     
which also occupies its proper place1   
joins posteriorly  to a little plate1 a1
 imperfectly separated in most specimens
 from the  parietal1 but which seems to 
represent the par-occipital bone2 and it
 is  a curious circumstance1 that as1 in
 many of the osseous fishes1 it is to   

these bones that the forks of the       
scapular arch are attached1 they unite  
in the ,coccosteus in furnishing1 in    
like manner1 a point of attachment  to  
the cuirass which covered the upper part
 of the creature's body4 ,of  the true  
internal skull of the ,coccosteus there 
remains not a vestige  ,like that of the
 sturgeon1 it must have been a          
perishable cartilaginous  box4          
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab4    ,,cranial  
,,buckler ,,of ,,osteolepis4    ,in the 
,osteolepis1--an animal the whole of    
whose external head ,i have1  at an     
expense of some labor1 and from the     
examination of many specimens1  been    
enabled to restore1--the cranial buckler
 7fig4 #ab7 was divided in a  more      
arbitrary style2 and we find that an    
element of uncertainty mingles  with our
 inferences regarding it1 from the      
circumstance that some of its  lines of 
division1 especially in the frontal     
half1 were not real sutures1  but formed
 merely a kind of surface-tatooing1     

resorted to as if for  purposes of      
ornament4 ,the cranial buckler of the   
,asterolepis exhibited1  as ,i shall    
afterwards have occasion to show1 a     
similar peculiarity2--both  had their   
pseudo-sutures1 resembling those false  
joints introduced by the  architect into
 his rusticated basements1 in order to  
impart the necessary  aspect of         
regularity to what is technically termed
 the coursing and  banding of the       
fabric4 ,we can however1 determine1     
notwithstanding the  induced obscurity  
that the buckler of the ,osteolepis was 
divided  transversely in the middle into
 two main parts or segments1--an        
occipital  part1 ,c1 and a frontal part1
 ,a2 and that the occipital segment     
seems  to include also the parietal and 
mastoid plates1 and the frontal segment 
to comprise1 with its own proper plates1
 not only the nasal plate1 but  also the
 representative of the anterior part of 
the vomer4 ,all1 however1  is obscure4  
,but in our uncertainty regarding the   

homologies of the  divisions of this    
dermal buckler1 let us not forget the   
homology of the  buckler itself1 as a   
whole1 with the upper surface of the    
true cranium  in the osseous fishes4    
,though frequently crushed and broken1  
it exists  in all the finer specimens of
 my collection as a symmetrically       
arranged  collocation of enamelled      
plates1 as firmly united into one piece1
  though they all indicate their        
distinct centres of ossification1 as the
  corresponding surface of the cranium  
in the carp or cod4 ,the lateral  curves
 in the frontal part immediately        
opposite the lozenge-shaped plate  in   
the centre1 show the position of the    
eyes1 which were placed in this  genus1 
as in some of the carnivorous turtles1  
immediately over the  mouth1--an        
arrangement common to almost all the    
,ganoids of the ,lower ,old  ,red       
,sandstone4 ,the nearly semicircular    
termination of the buckler formed  the  
creature's snout2 and in the            

,osteolepis1 as in the ,glyptolepis  and
 the ,diplopterus1 it was armed on the  
under side1 like the vomer of  so many  
of the osseous fishes1 with sharp teeth4
 ,some of my specimens  indicate the    
nasal openings a little in advance of   
the eyes4 ,the nape of  the creature was
 covered by three detached plates1 7#i1 
#i1 #i1 fig4 #ac17  which rested upon   
anterior dorsal scales1 and whose       
homologies1 in the  osseous fishes1 may 
possibly be found in those bones which1 
uniting  the shoulder-bones to the head1
 complete the scapular belt or ring4    
,the  operculum we find represented by a
 single plate 7#h7 which had attached to
  it1 as its sub-operculum1 a plate     
7#ac7 of nearly equal size1 7see figs4  
#ad and #ae47 ,four small plates 7#b1   
#d1 #e7 formed the under curve of the   
eyes1 described in many of the osseous  
fishes by a chain of small bones  or    
ossicles2 a considerably larger plate   
7#f7 occupied the place of the          
preopercular bone2 while the            

intermaxillaries had their              
representatives  in well-marked plates1 
7#c1 #c17 which1 in the genera          
,osteolepis1  ,diplopterus1 and         
,glyptolepis1 we find bristling so      
thickly with  teeth along their lower   
edges1 as to remind us of the miniature 
saws  employed by the joiner in cutting 
out circular holes4 ,these external     
intermaxillaries did not1 as in the     
perch or cod1 meet in front of the      
nasal bone and vomer1 but joined on at  
the side1 a little in advance of  the   
eyes1 leaving the rounded termination of
 the cranial buckler1 which1  like the  
intermaxillaries1 was thickly fringed   
with teeth1 to form1 as  has been       
already said1 the creature's snout4     
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ac4    ,,upper    
,,part ,,of ,,head ,,of ,,osteolepis4   
,the under jaws 7#aj7--strongly-marked  
bones in at least all the ,dipterian    
and ,clacanth genera--we find           
represented externally by massy plates1 
bearing1 like those of the upper jaw1   

their range of teeth4 ,as shown  in a   
well-preserved specimen of the lower jaw
 of ,holoptychius1 in  my possession1   
they were boxes of bone enclosing a     
bulky nucleus of  cartilage1 which1 in  
approaching towards the condyloid       
process1 where  great strength was      
necessary1 was thickly traversed by     
osseous cancelli1  and passed at the    
joint into true bone4 ,it is in the     
under jaws of the  earlier ,ganoids that
 we first detect a true union of the    
external with  the internal             
skeleton1--of the bony plates and teeth1
 which were mere  plates and teeth of   
the skin1 with the osseous1 granular    
walls which  enclosed at least all the  
larger pieces of the cartilaginous      
framework  of the interior4 ,the jaws of
 the ,rays and ,sharks1 formed of       
cartilage1  and fenced round on their   
sides and edges by their thin coverings 
of  polygonal1 bony points1 are wholly  
internal and skin-covered2 whereas  the 
teeth1 which rest on the soft cuticular 

integument right over them1  are as     
purely dermal as the surrounding        
shagreen4 ,teeth and shagreen  may1 we  
find1 be alike stripped off with the    
skin4 ,now1 in the earlier  ganoidal    
jaw1 two sides of the osseous box which 
it composed1--its outer  and under      
sides1--were mere dermal plates1        
representative of the skin  of the      
placoids1 or of their shagreen2 while   
the other two1--its upper  and inner    
sides1--seem to have been developments  
of the interior osseous  walls which    
covered the endo-skeletal cartilage4    
,nor is it unworthy of  notice1 that the
 reptile fishes of the period had their 
ichthyic teeth  ranged along the edge of
 an exterior dermal plate which covered 
the  outer side of the jaw2 whereas     
their reptile teeth were planted on  a  
plate1 apparently of interior           
development1 which covered its upper    
edge4 ,it is further worthy of remark1  
that while the teeth of the dermal      
plate1--themselves also dermal1--seem as

 if they had grown out of it1 and       
formed part of it1--just as the teeth of
 the ,placoids grew out of the  skin on 
which they rest1--the reptile teeth     
within rested in shallow  pits1--the    
first faint indications of true sockets4
    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ad4    ,,under
 ,,part ,,of ,,head ,,of                
,,osteolepis4#af    ,illustration3 ,fig4
 #ae4    ,,head ,,of ,,osteolepis1      
,,seen ,,in ,,profile4    ,that space   
included within the arch formed by the  
sweep of the under  jaws1 which we find 
occupied in the osseous fishes by the   
hyoid bones and  the branchiostegous    
rays1 was filled up externally1 in the  
,dipterians  and ,clacanths1 and in at  
least two genera of ,cephalaspians1 by  
dermal  plates2 in some genera1 such as 
the ,diplopterus1 by three plates2 in   
others1 such as the ,holoptychius and   
,glyptolepis1 by two2 and in  the       
,asterolepis1 as we shall afterwards    
see1 by but a single plate4  ,in the    
,osteolepis these plates were increased 

to five in number1 by  the little plates
 #ad1 #ad1 7fig4 #ad17 which1 however1  
may have been also  present in the      
,diplopterus1 though my specimens fail  
to show them4 ,the  general arrangement 
was of much elegance1--an elegance1     
however1 which1  in the accompanying    
restorations1 the dislocation of the    
free plates1  drawn apart to indicate   
their detached character1 somewhat tends
 to  obscure4 ,but the position of the  
eyes must have imparted to the animal  a
 sinister reptile-like aspect4 ,the     
profile1 7fig4 #ae17 the result1 not  of
 a chance-drawn outline1 arbitrarily    
filled up1 but produced by the  careful 
arrangement in their proper places of   
actually existing plates1  serves to    
show how perfectly the dermo-skeletal   
parts of the creature  were developed4  
,some of the animals with which we are  
best acquainted1 if  represented by but 
their cuticular skeleton1 would appear  
simply as sets  of hoofs and horns4     
,even the tortoise or pengolin would    

present about the  head and limbs their 
gaps and missing portions2 but the      
dermo-skeleton  of the ,osteolepis1     
composed of solid bone1 and burnished   
with enamel1  exhibited the outline of  
the fish entire1 and1 with the exception
 of  the eye1 the filling up of all its 
external parts4 ,presenting outside1  in
 its original state1 no fragment of skin
 or membrane1 and with even  its most   
flexible organs sheathed in enamelled   
bone1 the ,osteolepis  must have very   
much resembled a fish carved in ivory2  
and1 though so  effectually covered1 it 
would have appeared1 from the           
circumstance1 that  it wore almost all  
its bone outside1 as naked as the human 
teeth4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #af4     
,,cranial ,,buckler ,,of ,,diplopterus4 
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ag4    ,,cranial  
,,buckler ,,of ,,diplopterus4    ,the   
cranial buckler of the ,diplopterus     
7fig4 #af7 somewhat resembled  that of  
its fellow-dipterian the ,osteolepis1   
but exhibited greater  elegance of      

outline4 ,my first perfect specimen1    
which ,i owe to the  kindness of ,mr4   
,john ,miller1 of ,thurso1 an           
intelligent geologist of the  north1    
reminded me1 as it glittered in         
jet-black enamel on its ground  of pale 
gray1 of those ,roman cuirasses which   
one sees in old prints1  impaled on     
stakes1 as the central objects in       
warlike trophies formed  of spoils taken
 in battle4 ,the rounded snout          
represented the chest and  shoulders1   
the middle portion the waist1 and the   
expansion at the nape  the piece of     
dress attached1 which1 like the         
,highland kilt1 fell adown  the thighs4 
,the addition of a fragment of a sleeve1
 suspended a little  over the eye       
orbits1 #b1 #b1 seemed all that was     
necessary in order to  render the       
resemblance complete4 ,but as ,i        
disinterred the buried edges of  the    
specimen with a graver1 the form1 though
 it grew still more elegant1  became    
less that of the ancient coat of armor2 

the snout expanded into  a semicircle2  
the eye orbits gradually deepened2 and  
the entire fossil  became not           
particularly like any thing but the     
thing it once was1--the  cranial buckler
 of the ,diplopterus4 ,the print 7fig4  
#ag7 exhibits its  true form4 ,it       
consists of two main divisions1         
occipital 7,a7 and frontal1  7,c1 fig4  
#af27 and in each of these we find a    
pair of smaller divisions1  with what   
seem to be indications of yet further   
division1 marked1 not by  lines1 but by 
dots2 though ,i have hitherto failed to 
determine whether  the plates which     
these last indicate possess their       
independent centres of  ossification4   
,not unfrequently1 however1 has the     
comparative anatomist  to seek the      
analogues of two bones in one2 nor is it
 at least more  difficult to trace in   
the faint divisions of the cranial      
buckler of the  ,diplopterus1 the       
homologues of the occipital1 frontal1   
parietal1  mastoid1 and nasal bones1    

than to recognize the representatives of
 the  carpals of the middle and ring    
finger in man1 in the cannon bone of the
  fore leg of the ox4 ,i may mention in 
passing1 that the little central  plate 
of the frontal division1 7#a1 fig4 #af17
 which so nearly corresponds  with that 
of the ,osteolepis1 occurred1 though    
with considerable  variations of form   
and homology1 and some slight difference
 of position1  in all the ,ganoids of   
the ,old ,red ,sandstone whose craniums 
were covered  with an osseous buckler1  
and that its place was always either    
immediately  between the eyes or a very 
little over them4 ,its never-failing    
recurrence  shows that it must have had 
some meaning1 though it may be difficult
  to say what4 ,in the ,coccosteus it   
takes the form of the male dovetail1    
which united the nasal plate or snout to
 the plate representative  of the       
superior frontal4 ,of the cartilaginous 
box which formed the  interior skull of 
either ,osteolepis1 or ,diplopterus1 or1

 with but  one exception1 of the        
interior skulls of any of their         
contemporaries1 no  trace1 as ,i have   
said1 has yet been detected4 ,the       
solitary exception in  the case is1     
however1 one of singular interest4      
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ah4    a4 ,palatal
 dart-head4    b4 ,group of palatal     
teeth4    ,in a collection of           
miscellaneous fragments sent me by ,mr4 
,dick from the  rocks of ,thurso1 ,i    
detected patches of palatal teeth ranged
 in nearly the  quadratures of circles1 
and which radiated outwards from the    
rectangular  angle or centre1 7fig4 #ah1
 b47 ,and with the patches there        
occurred  plates exactly resembling the 
barbed head of a dart1 7a17 with which  
,i had been previously acquainted1      
though ,i had failed to determine their 
character or place4 ,the excellent state
 of keeping of some of ,mr4 ,dick's     
specimens now enabled me to trace the   
patches with the dart-head1 and  several
 other plates1 to a curious piece of    

palatal mechanism1 ranged  along the    
base of a ganoid cranium1 covered       
externally by a brightly  enamelled     
buckler1 and to ascertain the order in  
which patches and plates  occurred4 ,and
 then1 though not without some labor1 ,i
 succeeded in tracing  the buckler with 
which they were associated to the       
,dipterus1--a fish  which1 though it has
 engaged the attention of both ,cuvier  
and ,agassiz1  has not yet been         
adequately restored4 ,it is on an       
ill-preserved ,orkney  specimen of the  
cranial buckler of this ,ganoid that the
 ichthyologist has  founded his genus   
,polyphractus2 while groupes of its     
palatal teeth from  the ,old ,red of    
,russia he refers to a supposed         
,placoid1--the ,ctenodus4  ,but in the  
earlier stages of palontological        
research1 mistakes of this  character   
are wholly unavoidable4 ,the            
palontologist who did avoid them  would 
be either very unobservant1 or at once  
very rash and very fortunate  in his    

guesses4 ,if1 ere an entire skeleton of 
the ,ichthyosaurus  had turned up1 there
 had been found in different localities1
 in the  ,liasic formation1 a beak like 
that of a porpoise1 teeth like that of  
a crocodile1 a head and sternum like    
that of a lizard1 paddles like  those of
 a cetacean1 and vertebr like those of a
 fish1 it would have  been greatly more 
judicious1 and more in accordance with  
the existing  analogies1 to have        
erected1 provisionally at least1 places 
specifically1  or even generically      
separated1 in which to range the        
separate pieces1  than to hold that they
 had all united in one anomalous genus2 
though such  was actually the fact4 ,and
 ,agassiz1 in erecting three distinct   
genera  out of the fragments of a single
 genus1 has in reality acted at once    
more prudently and more intelligently   
than if he had avoided the error  by    
rashly uniting parts which in their     
separate state indicate no tie of       
connection4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ai4

    ,,cranial ,,buckler ,,of ,,dipterus4
    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bj4    ,,base 
,,of ,,cranium ,,of ,,dipterus4    ,the 
cranial buckler of the ,dipterus 7fig4  
#ai7 was1 like that of the              
,diplopterus1 of great beauty4 ,in some 
of the finer specimens1 we find  the    
enamel ornately tatooed1 within the more
 strongly-marked divisions1  by         
delicately traced lines1 waved and bent1
 as if upon the principle  of ,hogarth2 
and though the lateral plates are       
numerous and small1 and  defy the       
homologies1 we may trace in those of the
 central line1 from the  snout to the   
nape1 what seem to be the               
representatives of the frontal1         
parietal1 and occipital bones1--the     
parietals ranging1 as in the skull  of  
the carp and in that of most of the     
mammals1 in their proper place  in the  
medial line4 ,but the under surface of  
the cranium1 armed1 as on  the upper    
surface1 with plates of bone1 exhibited 
an arrangement still  more peculiar1    

7fig4 #bj47 ,its rectangular patches of 
palatal teeth1 its  curious dart-like   
bone1 placed immediately behind these1  
and attached1  as the dart-head is      
attached to the handle1 to a broad      
lozenge-shaped  plate1 with two strong  
osseous processes projecting on either  
side1 forms  such a tout ensemble as is 
unique among fishes4 ,even here1        
however1  there may be traced at least a
 shade of homological resemblance to the
  bones which form the base of the      
osseous skull4 ,the single              
lozenge-shaped  plate1 7,a17 with its   
dart-head1 occupies the place of the    
basi-occipital  bone2 the posterior     
portion of the vomer seems represented  
by a strong  bony ridge1 extending      
towards the snout2 two separate bones1  
each bearing  one of the angular patches
 of teeth1 corresponds to the sphenoid  
bone  and its al2 and attached laterally
 to each of these there is the strong   
projecting bone1 on which the lower jaw 
appears to have hinged1 and  which      

apparently represents the lower part of 
the temporal bone4 ,not less  singular  
was the form of the creature's under    
jaw1 7fig4 #ba47 ,i know no  other      
fish-jaw1 whether of the recent or the  
extinct races1 that might  be so readily
 mistaken for that of a quadruped4 ,it  
exhibits not only the  condyloid1 but   
also the coronoid processes2 and1 save  
that it broadens  on its upper edges1   
where in mammals the grinders are       
placed1 so as to  furnish field enough  
for angular patches of teeth1 which     
correspond with  the angular patches in 
the palate1 it might be regarded1 found 
detached1  as at least a reptilian1 if  
not mammalian1 bone4 ,the disposition of
  the palatal teeth of the ,dipterus    
will scarce fail to remind the          
mechanist of the style of grooving      
resorted to in the formation of         
mill-stones for the grinding of flour2  
nor is it wholly improbable that1  in   
correspondence with the rotatory motion 
of the stones to which the  grooving is 

specially adapted1 jaws so hinged may   
have possessed some  such power of      
lateral motion as that exemplified by   
the human subject in  the use of the    
molar teeth4    ,illustration3 ,fig4    
#ba4    ,,under ,,jaw ,,of ,,dipterus4  
,the protection afforded by the osseous 
covering of both the upper and  under   
surface of the cranium of this          
ichthyolite has resulted1 in  several   
instances1 in the preservation1 though  
always in a greatly  compressed state1  
of the cranium itself1 and the          
consequent exhibition  of two very      
important cranial cavities1 the         
brain-pan proper1 and the  passage      
through which the spinal cord passed    
into the brain4 ,in the  sturgeon the   
brain occupies nearly the middle of the 
head2 and there  is a considerable part 
of the occipital region traversed by the
 spine  in a curved channel1 which1 seen
 in profile1 appears wide at the nape1  
but considerably narrower where it      
enters the brain-pan1 and altogether    

very much resembling the interior of a  
miniature hunting-horn4 ,and such       
exactly was the arrangement of the      
greater cavities in the head of the     
,dipterus4 ,the portion of the cranium  
which was overlaid by what may be       
regarded as the occipital plate was     
traversed by a cavity shaped like a     
,lilliputian bugle-horn2 while the      
hollow in which the brain was lodged    
lay under the two parietal plates1 and  
the little elliptical plate in  the     
centre4 ,the accompanying print1 7fig4  
#bb17 though of but slight  show1 may be
 regarded by the reader with some little
 interest1 as a not  inadequate         
representation of the most ancient      
brain-pan on which human  eye has yet   
looked1--as1 in short1 the type of cell 
in which1 myriads of  ages ago1 in at   
least one genus1 that mysterious        
substance was lodged1 on  whose place   
and development so very much in the     
scheme of creation was  destined to     
depend4 ,the specimen from which the    

figure is taken was laid  open laterally
 by chance exposure to the waves on the 
shores of ,thurso1  another specimen1   
cut longitudinally by the saw of the    
lapidary1 yields a  similar section1 but
 greatly more compressed in the         
cavities2 on which1  of course1 as      
unsupported hollows1 the compression to 
which the entire  cranium had been      
exposed chiefly acted4 ,when the top and
 bottom of a  box are violently forced  
together1 it is the empty space which   
the box  encloses that is annihilated in
 consequence of the violence4           
,illustration3 ,fig4 #bb4               
,,longitudinal ,,section ,,of ,,head    
,,of ,,dipterus    ,it is deserving of  
notice1 that the analogies of the       
cranial cavities  in this ancient       
,ganoid should point so directly on the 
cranial cavities  of that special       
,ganoid of the present time which unites
 a true skull of  cartilage to a dermal 
skull of osseous plates1--a circumstance
 strongly  corroborative of the general 

evidence1 negative and positive1 on     
which  ,i have concluded that the true  
skulls of the first ,ganoids were also  
cartilaginous4 ,it is further worthy of 
observation1 that in all the  sections  
of the cranium of ,dipterus which ,i    
have yet examined1 the  internal line is
 continuous1 as in the ,placoids1 from  
nape to snout1  and that the true skull 
presents no trace of those cerebral     
vertebr of  which skulls are regarded by
 ,oken and his disciples as             
developments4  ,historically at least1  
the progress of the ichthyic head seems 
to have  been a progress from simple    
cartilaginous boxes to cartilaginous    
boxes  covered with osseous plates1 that
 performed the functions whether active 
or passive1 of internal bones2 and then 
from external plates to the  interior   
bones which the plates had previously   
represented1 and whose  proper work they
 had done4    ,the principle which      
rendered it necessary that the divisions
 which exist  in the dermal skulls of   

the first ,ganoids should so closely    
correspond  with the divisions which    
exist in the internal skulls of the     
osseous  fishes of a greatly later      
period1 does not seem to lie far from   
the  surface4 ,of the solid parts of the
 ichthyic head1 a certain set of  pieces
 afford protection to the brain and     
cerebral nerves1 and to some  of the    
organs of the senses1 such as those of  
seeing and hearing2 while  another      
certain set of pieces constitute the    
framework through which an  important   
class of functions1 manducatory and     
respiratory1 are performed4  ,the       
protective bones of merely passive      
function are fixed1 whereas the  bones  
of active function1 such as the jaws1   
the osseous framework of the  opercules1
 and the hyoid bones1 are to the        
necessary extent free1 i4  e4 capable of
 independent motion4 ,of course1 the    
detached character  necessary to the    
free cerebral bones would be equally    
necessary in  cerebral plates united    

dermally to the pieces of the           
cartilaginous  framework1 which         
performed in the ancient fish the       
functions of these  free bones4 ,and    
hence jaw plates1 opercular plates1 and 
hyoid plates1  whose homological        
relation with recent jaws and opercular 
and hyoid  bones cannot be mistaken4    
,they were operative in performing      
identical  mechanical functions1 and had
 to exist1 in consequence1 in identical 
mechanical conditions4 ,and an equally  
simple1 though somewhat different       
principle1 seems to have regulated the  
divisions of the fixed cranial  bucklers
 of the ,old ,red ,ganoids1 and to have 
determined their homologies  with the   
fixed cerebral bones of the osseous     
fishes4    ,these cranial bucklers1     
extending from nape to snout1 protected 
the  exposed upper surface of the       
cartilaginous skull1 and conformed to it
 in  shape1 as a helmet conforms to the 
shape of the head1 or a breast-plate  to
 the shape of the chest4 ,and as the    

cartilaginous heads resembled in        
general outline the osseous ones1 the   
buckler which covered their upper       
surface resembled in general outline the
 upper surface of the osseous  skull4   
,it was in no case entirely a flat      
plate2 but in every species  rounded    
over the snout and in most species at   
the sides2 and so1 in  order that its   
characteristic proportions might be     
preserved throughout  the various stages
 of growth in the head which it covered1
 it had to be  formed from several      
distinct centres of ossification1 and to
 extend in  area around the edges of the
 plates originated from these4 ,the     
workman  finds no difficulty in adding  
to the size of a piece of straight wall1
  whether by heightening or lengthening 
it2 but he cannot add to the size  of a 
dome or arch1 without first taking it   
down1 and then erecting it  anew on a   
larger scale4 ,in the domes and arches  
of the animal kingdom1  the problem is  
solved by building them up of distinct  

pieces1 few or  many1 according to the  
demands of the figure which they        
compose1 and  rendering these pieces    
capable of increase along their edges4  
,it is on  this principle that the      
,cystidea1 the ,echinid1 the ,chelonian 
carapace  and plastron1 and the skulls  
of the osseous ,vertebrata1 are         
constructed4  ,it is also the principle 
on which the cranial bucklers of the    
ancient  ,ganoids were formed4#ag ,and  
from the general resemblance in figure  
of  these bucklers to the upper surface 
of the osseous skull1 the separate      
parts necessary for the building up of  
the one were anticipated1 by many  ages1
 in the building up of the other2 just  
as we find external arches  of stone    
which were erected two thousand years   
ago1 constructed on the  same principle1
 and relatively of the same parts1 as   
internal arches of  brick built in the  
present age4 ,doubtless1 however1 with  
this mechanical  necessity for          
correspondence of parts in the formation

 of corresponding  erections1 there may 
have mingled that regard for typical    
resemblance  which seems so marked a    
characteristic of the style1 if ,i may  
so  express myself1 in which the ,divine
 ,architect gives expression to his     
ideas4 ,the external osseous buckler ,he
 divided after the general pattern      
which was to be exemplified1 in latter  
times1 in the divisions of the  internal
 osseous skull2 as if in illustration of
 that 8ideal exemplar0  which dwelt in  
his mind from eternity1 and on the      
palpable existence  of which sober      
science has based deductions identical  
in their scope  and bearing with some of
 the sublimest doctrines of the         
theologian4  8,the recognition10 says   
,professor ,owen1 8of an ideal exemplar 
for the  vertebrated animals1 proves    
that the knowledge of such a being as   
man  existed before man appeared2 for   
the ,divine mind which planned the      
archetype also foreknew all its         
modifications4 ,the archetypal idea was 

manifested in the flesh1 under divers   
such modifications1 upon this  planet1  
long prior to the existence of those    
animal species that actually  exemplify 
it40    ,but while we find place in that
 geological history in which every      
character is an organism1 for the 8ideal
 exemplar0 of ,professor ,owen1  we find
 no place in it for the                 
vertebr-developed skull of ,professor   
,oken4 ,the true genealogy of the head  
runs in an entirely different line4     
,the nerves of the cerebral senses did  
not1 we find1 originate cerebral        
vertebr1 seeing that the heads of the   
first and second geologic periods  had  
their cerebral nerves1 but not their    
cerebral vertebr2 and that  what are    
regarded as cerebral-vertebr appear for 
the first time1 not in  the early       
fishes1 but in the reptiles of the ,coal
 formation4 ,the line of  succession    
through the fish1 indicated by the      
,continental assertor of  the           
development hypothesis1 is a line cut   

off4 ,all the existing evidence         
conspires to show that the placoid heads
 of the ,silurian system were1  like the
 placoid heads of the recent period1    
mere cartilaginous boxes2  and that in  
the succeeding system there existed     
ganoidal heads1 that  to the internal   
cartilaginous box added external plates 
of bone1 the  homologues1               
apparently1--so far at least as the     
merely cuticular could  be              
representative of the endo-skeletal1--of
 the opercular1 maxillary1  frontal1 and
 occipital bones in the osseous fishes  
of a long posterior  period1--fishes    
that were not ushered upon the scene    
until after the  appearance of the      
reptile in its highest forms and of even
 the marsupial  quadruped4              
,,the ,,asterolepis1 ,,its ,,structure1 
,,bulk1 ,,and ,,aspect4      ,with the  
reader1 if he has accompanied me thus   
far1 ,i shall now pass  on to the       
consideration of the remains of the     
,asterolepis4 ,our  preliminary         

acquaintance with the cerebral          
peculiarities of a few of  its less     
gigantic contemporaries will be found of
 use in enabling us to  determine       
regarding a class of somewhat resembling
 peculiarities which  characterized this
 hugest ,ganoid of the ,old ,red        
,sandstone4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bd4
    ,dermal tubercles of ,asterolepis   
7,mag4 two diameters47    ,the head of  
the ,asterolepis1 like the heads of all 
the other  ,clacanths1 and of all the   
,dipterians1 was covered with osseous   
plates1--its body with osseous scales2  
and1 as ,i have already had occasion  to
 mention1 it is from the star-like      
tubercles by which the cerebral  plates 
were fretted that ,m4 ,eichwald bestowed
 on the creature its  generic name4     
,agassiz has even erected species on    
certain varieties in  the pattern of the
 stars1 as exhibited on detached        
fragments2 but ,i am  far from being    
satisfied that we are to seek in their  
peculiarities of  style the characters  

by which the several species were       
distinguished4  ,the stellar form of the
 tubercle seems to have been its normal 
or most  perfect form as it was also1   
with certain modifications1 that of the 
tubercle of the ,coccosteus and         
,pterichthys2 but its development as  a 
complete star was comparatively rare3 in
 most cases the tubercles  existed      
without the rays1--frequently in the    
insulated pap-like shape1  but not      
rarely confluent1 or of an elongated or 
bent form2 and when to  these the       
characteristic rays were added1 the     
stars produced were of a  rather        
eccentric order1--stars somewhat        
resembling the shadows of stars  seen in
 water4 ,individual specimens have      
already been found1 on which1 if  we    
recognize the form of the tubercle as a 
specific character1 several  species    
might be erected4 ,the accompanying     
wood-cut 7fig4 #bd7 represents1  from a 
,thurso specimen1 what seems to be the  
true normal pattern of  these cerebral  

carvings4 ,seen in profile 7b7 the      
tubercles resemble  little hillocks1    
perforated at their base by single lines
 of thickly-set  caves2 while seen from 
above1 7a17 the narrow piers of bone by 
which  the caves are divided take the   
form of rays4 ,the reader will scarce   
fail  to recognise in this print the    
coral ,monticularia of ,lamarck1 or to  
detect1 in at least the profile1 the    
peculiarity which suggested the name4   
,illustration3 ,fig4 #be4    ,,scales   
,,of ,,asterolepis4    7,nat4 size47    
a4 ,inner surface of scale4    b4       
,exterior surface4    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #bf4    ,,portion ,,of ,,carved   
,,surface ,,of ,,scale4    7,mag4 four  
diameters47    ,the scales which covered
 the creature's body 7fig4 #be7 were1 in
  proportion to its size1 considerably  
smaller and thinner than those  of the  
,holoptychius1 which1 however1 they     
greatly resemble in their  general style
 of sculpture4 ,each1 on the lower part 
of its exposed  field1 was1 we see1     

fretted by longitudinal anastomosing    
ridges1 which1  in the upper part1 break
 into detached angular tubercles1 placed
 with  the apex downwards1 and hollowed1
 leaf-like1 in the centre2 while that   
covered portion which was overlaid by   
the scales immediately above we  find   
thickly pitted by microscopic hollows1  
that give to this part of the  field1   
viewed under a tolerably high magnifying
 power1 a honeycombed  appearance4 ,the 
central and lower parts of the interior 
surface of the  scale 7a7 are in most of
 the specimens irregularly roughened2   
while a  broad1 smooth band1 which runs 
along the top and sides1 and seems to   
have  furnished the line of attachment  
to the creature's body1 is comparatively
  smooth4 ,the exterior carvings1 though
 they demand the assistance of  the lens
 to see them aright1 are of singular    
elegance and beauty2 as  perhaps the    
accompanying wood-cut1 7fig4 #bf17 which
 gives a magnified  view of a portion of
 the scale immediately above 7b7 from   

the middle  of the honeycombed field on 
the right side1 to where the            
anastomosing  ridges bend gracefully in 
their descent1 may in some degree serve 
to  show4 ,i have seen a richly inlaid  
coat of mail1 which was once worn by    
the puissant ,charles the ,fifth2 but   
its elaborate carvings1 though they     
belonged to the age of ,benvenuto       
,cellini1 were rude and unfinished1     
compared with those which fretted the   
armor of the ,asterolepis4              
,illustration3 ,fig4 #bg4    ,,cranial  
,,buckler ,,of ,,asterolepis4    7,one  
fifth nat4 size1 linear47    ,the       
creature's cranial buckler1 which was of
 great size and strength1  might well be
 mistaken for the carapace of some      
,chelonian fish of no  inconsiderable   
bulk4 ,the cranial bucklers of the      
larger ,dipterians  were ample enough to
 have covered the corresponding part in 
the skulls  of our middle-sized         
market-fish1 such as the haddock and    
whiting2 the  buckler of a ,coccosteus  

of the extreme size would have covered1 
if  a little altered in shape1 the upper
 surface of the skull of a cod1  but the
 cranial buckler of ,asterolepis1 from  
which the accompanying  wood-cut was    
taken1 7fig4 #bg17 would have           
considerably more than covered  the     
corresponding part in the skull of a    
large horse2 and ,i have at  least one  
specimen in my collection which would   
have fully covered  the front skull of  
an elephant4 ,in the smaller specimens1 
the buckler  somewhat resembles a       
laborer's shovel divested of its handle1
 and sorely  rust-eaten along its lower 
or cutting edge4 ,it consisted of       
plates1  connected at the edges by flat 
squamous sutures1 or1 as a joiner might 
perhaps say1 glued together in bevelled 
joints4 ,and in consequence  of this    
arrangement1 the same plates which seem 
broad on the exterior  surface appear   
comparatively narrow on the interior    
one1 and vice  versa2 the occipital     
plate1 7a17 which1 running from the nape

 along  the centre of the buckler1      
occupies so considerable a space on its 
outer  surface1 exhibits inside a       
superficies reduced at least one half4  
,like  nine tenths of its               
contemporaries1 the ,asterolepis        
exhibits the little  central plate      
between the eyes2 but the eye orbits1   
unlike those of the  ,coccosteus1 and of
 all the ,dipterian genera1 which were  
half-scooped  out of the cranial        
buckler1 half-encircled by detached     
plates1 were  placed completely within  
the field of the buckler1--a            
circumstance in  which they resemble the
 eye orbits of the ,pterichthys1 and1   
among  existing fish1 those of the      
sea-wolf4 ,the characteristic is also a 
distinctive one in ,cuvier's second     
family of the ,acanthopterygii1--the    
8fishes with hard cheeks40 ,a deep line 
immediately over the eyes1 which1       
however1 indicated no suture1 but seems 
to have been merely ornamental1  forms a
 sort of rudely tatooed eyebrow2 the    

marginal lines parallel to  the lateral 
edges of the buckler were also mere     
tatooings2 but all the  others indicated
 joints which1 though more or less      
anchylosed1 had a  real existence4 ,so  
flat was the surface1 that the edge of a
 ruler rests  upon it1 in my several    
specimens1 both lengthwise and across2  
but it was  traversed by two flat       
ridges1 which1 stretching from the      
corners of the  latero-posterior1 i4 e4 
parietal1 plates1 7b1 b17 converged at  
the  little plate between the eyes1     
while along the centre of the depressed 
angle which they formed1 a third ridge1 
equally flat with the others1 ran       
towards the same point of convergence   
from the nape4 ,the three ridges1  when 
strongly relieved by a slant light1     
resemble not inadequately an            
impression1 on a large scale1 of the    
,queen's broad arrow4    ,illustration3 
,fig4 #bh4    ,,inner ,,surface ,,of    
,,cranial ,,buckler ,,of ,,asterolepis4 
7,one fifth nat4 size1 linear47    ,the 

inner surface of the cranial buckler of 
,asterolepis1 7fig4  #bh17--that which  
rested on the cartilaginous box which   
formed the  creature's interior         
skull1--stands out in bolder relief from
 the stone  than its outer surface1 and 
forms a more picturesque object4 ,like  
the  inner surfaces of the bucklers of  
,coccosteus and ,pterichthys1 but  much 
more thickly than these1 it was         
traversed by minute channelled          
markings1 somewhat resembling those stri
 which may be detected in the  flatter  
bones of the ordinary fishes1 and which 
seem in these to be  mere interstices   
between the osseous fibres4 ,and in the 
plates1 as in  the bones1 they radiate  
from the centres of ossification1 which 
are  comparatively dense and massy1     
towards the thinner overlapping edges4  
,these radiating lines are equally well 
marked in the cerebral bones of  the    
human ftus4 ,the three converging ridges
 on the outer surface we  find on the   
inner surface also1--the lateral ones a 

little bent in the  middle1 but so      
directly opposite those outside1 that   
the thickening of  the buckler which    
takes place along their line is at least
 as much a  consequence of their inner  
as of their outer elevation over the    
general  platform4 ,a fourth bar ran    
transversely along the nape1 and formed 
the  cross beam on which the others     
rested2 for the three longitudinal      
ridges  may be properly regarded as     
three strong beams1 which1 extending    
from  the transverse beam at the nape to
 the front1 where they converged like   
the spokes of a wheel at the nave1 gave 
to the cranial roof a degree of  support
 of which1 from its great flatness1 it  
may have stood in need4 ,in  cranial    
bucklers in which the average thickness 
of the plates does not  exceed three    
eighth parts of an inch1 their thickness
 in the centre of  the ridges exceeds   
three quarters4 ,the head of the largest
 crocodile  of the existing period is   
defended by an armature greatly less    

strong  than that worn by the           
,asterolepis of the ,lower ,old ,red    
,sandstone4 ,why  this ancient ,ganoid  
should have been so ponderously helmed  
we can but  doubtfully guess2 we only   
know1 that when nature arms her         
soldiery1 there  are assailants to be   
resisted and a state of war to be       
maintained4 ,the  posterior central     
plate1 the homologue apparently of the  
occipital bone1  was curiously carved   
into an ornate massive leaf1 like one of
 the larger  leaves of a ,corinthian    
capital1 and terminated beneath1 where  
the stem  should have been1 in a strong 
osseous knob1 fashioned like a pike     
head4  ,two plates immediately over it1 
the homologues of the superior frontal  
bone1 with the little nasal plate which1
 perched atop in the middle1  lay       
between the creature's eyes1 resembled  
the head and breast in the  female      
figure1 at least not less closely than  
those of the 8lady in the  lobster20 the
 posterior frontal plates in which the  

outer and nether  half of the eye orbits
 were hollowed formed a pair of sweeping
 wings1  and thus in the centre of the  
buckler we are presented with the figure
  of an angel1 robed and winged1 and of 
which the large sculptured leaf  forms  
the body1 traced in a style in no degree
 more rude than we might  expect to see 
exemplified on the lichen-encrusted     
shield of some ancient  tombstone of    
that ,house of ,avenel which bore as its
 arms the effigies  of the ,spectre     
,lady4 ,children have a peculiar knack  
in detecting such  resemblances2 and the
 discovery of the angel in the cranium  
of the  ,asterolepis ,i owe to one of   
mine4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bi4      
,,plate ,,of ,,cranial ,,buckler ,,of   
,,asterolepis4    ,it is on this inner  
side of the cranial buckler1 where there
 are no such  pseudo-joinings indicated 
as on the external surface1 that the    
homologies  of the plates of which it is
 composed can be best traced4 ,it might 
be  well1 however1 ere setting one's    

self to the work of comparison1 to      
examine the skulls of a few of the      
osseous fishes of our coast1 and to     
mark how very considerably they differ  
from one another in their lines of      
suture and their general form4 ,the     
cerebral divisions of the conger-eel1   
for instance1 are very unlike those of  
the haddock or whiting2 and the  sutures
 in the head of the gurnard are         
dissimilarly arranged from those  in the
 head of the perch4 ,and after tracing  
the general type in the  more anomalous 
forms1 and finding1 with ,cuvier1 that  
in even these the  8skull consists of   
the same bones1 though much subdivided1 
as the skulls  of the other vertebrata10
 we will be the better qualified for    
grappling  with the not greater         
anomalies which occur in the cranial    
buckler of the  ,asterolepis4 ,the      
occipital plate1 ,a1 a1 a1 7fig4 #bi17  
occupies  its ordinary place opposite   
the centre of the nape2 the two         
parietals1 ,b1  ,b1 rest beside it in   

their usual ichthyic position of        
displacement2 the  superior frontal we  
find existing1 as in the young of many  
animals1 in  two pieces1 ,c1 ,c2 the    
nasal plate ,i1 placed immediately in   
advance of it1  is flanked1 as in the   
cod1 by the anterior frontals1 ,d1 ,d2  
the posterior  frontals1 ,f1 ,f1 which1 
when viewed as in the print1 from       
beneath1 seem of  considerable size1 and
 describe laterally and posteriorly     
about one half  the eye orbits1 have    
their area on the exterior surface      
greatly reduced  by the overriding      
squamose sutures of the plates to which 
they join2 and  lastly1 two of these    
overlying plates1 ,e1 ,e1--which1       
occurring in the  line of the lateral   
bar or beam1 are of great strength and  
thickness1  and lie for two thirds of   
their length along the parietals1 and   
for the  remaining third along the      
superior frontals1--represent the       
mastoid bones4  ,such1 so far as ,i have
 been yet able to read the cranial      

buckler of the  ,asterolepis1 seem to be
 the homologies of its component plates4
    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cj4           
,,portion ,,of ,,under ,,jaw ,,of       
,,asterolepis1 7,,outer ,,side47        
7,one half nat4 size47    ,illustration3
 ,fig4 #ca4    ,,portion ,,of ,,under   
,,jaw ,,of ,,asterolepis1 7,,inner      
,,side47    7,one half nat4 size47      
,there were no parts of the animal more 
remarkable than its jaws4 ,the  under   
jaws1--for the nether maxillary         
consisted1 in this fish1 as in  the     
placoid fishes1 and in the quadrupeds   
generally1 of two pieces  joined in the 
middle1--were1 like those of the        
,holoptychius1 boxes  of bone1 which    
enclosed central masses of cartilage4   
,the outer and  under sides were thickly
 covered with the characteristic        
star-like  tubercles2 and along the     
upper margin or lip there ran a         
thickly-set row  of small broadly-based 
teeth1 planted as directly on the edge  
of the  exterior plate as iron spikes on

 the upper edge of a gate 7fig4 #cj47   
,mr4 ,parkinson expresses some wonder1  
in his work on fossils1 that1 in  a fine
 ichthyolite in the ,british ,museum1   
not only the teeth should  have been    
preserved1 but also the lips2 but we now
 know enough of  the construction of the
 ancient ,ganoids to cease wondering4   
,the lips  were formed of as solid bone 
as the teeth themselves1 and had as fair
 a  chance of being preserved entire2   
just as the metallic rim of a cogged    
wheel has as fair a chance of being     
preserved as the metallic cogs that     
project from it4 ,immediately behind the
 front row1--in which the teeth  present
 the ordinary ichthyic                  
appearance1--there ran a thinly-set row 
of  huge reptile teeth1 based on an     
interior platform of bone1 which formed 
the top of the cartilage-enclosing box  
composing the jaw4 ,these were at  once 
bent outwards and twisted laterally1    
somewhat like nails that have  been     
drawn out of wood by the claw of a      

carpenter's hammer1 and bent  awry with 
the wrench1 7fig4 #ca47 ,they were      
furrowed longitudinally from  point to  
base by minute thickly-set stri and were
 furnished laterally1  in most of the   
specimens though not in all1 with two   
sharp cutting  edges4 ,the reptile had  
as yet no existence in creation2 but we 
see its  future coming symbolized in the
 dentition of this ancient ,ganoid3 it1 
as it were1 shows us the crocodile lying
 entrenched behind the fish4  ,the      
interior structure of these reptile     
teeth is very remarkable4 ,in the       
longitudinal section we find numerous   
cancelli1 ranged lengthwise along  the  
outer edges1 but much crossed1 net-like1
 within1--greatly more open  towards the
 base than at the point1--and giving    
place in the centre to a  hollow space1 
occasionally traversed by a few slim    
osseous partitions4  ,in the transverse 
section these cancelli are found to     
radiate from  the open centre towards   
the circumference1 like the spokes of a 

wheel  from the nave2 and each spoke    
seems as if1 like ,aaron's rod1 it had  
become instinct with vegetative life1   
and had sprouted into branch and        
blossom4 ,seen in a microscope of       
limited field1 that takes in1 as in  the
 accompanying print1 7fig4 #cb17 not    
more than a fourth part of the  section1
 the appearance presented is that of a  
well-trained wall tree4  ,and hence the 
generic name ,dendrodus1 given by       
,professor ,owen to teeth  found        
detached in the deposits of ,moray1 when
 the creatures to which they  had       
belonged were still unknown1--a name1   
however1 which will1 ,i suspect1  be    
found synonymous rather with that of a  
family than of a genus2 for  so far as  
,i have yet examined1 ,i find that the  
dendrodic or tree-like  tooth1 was in at
 least the ,old ,red ,sandstone1 a      
characteristic of all  the ,clacanth    
family4 ,i may mention1 however1 as a   
curious subject of  inquiry1 that the   
,clacanths of the ,coal ,measures seem  

to have had their  reptile teeth formed 
of pure ivory1--a substance1 which ,i   
have not yet  detected among the        
reptile-fish of the ,old ,red4 ,towards 
the base of the  reptile teeth of       
,asterolepis1 the interstices between   
the branches  greatly widen1 as in the  
branches of a tree in winter divested of
 its  foliage1 7fig4 #cc1 c27 the       
texture also opens towards the base in  
the  fish-teeth1 outside1 in which1     
however1 the pattern in the transverse  
section is greatly less complex and     
ornate than that which the reptile      
teeth exhibits4 ,when cut across near   
the point1 they appear each as a  thick 
ring1 7b17 traversed by lines that      
radiate towards the centre2  when cut   
across about half way down1 they        
somewhat resemble1 seen under  a high   
magnifying power those cast-iron wheels 
on which the engineer  mounts his       
railway carriages1 7a47 ,in the         
longitudinal section their  line of     
junction with the jaw is marked by      

numerous openings1 but by no  line of   
division1 and they appear as thickly    
dotted by what were once  canaliculi1 or
 life points1 as any portion of the     
dermal bone on which  they rest4        
,illustration3 ,fig4 #cb4    ,,portion  
,,of ,,transverse ,,section ,,of        
,,reptile ,,tooth ,,of ,,asterolepis    
a4 ,nat4 size4    b4 ,mag4 twelve       
diameters4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #cc4 
,a4 ,section of ,jaw of ,asterolepis4   
c4 ,reptile tooth as shown in section4  
a1 b1  c4 ,row of ichthyic teeth in     
dermal plate of jaw4    ,b4 ,magnified  
representatives of ichthyic teeth1 a and
 b1 in ,a4    ,it seems truly wonderful1
 when one considers it1 to what minute  
and  obscure ramifications that variety 
of pattern which nature so loves to     
maintain is found to descend4 ,it       
descends in the fishes1 both recent  and
 extinct1 to even the microscopic       
structure of their teeth2 and  we find1 
in consequence1 not less variety of     
figure in the sliced  fragments of the  

teeth of the ichthyolites of a single   
formation1 than  in the carved blocks of
 an extensive calico print-yard4 ,each  
species  has its own distinct pattern1  
as if1 in all the individuals of which  
it consisted1 the same block had been   
employed to stamp it2 and each  genus   
its own general type of pattern1 as if  
the same radical idea1  variously       
altered and modified1 had been wrought  
upon in all4 ,in the  ,dendrodic        
7,clacanth87 family1 for instance1 it is
 the radical type1  that from a central 
nave there should radiate1 spoke-like1 a
 number  of arborescent branches2 but in
 the several genera and species of the  
family1 the branches belong1 if ,i may  
so express myself1 to different  shrubs1
 and present dissimilar outlines4 ,it   
has appeared to me1 that  at least a    
presumption against the transmutation of
 species might be  based on those       
inherent peculiarities of structure     
which are thus found  to pervade the    
entire texture of the framework of      

animals4 ,if we find  erections         
differing from one another merely in    
external form1 we have  no difficulty in
 conceiving how1 by additions and       
alterations1 they  might be brought to  
exhibit a perfect uniformity of plan and
 aspect3                                
transmutation1--development1--progressio
n1--7if one may use such  terms17--seem 
possible in such circumstances4 ,but if 
the buildings differ  from each other1  
not only in external form1 but also in  
every brick and  beam1 bolt and nail1 no
 mere scheme of external alteration     
could ever  induce a real resemblance4  
,every brick would have to be taken     
down1 and  every beam and bolt removed4 
,the problem could not be wrought by the
  remodelling of an old house3 the only 
mode of solving it would be by the      
erection of a new one4    ,illustration3
 ,fig4 #cd4    ,,maxillary ,,bone8      
7,one fourth nat4 size1 linear47    ,of 
the upper maxillary bones of the        
,asterolepis1 ,i only know that  a      

considerable fragment of one of the     
pieces1 recognized as such by  ,agassiz1
 has been found in the neighborhood of  
,thurso by ,mr4 ,dick1  unaccompanied1  
however1 by any evidence respecting its 
place or function4  ,it exhibits none of
 the characteristic tubercles of the    
dermal bones1  and no appearance of     
teeth2 but is simply a long bent bone1  
resembling  somewhat less than the half 
of an ancient bow of steel or           
horn1--such  a bow as that which        
,ulysses bended in the presence of the  
suitors4  ,by some of the ,russian      
geologists this bone was at first       
regarded as  a portion of the arm or    
wing of some gigantic ,pterichthys4 ,in 
the  accompanying print 7fig4 #cd7 ,i   
have borrowed the general outline from  
that of a specimen of ,professor ,asmus1
 of which a cast may be seen in  the    
,british ,museum2 while the shaded      
portion represents the fragment  found  
by ,mr4 ,dick4 ,the intermaxillary      
bones1 like the dermal plates of  the   

lower jaw1 were studded by star-like    
tubercles1 and bristled thickly  along  
their lower edges with the ichthyic     
teeth1 flanked by teeth of  the         
reptilian character4 ,the opercules of  
the animal consisted1 as in  the        
sturgeon1 of single plates 7fig4 #ce7 of
 great massiveness and size1  thickly   
tubercled outside1 without trace of     
joint or suture1 and marked  on their   
under surface by channelled lines1 that 
radiate1 as in the other  plates1 from  
the centre of ossification4 ,that space 
along the nape which  intervened between
 the opercules1 was occupied1 as in the 
,dipterus and  ,diplopterus1 by three   
plates1 which covered rather the        
anterior portion  of the body than the  
posterior portion of the head1 and      
which1 in the  restoration of           
,osteolepis1 7fig4 #ac17 appear as the  
plates1 #i1 #i1 #i4 ,i  can say scarce  
any thing regarding the lateral plates  
which lay between  the intermaxillaries 
and the cranial buckler1 and which exist

 in the  ,osteolepis1 fig4 #ac1 as the  
plates #b1 #d1 #e1 #f1 and #g2 nor do ,i
 know how  the snout terminated1 save   
that in a very imperfect specimen it    
exhibits1  as in the ,diplopterus and   
,osteolepis1 a rounded outline1 and was 
set  with teeth4    ,illustration3 ,fig4
 #ce4    ,,inner ,,surface ,,of         
,,operculum ,,of ,,asterolepis4    7,one
 fifth nat4 size1 linear47              
,illustration3 ,fig4 #cf4    ,,hyoid    
,,plate4    7,one ninth nat4 size1      
linear47    ,that space comprised within
 the arch of the lower jaws1 in which   
the  hyoid bone and branchiostegous rays
 of the osseous fishes occur1 was       
filled by a single plate of great size  
and strength1 and of singular  form1    
7fig4 #cf27 and to this plate1 existing 
as a steep ridge running  along the     
centre of the interior surface1 and     
thickening into a massy  knob at the    
anterior termination1 that nail-shaped  
organism1 which ,i have  described as   
one of the most characteristic bones of 

the ,asterolepis1  belonged4 ,in the    
,osteolepis1 the space corresponding to 
that occupied  by this hyoid plate was  
filled1 as shown in fig4 #ad1 by five   
plates of  not inelegant form2 and the  
divisions of the arch resembled those of
  a small ,gothic window1 in which the  
single central mullion parts into  two  
branches atop4 ,in the ,holoptychius and
 ,glyptolepis there were  but two       
plates2 for the central mullion1 i4 e4  
line of division1  did not branch atop2 
and in the ,asterolepis1 where there was
 no  line of division1 the strong       
nail-like bone occupied the place of the
  central mullion4 ,the hyoidal armature
 of the latter fish was strongest  in   
the line in which the others were       
weakest4 ,each of the five hyoid  plates
 of the ,osteolepis1 or of the two      
plates of the ,glyptolepis  or          
,holoptychius1 had its own centre of    
ossification2 and in the  single plate  
of ,asterolepis1 the centre of          
ossification1 as shown by  the          

radiations of the fibre1 was the        
nail-head4 ,this head1 placed in        
immediate contact with the strong boxes 
of bone which composed the under  jaw1  
just where their central joining        
occurred1 seems to have lent them  a    
considerable degree of support1 which at
 such a juncture may have been  not     
unnecessary4 ,in some of the nail-heads1
 belonging1 it is probable1 to  a       
different species of ,asterolepis from  
that in which the nail figured  in page 
#g1 and the plate in the opposite page1 
occurred1--for its general  form is     
different1 7fig4 #cg17--there appear    
well-marked ligamentary  impressions    
closely resembling that little spongy   
pit in the head of the  human thigh-bone
 to which what is termed the round      
ligament is attached4  ,the entire      
hyoid-plate1 viewed on its outer side1  
resembles in form the  hyoid-bone1--or  
cartilage rather1--of the spotted       
dog-fish1 7,scyllium  stellare27 but its
 area was at least a hundred times more 

extensive  than in the largest          
,scyllium1 and1 like all the dermal     
plates of the  ,asterolepis1 it was     
thickly fretted by the characteristic   
tubercles4  ,in the ,ray1 as in the     
,sharks1 the piece of thin cartilage of 
which this  plate seems the homologue1  
is a flat1 semi-transparent disk2 and   
there  is no part of the animal in which
 the progress of those bony molecules   
which encrust the internal framework may
 be more distinctly traced1 as if  in   
the act of creeping over what they      
cover1 in slim threads or shooting      
points1--and much resembling new ice    
creeping in a frosty evening over the   
surface of a pool4    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #cg4    ,,nail-,,like ,,bone ,,of 
,,hyoid ,,plate4    7,one half nat4     
size47    ,that suite of shoulder-bones 
that in the osseous fishes forms the    
belt  or frame on which the opercules   
rest1 and furnishes the base of the     
pectorals1 was represented in the       
,asterolepis1 as in the sturgeon1 by a  

ring of strong osseous plates1 which1 in
 one of the two species of which  trace 
is to be found among the rocks of       
,thurso1 were curiously fretted  on     
their external surfaces1 and in the     
other species comparatively  smooth4    
,the largest1 or coracoidian plate of   
the ring1 as it occurs in  the more     
ornate species1 7fig4 #ch17 might be    
readily enough mistaken1  when seen with
 only its surface exposed for the       
ichthyodorulite of  some large fish1    
allied1 mayhap1 to the ,gyracanthus     
formosus of the  ,coal ,measures2 but   
when detached from the stone1 the hollow
 form and  peculiar stri of the inferior
 surface serve to establish its true    
character as a dermal plate4 ,the       
diagonal furrowings which traversed  it1
 as the twisted flutings traverse a     
,gothic column moulded after the  type  
of the ,apprentice ,pillar in ,roslin   
chapel1 seem to have underlaid  the edge
 of the opercule2 at least ,i find a    
similar arrangement in the              

shoulder-plates of a large species of   
,diplopterus1 which are deeply  grooved 
and furrowed where the opercule rested1 
as if with the design of  keeping up a  
communication between the branchi and   
the external element1  even when the    
gill-cover was pressed closely down upon
 them4 ,and1--as in  these              
shoulder-plates of the ,diplopterus the 
furrows yield their place  beyond the   
edge of the opercule to the punctulated 
enamel common to the  outer surface of  
all the creature's external plates and  
scales1--we find  them yielding their   
place1 in the shoulder-plates of the    
,asterolepis1  to the starred tubercles4
    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ch4           
,,shoulder 7i4 e4 ,,coracoid87 ,,plate  
,,of ,,asterolepis4    7,one third nat4 
size1 linear47    ,illustration3 ,fig4  
#ci4    ,,dermal ,,bones ,,of           
,,asterolepis4    7,one third nat4 size1
 linear47    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dj4  
,,internal ,,bones ,,of ,,asterolepis4  
7,one half nat4 size1 linear47    ,a few

 detached bones1 that bear on their     
outer surfaces the dermal  markings1    
must have belonged to that              
angular-shaped portion of the head      
which intervened between the cranial    
buckler and the intermaxillary bone2    
but the key for assigning to them their 
proper place is still to find2  and ,i  
suspect that no amount of skill on the  
part of the comparative  anatomist will 
ever qualify him to complete the work of
 restoration  without it4 ,i have       
submitted to the reader the cranial     
bucklers of  five several genera of the 
ganoids of the ,old ,red ,sandstone2 but
 no  amount of study bestowed on these  
would enable even the most skilful      
ichthyologist to restore a sixth2 nor is
 the lateral area of the head1  which   
was1 ,i find1 variously occupied in each
 genus1 less difficult to  restore than 
the buckler which surmounted it4 ,two of
 the more entire of  these dermal bones 
,i have figured 7fig4 #ci1 a and b7 in  
the hope  of assisting future inquirers1

 who1 were they to pick up all the other
  plates1 might yet be unable1 lacking  
the figured ones1 to complete the       
whole4 ,the curiously-shaped plate a1   
represented in its various sides  by the
 figures #a1 #b1 #c1 is of an acutely   
angular form in the transverse  section1
 7the external surface1 #a1 forming an  
angle which varies from  thirty to      
forty-five degrees with the base1 #c27  
and as it lay1 it is  probable when in  
its original place1 immediately under   
the edge of the  cranial buckler1 it may
 have served to commence the line of    
deflection  from the flat top of the    
head to the steep descent of the sides1 
just  as what are technically termed the
 spur-stones in a gable-head serve  to  
commence the line of deflection from the
 vertical outline of the  wall to the   
inclined line of the roof1 or as the    
spring-stones of an  arch serve to      
commence the curve4 ,a few internal     
bones in my possession  are curious1 but
 exceedingly puzzling4 ,the bone a1 fig4

 #dj1 which  resembles a rib1 or        
branchiostegous ray1 of one of the      
ordinary fishes1  formed apparently part
 of that osseous style which in fishes  
such as  the haddock and cod we find    
attached to the suite of shoulder-bones1
 and  which1 according to ,cuvier1 is   
the analogue of the coracoidian bone1   
and1 according to ,professor ,owen1 the 
analogue of the clavicle4 ,fig4  b is a 
mere fragment1 broken at both ends1 but 
exhibiting1 in a state  of good keeping1
 lateral expansions1 like those of an   
ancient halbert4  ,fig4 c1 #da1 which is
 also a fragment1 though a more         
considerable  one1 bears in its thicker 
and straighter edge a groove like that  
of an  ichthyodorulite1 which1 however1 
the bone itself in no degree resembles4 
,fig4 d is a flat bone1 of a type common
 in the skeleton of fishes1 but  which1 
in mammals1 we find exemplified in but  
the scapulars4 ,it seems1  like these1  
to have furnished the base to which some
 suite of movable  bones was            

articulated1--in all likelihood that    
proportion of the carnal  bonelets of   
the pectoral fins which are attached in 
the osseous fishes  to its apparent     
homologue1 the radius4 ,fig4 e1 a slim  
light bone1  which narrows and thickens 
in the centre1 and flattens and broadens
 at  each end1 was probably a scapula or
 shoulder-blade1--a bone which in  most 
fishes splices on1 as a sailor would    
say1 by squamose jointings1  to the     
coracoidian bone at the one end1 and the
 super-scapular bone at  the other4 ,as 
indicated by its size1 it must have     
belonged to a small  individual3 it is1 
however1 twice as long1 and about six   
times as bulky1  as the scapula of a    
large cod4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #da4 
,,internal ,,bones ,,of ,,asterolepis4  
7,one third nat4 size1 linear47         
,illustration3 ,fig4 #db4    ,,ischium  
,,of ,,asterolepis4    7,one half nat4  
size1 linear47    ,of the bone          
represented in fig4 #db1 ,i have        
determined1 from a ,cromarty  specimen1 

the place and use3 it formed the        
interior base to which  one of the      
ventral fins was attached4 ,in all      
fishes the bones of the  hinder         
extremities are inadequately            
represented3 in none do we find the     
pelvic arch complete2 and to that nether
 portion of it which we do find         
represented1 and which ,professor ,owen 
regards as the homologue of the  os     
ischium or hip-bone1 the homologues of  
the metatarsal and toe-bones  are       
attached1 to the exclusion of the bones 
of the thigh and leg4 ,in the           
,abdominales1--fishes such as the salmon
 and carp1--that have the ventrals      
placed behind the abdomen1 in the       
position analogous to that in which  the
 hinder legs of the reptiles and mammals
 occur1 the ischiatic bones  generally  
exist as flat triangular plates1 with   
their heads either  turned inwards and  
downwards1 as in the herring1 or        
outwards and  downwards1 as in the pike2
 whereas in some of the cartilaginous   

fishes1  such as the ,rays and ,sharks1 
they exist as an undivided cartilaginous
  band1 stretched transversely from     
ventral to ventral4 ,and such1 with  but
 an upward direction1 appears to have   
been their position in the              
,asterolepis4 ,they seem to have united 
at the narrow neck ,a1 over the  middle 
of the lower portion of the abdomen2 and
 to the notches of the  flat expansion  
,b1--notches which exactly resemble     
those of the immensely  developed carpal
 bones of the ,ray1--five metatarsal    
bones were attached1  from which the fin
 expanded4 ,it is interesting to find   
the number in this  ancient             
representative of the vertebrata        
restricted to five1--a number  greatly  
exceeded in most of the existing fishes1
 but which is the true  normal number of
 the vertebrate sub-kingdom as shown in 
all the higher  examples such as man1   
the quadrumana1 and in most of the      
carnaria4  ,the form of this bone       
somewhat resembles that of the analogous

 bone in  those fishes1 such as the     
perch and gurnard1 cod and haddock1     
which have  their ventrals suspended to 
the scapular belt2 but its position in  
the  ,cromarty specimen1 and that of the
 ventrals in the various specimens of   
the ,clacanth family in which their     
place is still shown1 forbids the       
supposition that it was so suspended1--a
 circumstance in keeping with  all the  
existing geological evidence on the     
subject1 which agrees in  indicating1   
that of the low type of fishes that     
have1 monster-like1 their  feet attached
 to their necks1 the ,old ,red          
,sandstone does not afford a  trace4    
,this inferior type1 now by far the most
 prevalent in the ichthyic  division of 
the animal kingdom1 does not seem to    
have been introduced  until near the    
close of the ,secondary period1 long    
after the fish had  been degraded from  
its primal place in the fore front of   
creation4 ,in  one of my specimens a few
 fragments of the rays are preserved1   

7fig4 #dc1  b47 ,they are about the     
eighth part of an inch in diameter3     
depressed  in some cases in the center1 
as if1 over the internal hollow formed  
by  the decay of the cartilaginous      
centre1 the bony crust of which they are
  composed had given way2 and1 like the 
rays of the thornback1 they are         
thickened at the joints1 and at the     
processes by which they were attached   
to the ischiatic base4 ,it may be       
proper1 ,i should here state1 that of   
some of the internal bones figured above
 ,i have no better evidence that  they  
belonged to the ,asterolepis1 than that 
they occur in the same  beds with the   
dermal plates which bear the            
characteristic star-like                
markings1--that they are of very        
considerable size1--and that they formed
  no part of the known fishes of the    
formation4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dc4 
a4 ,single joint of ray of ,thornback4  
b4 ,single joint of ray of ,asterolepis4
    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #dd4           

,,coprolites ,,of ,,asterolepis4        
7,nat4 ,size4#ah7    ,on exactly the    
same grounds ,i infer that certain large
 coprolites of  common occurrence in the
 ,thurso flagstones1 which contain the  
broken  scales of ,dipterians1 and      
exhibit a curiously twisted form1 7fig4 
#dd17  also belonged to the             
,asterolepis2 and from these1 that the  
creature  was carnivorous in its        
habits1--an inference which the         
character of  its teeth fully           
corroborates2 and farther1 that1 like   
the sharks and  rays1 and some of the   
extinct ,enaliosaurs1 it possessed the  
spiral  disposition of intestine4       
,paley1 in his chapter on the           
compensatory  contrivances palpable in  
the structure of various animals1 refers
 to a  peculiar substitutory provision  
which occurs in a certain amphibious    
animal described in the ,memoirs of the 
,french ,academy4 8,the reader  will    
remember10 he says1 8what we have       
already observed concerning the         

intestinal canal1--that its length1 so  
many times exceeding that of the  body1 
promotes the extraction of the chyle    
from the aliment1 by giving  room for   
the lacteal vessels to act upon it      
through a greater space4  ,this long    
intestine1 whenever it occurs1 is in    
other animals disposed in  the abdomen  
from side to side1 in returning folds4  
,but in the animal now  under our       
notice1 the matter is managed otherwise4
 ,the same intention is  mechanically   
effectuated1 but by a mechanism of a    
different kind4 ,the  animal of which ,i
 speak is an amphibious quadruped1 which
 our authors  call the ,alopecias or    
sea-fox4 ,the intestine is straight from
 one end to  the other but in this      
straight1 and consequently short        
intestine1 is a  winding1 cork-screw1   
spiral passage1 through which the food1 
not without  several circumvolutions1   
and1 in fact1 by a long route1 is       
conducted to  its exit4 ,here the       
shortness of the gut is compensated by  

the obliquity  of the perforation40     
,this structure of intestine1 which all 
the true  ,placoids possess1 and at     
least the ,sturiones among existing     
,ganoids1  seems to have been an        
exceedingly common one during both the  
,palozoic  and ,secondary periods4 ,it  
has left its impress on all the better  
preserved coprolites of the ,coal       
,measures1 so abundant in the shales of 
,newhaven and ,burdie ,house1 and on    
those of the ,lias and ,chalk4 ,it seems
  to be equally a characteristic of well
 nigh all the bulkier coprolites  of the
 ,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone4#ai ,in    
these1 however1 it manifests  a peculiar
 trait1 which ,i have failed to detect  
in any of the recent  fishes2 nor have  
,i yet seen it indicated1 in at least   
the same degree1 by  the ,carboniferous 
or ,secondary coprolitic remains4 ,in   
the bowels which  moulded the coprolites
 of ,lyme-,regis1 of the ,chalk1 and of 
the ,newhaven  and ,granton beds1 a     
single screw must have winded within the

 cylindrical  tube1 as a turnpike stair 
winds within its hollow shaft2 and such 
also is  the arrangement in the existing
 ,sharks and ,rays2 whereas the bowels  
which  moulded the coprolites of the    
,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone must have   
been  traversed by triple or quadruple  
screws laid closely together1 as we find
  the stalk of an old-fashioned         
wine-glass traversed by its thickly-set 
spiral lines of thread-like china4 ,and 
so1 while on the surface of both  the   
,secondary and ,carboniferous coprolites
 there is space between the  screw-like 
lines for numerous cross markings that  
correspond to the  thickly set veiny    
branches which traverse the sides of the
 recent placoid  bowel1 the entire      
surface of the ,lower ,old ,red         
coprolites is traversed  by the spiral  
markings4 ,is there nothing strange in  
the fact1 that after  the lapse of      
mayhap millions of years1--nay1 it is   
possible1 millions  of ages1--we should 
be thus able to detect at once general  

resemblance  and special dissimilarity  
in even the most perishable parts of the
 most  ancient of the ,ganoids8    ,i   
must advert1 in passing1 to a           
peculiarity exemplified in the state of 
keeping of the bones of this ancient    
,ganoid1 in at least the deposits  of   
,orkney and ,caithness4 ,the original   
animal matter has been converted  into a
 dark-colored bitumen1 which in some    
places1 where the remains  lie thick1   
pervades the crevices of the rocks1 and 
has not unfrequently  been mistaken for 
coal4 ,in its more solid state it can   
hardly be  distinguished1 when used in  
sealing a letter1--a purpose which it   
serves  indifferently well1--from black 
wax of the ordinary quality2 when more  
fluid1 it adheres scarce less strongly  
to the hands than the coal-tar of  our  
gas-works and dock-yards4 ,underneath a 
specimen of ,asterolepis1  first pointed
 out to me in its bed among the ,thurso 
rocks by ,mr4 ,dick1  and which1 at my  
request1 he afterwards raised and sent  

me to ,edinburgh1  packed up in a box1  
there lay a quantity of thick tar1 which
 stuck as  fast to my fingers1 on       
lifting out the pieces of rock1 as if ,i
 had laid  hold of the planking of a    
newly tarred yawl4 ,what had been once  
the  nerves1 muscles1 and blood of this 
ancient ,ganoid still lay under its     
bones1 and reminded me of the appearance
 presented by the remains of a  poor    
suicide1 whose solitary grave1 dug in a 
sandy bank in the north  of ,scotland1  
had been laid open by the encroachments 
of a river4 ,the  skeleton1 with pieces 
of the dress still wrapped round it1 lay
 at length  along the section2 and1 for 
a full yard beneath1 the white dry sand 
was  consolidated into a dark-colored   
pitchy mass1 by the altered animal      
matter which had escaped from it1       
percolating downwards1 in the process   
of decay4    ,in consequence of the     
curious chemical change which has thus  
taken place  in the animal juices of the
 ,asterolepis1 its remains often occur  

in  a state of beautiful preservation3  
the pervading bitumen1 greatly more     
conservative in its effects than the    
oils and gums of an old ,egyptian       
undertaker1 has maintained1 in their    
original integrity1 every scale1  plate1
 and bone4 ,they may have been much     
broken ere they were first  committed to
 the keeping of the rock1 or in         
disentangling them from  its rigid      
embrace2 but they have1 we find1 caught 
no harm when under  its care4 ,ere the  
skeleton of the ,bruce1 disinterred     
after the lapse of  five centuries1 was 
recommitted to the tomb1 such measures  
were taken  to secure its preservation1 
that1 were it to be again disinterred1  
even  after as many more centuries had  
passed1 it might be found retaining     
unbroken its gigantic proportions4      
,there was molten pitch poured over  the
 bones1 in a state of sufficient        
fluidity to permeate all the pores1  and
 fill up the central hollows1 and which1
 soon hardening around  them1 formed a  

bituminous matrix1 in which they may lie
 unchanged for  a thousand years4 ,now1 
exactly such was the process to which   
nature  resorted with these gigantic    
skeletons of the ,old ,red ,sandstone4  
,like the  bones of the ,bruce1 they are
 bones steeped in pitch2 and so         
thoroughly  is every pore and hollow    
still occupied1 that1 when cast into the
 fire1  they flame like torches4 ,though
 black as jet1 they still retain1 too1  
in a considerable degree1 the peculiar  
qualities of the original  substance4   
,the late ,mr4 ,george ,sanderson of    
,edinburgh1 one of the most  ingenious  
lapidaries in the kingdom1 and a        
thoroughly intelligent man1  made       
several preparations for me1 for        
microscopic examination1 from  the teeth
 and bones2 and though they were by far 
the oldest vertebrate  remains he had   
ever seen1 they exhibited1 he informed  
me1 in the  working1 more of the        
characteristics of recent teeth and bone
 than any  other fossils he had ever    

operated upon4 ,recent bone when in the 
course  of being reduced on the wheel to
 the degree of thinness necessary to    
secure transparency1 is apt1 under the  
heat induced by the friction1 to        
acquire a springy elasticity1 and to    
start up from the glass slip to  which  
it has been cemented2 whereas bone in   
the fossil state usually  lies as       
passive1 in such circumstances1 as the  
stone which envelopes  it4 ,mr4         
,sanderson was1 however1 surprised to   
find that the bone of the  ,asterolepis 
still retained its elasticity1 and was  
scarce less liable1  when heated1 to    
start from the glass1--a peculiarity    
through which he at  first lost several 
preparations4 ,i have seen a human bone 
that had for  ages been partially       
embedded in a mass of adipocere1        
partially enveloped  in the common mould
 of a churchyard1 exhibit two very      
different styles  of keeping4 ,in the   
adipocere it was as fresh and green as  
if it had  been divested of the         

integuments only a few weeks previous2  
whereas the  portion which projected    
into the mould had become brittle and   
porous1 and  presented the ordinary     
appearance of an old churchyard bone4   
,and what the  adipocere had done for   
the human bone in this case1 seems to   
have been  done for the bones of the    
,asterolepis by the animal bitumen4     
,illustration3 ,fig4 #de4    ,,hyoid    
,,plate ,,of ,,thurso ,,asterolepis4#bj 
7,one fifth the nat4 size1 linear47     
,the size of the ,asterolepis must1 in  
the larger specimens1 have been  very   
great4 ,in all those ganoidal fishes of 
the ,old ,red ,sandstone that  had the  
head covered with osseous plates1 we    
find that the cranial  buckler bore a   
certain definite proportion1--various in
 the several genera  and species1--to   
the length of the body4 ,the            
drawing-master still teaches  his pupils
 to regulate the proportions of the     
human figure by the seven  head-lengths 
which it contains2 and perhaps shows    

them how an otherwise  meritorious      
draftsman1#ba much employed half an age 
ago in drawing for  the wood-engraver1  
used to render his figures squat and    
ungraceful by  making them a head too   
short4 ,now1 those ancient ,ganoids     
which possessed  a cranial buckler may1 
we find1 be also measured by            
head-lengths4 ,thus1  in the ,coccosteus
 decipiens1 the length of the cranial   
buckler from  nape to snout equalled one
 fifth the entire length of the creature
  from snout to tail4 ,the entire length
 of the ,glyptolepis was equal to  about
 five one half times that of its cranial
 buckler4 ,the ,pterichthys  was formed 
in nearly the same proportions4 ,the    
,diplopterus was fully  seven times the 
length of its buckler3 and the          
,osteolepis from six and  a half to     
seven4 ,in all the cranial bucklers of  
the ,asterolepis yet  found1 the snout  
is wanting4 ,the very fine specimen     
figured in page #ii  7fig4 #bh7         
terminates abruptly at the little plate 

between the eyes1 the  specimen figured 
in page #ih 7fig4 #bg7 terminates at the
 upper line of  the eye4 ,the terminal  
portion which formed the snout is       
wanting in both1  and we thus lack the  
measure1 or module1 as the architect    
might say1  by which the proportions of 
the rest of the creature were regulated4
  ,we can1 however1 very nearly         
approximate to it4 ,a hyoid plate in my 
collection 7fig4 #de7 is1 ,i find1 so   
exactly proportioned in size to the     
cranial buckler1 7fig4 #bh17 that it    
might have belonged to the same         
individual2 and by fitting it in its    
proper place1 and then making the       
necessary allowance for the breadth of  
the nether jaw1 which swept two  thirds 
around it1 and was surmounted by the    
snout1 we ascertain that  the buckler1  
when entire1 must have been1 as nearly  
as may be1 a foot  in length4 ,if the   
,asterolepis was formed in the          
proportions of the  ,coccosteus1 the    
buckler 7fig4 #bh7 must have belonged to

 an individual  five feet in length2 if 
in the proportions of the ,pterichthys  
or  ,glyptolepis1 to an individual five 
and a half feet in length2 and  if in   
those of the ,diplopterus or            
,osteolepis1 to an individual of  from  
six and a half to seven feet in length4 
,now ,i find that the hyoid  plate can  
be inscribed--such is its form--in a    
semicircle1 of which the  nail-shaped   
ridge in the middle 7if we strike off a 
minute portion of the  sharp point1     
usually wanting in detached specimens7  
forms very nearly  the radius1 and of   
which the diameter equals the breadth of
 the cranial  buckler1 along a line     
drawn across at a distance from the     
nape1 equal  to two thirds of the       
distance between the nape and the eyes4 
,thus1 the  largest diameter of a hyoid 
plate which belonged to a cranial       
buckler a  foot in length is1 ,i find1  
equal to seven one quarter inches1 while
 the  length of its nape somewhat       
exceeds three five eighth inches4 ,the  

nail of  the ,stromness specimen        
measures five and a half inches4 ,it    
must have run  along a hyoid plate      
eleven inches in transverse breadth1 and
 have been  associated with a cranial   
buckler eighteen one eighth inches in   
length2  and the ,asterolepis to which  
it belonged must have measured from     
snout  to tail1 if formed1 as it        
probably was1 in the proportions of its 
brother  ,clacanth the ,glyptolepis1    
eight feet three inches2 and if in those
  of the ,diplopterus1 from nine feet   
nine to ten feet six inches4 ,this      
oldest of ,scottish fish--this          
earliest-born of the ,ganoids yet       
known--was  at least as bulky as a large
 porpoise4    ,it was small1 however1   
compared with specimens of the          
,asterolepis  found elsewhere4 ,the     
hyoid plate figured in page #aaj1 7fig4 
#cf17--;a  ,thurso specimen which ,i owe
 to the kindness of ,mr4                
,dick1--measures  nearly fourteen       
inches1 and the cranial buckler of the  

same individual1  fifteen one fourth    
inches1 in breadth4 ,the latter1 when   
entire1 must  have measured twenty-three
 one half inches in length2 and the fish
 to  which it belonged1 if formed in the
 proportions of the ,glyptolepis1  ten  
feet six inches2 and if in those of the 
,diplopterus1 from twelve  feet five to 
thirteen feet eight inches in length4   
,did the shield still  exist in its     
original state as a buckler of tough1   
enamel-crusted bone1  it might be       
converted into a ,highland target1      
nearly broad enough to  cover the ample 
chest of a ,rob ,roy or ,allan          
,m',aulay1 and strong enough to  dash   
aside the keenest broadsword4 ,another  
hyoid plate found by ,mr4 ,dick         
measures sixteen one half inches in     
breadth2 and a cast in the ,british     
,museum1 from one of the ,russian       
specimens of ,professor ,asmus1 7fig4   
#df17  twenty-four inches4 ,the         
individual to which this last plate     
belonged  must1 if built in the shorter 

proportions1 have measured eighteen1 and
 if  in the longer1 twenty-three feet in
 length4 ,the two hyoid plates of the   
specimen of ,holoptychius in the        
,british ,museum measure but four and a 
half inches along that transverse line  
in which the ,russian ,asterolepis      
measures two feet1 and the largest      
,thurso specimen sixteen inches and a   
half4 ,the maxillary bone of a cod-fish 
two and a half feet from snout to  tail 
measures three inches in length4 ,one of
 the ,russian maxillary bones  in the   
possession of ,professor ,asmus measures
 in length twenty-eight  inches4 ,and   
that space circumscribed by the sweep of
 the lower jaw  which it took1 in the   
,russian specimen1 a hyoid plate        
twenty-four  inches in breadth to fill1 
could be filled in the                  
two-and-a-half-feet  cod by a plate     
whose breadth equalled but an inch and a
 half4 ,thus1 in  the not unimportant   
circumstance of size1 the most ancient  
,ganoids yet  known1 instead of taking  

their places1 agreeably to the demands  
of the  development hypothesis1 among   
the sprats1 sticklebacks1 and minnows of
  their class1 took their place among   
its huge basking sharks1 gigantic       
sturgeons1 and bulky sword-fishes4 ,they
 were giants1 not dwarfs4               
,illustration3 ,fig4 #df4    ,,hyoid    
,,plate ,,of ,,russian ,,asterolepis4   
7,one twelfth the natural size1 linear47
    ,but what of their organization8    
,were they fishes low or high in the    
scale8 ,on this head we can1 of course1 
determine merely by the analogies  which
 their structure exhibits to that of    
fishes of the existing  period2 and     
these point in three several            
directions2--in two of the  number1     
directly on genera of the high ,ganoid  
order2 and in the third1  on the still  
higher ,placoids and ,enaliosaurs4 ,no  
trace of vertebr  has yet been found2   
and so we infer--lodging1 however1 a    
precautionary  protest1 as the evidence 
is purely negative1 and therefore it    

some  degree inconclusive--that the     
vertebral column of the ,asterolepis    
was1 like that of the sturgeon1         
cartilaginous4 ,respecting its external 
covering1 we positively know1 as has    
been already shown1 that1 like  the     
,lepidosteus of ,america and the        
,polypterus of the ,nile1 it was        
composed of strong plates and scales of 
solid bone2 and1 regarding its          
dentition1 that1 as in these last       
genera1 and even more decidedly than  in
 these1 it was of the mixed             
ichthyic-reptilian character1--an outer 
row  of thickly-set fish-teeth being    
backed by an inner row of thinly-set    
reptile-teeth4 ,and its form of         
coprolite indicates the spiral          
disposition  of intestine common to the 
,rays and ,sharks of the existing       
period1 and  of the ,ichthyosauri of the
 ,secondary ages4 ,instead of being1 as 
the  development hypothesis would       
require1 a fish low in its organization1
  it seems to have ranged on the level  

of the highest ichthyic-reptilian       
families ever called into existence4    
,had an intelligent being1 ignorant  of 
what was going on upon earth during the 
week of creation1 visited  ,eden on the 
morning of the sixth day1 he would have 
found in it many  of the inferior       
animals1 but no trace of man4 ,had he   
returned again in  the evening1 he would
 have seen1 installed in the office of  
keepers of  the garden1 and ruling with 
no tyrant sway as the humble monarchs of
  its brute inhabitants1 two mature     
human creatures1 perfect in their       
organization1 and arrived at the full   
stature of their race4 ,the entire      
evidence regarding them1 in the absence 
of all such information as that         
imparted to ,adam by ,milton's angel1   
would amount simply to this1 that  in   
the morning man was not1 and that in the
 evening he was4 ,there1  of course1    
could not exist1 in the circumstances1 a
 single appearance  to sanction the     
belief that the two human creatures whom

 he saw walking  together among the     
trees at sunset had been 8developed from
 infusorial  points10 not created       
mature4 ,the evidence would1 on the     
contrary1  lie all the other way4 ,and  
in no degree does the geologic testimony
  respecting the earliest ,ganoids      
differ from what1 in the supposed case1 
would be the testimony of ,eden         
regarding the earliest men4 ,up to a    
certain point in the geologic scale we  
find that the ,ganoids are not2  and    
when they at length make their          
appearance upon the stage1 they enter   
large in their stature and high in their
 organization4          ,,fishes ,,of   
,,the ,,silurian ,,rocks--,,upper ,,and 
,,lower4 ,,their ,,recent ,,history1    
,,order1 ,,and ,,size4      ,but the    
system of the ,old ,red ,sandstone      
represents the second1 not  the first1  
great period of the world's history4    
,there was a preceding  period at least 
equally extended1 perhaps greatly more  
so1 represented  by the ,upper and      

,lower ,silurian formations4 ,and what  
is the testimony  of this morning period
 of organic existence1 in which1 so far 
as can  yet be shown1 vitality1 in the  
planet which man inhabits1 and of whose 
history or productions he knows         
anything1 was first associated with     
matter8 ,may not the development        
hypothesis find a standing in the system
  representative of this earliest age of
 creation1 which it fails to find  in   
the system of the ,old ,red ,sandstone8 
,it has been confidently asserted1 not  
merely that it may1 but that it  does4  
,ever since the publication1 in #ahci1  
of ,sir ,roderick ,murchison's  great   
work on the ,silurian ,system1 it had   
been known that the remains  of fishes  
occur in a bed of the 8,ludlow          
,rock10--one of the most modern         
deposits of the ,upper ,silurian        
division2 and subsequent discoveries    
both in ,england and ,america1 had shown
 that even the base of this  division   
has its ichthyic organisms4 ,but for    

year after year1 the  lower half of the 
system1--a division more than three     
thousand feet in  thickness1--had       
failed1 though there were hands and eyes
 busy among its  deposits1 to yield any 
vertebrate remains4 ,during the earlier 
half of  the first great period of      
organic existence1 though the polyparia1
  radiata1 articulata1 and mollusca1    
existed1 as their remains testified1  by
 myriads1 fish had1 it was held1 not yet
 entered upon the scene2 and  the       
assertors of the development theory     
founded largely on the presumed  fact of
 their absence4 8,it is still           
customary10 says the author of the      
8,vestiges of ,creation10 in his volume 
of 8,explanations10 8to speak of  the   
earliest fauna as one of an elevated    
kind4 ,when rigidly examined1 it  is not
 found to be so4 ,,in ,,the ,,first     
,,place1 ,,it ,,contains ,,no ,,fish4   
,there  were seas supporting crustacean 
and molluscan life1 but utterly devoid  
of a class of tenants who seem able to  

live in every example of that  element  
which supports meaner creatures4 ,this  
single fact1 that only  invertebrated   
animals now lived1 is surely in itself a
 strong proof that1  in the course of   
nature1 time was necessary for the      
creation of the  superior creatures4    
,and if so1 it undoubtedly is a powerful
 evidence of  such a theory of          
development as that which ,i have       
presented4 ,if not1 let  me hear an     
equally plausible reason for the great  
and amazing fact1 that  seas were for   
numberless ages destitute of fish4 ,i   
fix my opponents down  to the           
consideration of this fact1 so that no  
diversion respecting high  molluscs     
shall avail them40 ,and how is this bold
 challenge to be met8    ,most directly1
 and after a fashion that at once       
discomfits the challenger4    ,it might 
be rationally enough argued in the case1
 that the author of  the 8,vestiges0 was
 building greatly more on a piece of    
purely negative  evidence1--the presumed

 absence of fish from the ,lower        
,silurian  formations1--than purely     
negative evidence is1 from its nature as
 such1  suited to bear2 that only a very
 few years had passed since it was known
  that vertebrate remains occurred in   
the ,upper ,silurian1 and only a  few   
more since they had been detected in the
 ,old ,red ,sandstone2 nay1  that within
 the present century their frequent     
occurrence in even the  ,coal ,measures 
was scarce suspected2 and that1 as his  
argument1 had it  been founded twelve   
years ago on the supposed absence of    
fishes from  the ,upper ,silurian1 or   
twenty years ago on the supposed absence
 of  fishes from the ,old ,red          
,sandstone1 would have been quite as    
plausible  in reference to its negative 
data then as in reference to its        
negative  data now1 so it might now be  
quite as erroneous as it assuredly would
  have been then4 ,or it might be urged1
 that the fact of the absence of  fish  
from the ,lower ,silurians1 even were it

 really a fact1 would be in  no degree  
less reconcilable with the theory of    
creation by direct act1  than with the  
hypothesis of gradual development4 ,the 
fact that ,adam  did not exist during   
the first1 second1 third1 fourth1 and   
fifth days  of the introductory week of 
,scripture narrative1 furnishes no      
argument  whatever against the fact of  
his creation on the sixth day4 ,and the 
remark would of course equally apply to 
the non-existence of fishes  during the 
,lower ,silurian period1 had they been  
really non-existent  at the time1 and to
 their sudden appearance in that of the 
,upper4 ,but  the objection admits of a 
greatly more conclusive answer4 8,i fix 
my  opponents down10 says the author of 
the 8,vestiges10 8to the consideration  
of this fact10 i4 e4 that of the absence
 of fishes from the earliest            
fossiliferous formations4 ,and ,i1 in   
turn1 fix you down1 ,i reply1 to the    
consideration of the antagonist fact1   
not negative1 but positive1 and  now1 in

 the course of geological discovery1    
fully established1 that  fishes were not
 absent from the earliest fossiliferous 
formations4  ,from none of the great    
geological formations were fishes       
absent1--not  even from the formations  
of the ,cambrian division4 8,the ,lower 
,silurian10  says ,sir ,roderick        
,murchison1 in a communication with     
which1 in #ahdg1 he  honored the writer 
of these chapters1 8is no longer to be  
viewed as an  invertebrate period2 for  
the ,onchus 7species not yet decided7   
has been  found in the ,llandeilo ,flags
 and in the ,lower ,silurian rocks of   
,bala4  ,in one respect ,i am gratified 
by the discovery2 for the form is so    
very  like that of the ,onchus          
,murchisoni of the ,upper ,ludlow rock1 
that it  is clear the ,silurian system  
is one great natural-history series1 as 
is  proved1 indeed1 by all its other    
organic remains40 ,it may be mentioned  
further1 in addition to this interesting
 statement1 that the ,bala spine  was   

detected in its calcareous matrix by the
 geologists of the ,government  ,survey1
 and described to ,sir ,roderick as that
 of an ,onchus1 by a very  competent    
authority in such matters1--,professor  
,edward ,forbes1 and that  the          
annunciation of the existence of spines 
of fishes in the ,llandeilo  ,flags we  
owe to one of the most cautious and     
practised geologists of the  present    
age1--,professor ,sedgwick of           
,cambridge4    ,so much for the fact of 
the existence of vertebrata in the      
,lower  ,silurian formations1 and the   
argument founded on their presumed      
absence4 ,let me now refer--their       
presence being determined--to the tests 
of size and organization4 ,were these   
,silurian fishes of a bulk so           
inconsiderable as in any degree to      
sanction the belief that they had  been 
developed shortly before from           
microscopic points8 ,or were they of a  
structure so low as to render it        
probable that their development was at  

the time incomplete8 ,were they1 in     
other words1 the embryos and ftuses  of 
their class8 or did they1 on the        
contrary1 rank with the higher and      
larger fishes of the present time8      
,it is of importance that not only the  
direct bearing1 but also the  actual    
amount1 of the evidence in this case1   
should be fairly stated4  ,so far as it 
extends1 the testimony is clear2 but it 
does not extend  far4 ,all the          
vertebrate remains yet detected in the  
,silurian ,system1  if we except the    
debris of the ,upper ,ludlow bone-bed1  
might be sent  through the ,post-,office
 in a box scarcely twice the size of a  
copy of  the 8,vestiges40 ,the          
naturalist of an exploring party1 who1  
in crossing  some unknown lake1 had     
looked down over the side of his canoe1 
and seen  a few fish gliding through the
 obscure depths of the water1 would be  
but  indifferently qualified1 from what 
he had witnessed1 to write a history  of
 all its fish4 ,nor1 were the some six  

or eight individuals of which  he had   
caught a glimpse to be of small size1   
would it be legitimate for  him to infer
 that only small-sized fish lived in the
 lake2 though1 were  there to be some   
two or three large ones among them1 he  
might safely  affirm the contrary4 ,now1
 the evidence regarding the fishes of   
the  ,silurian formation very much      
resembles what that of the naturalist   
would  be1 in the supposed case1        
regarding the fishes of the unexplored  
lake2  with1 however1 this difference1  
that as the deposits of the ancient     
system in which they occur have been    
examined for years in various parts  of 
the world1 and all its characteristic   
organisms1 save the ichthyic  ones1     
found in great abundance and fine       
keeping1 we may conclude that  the fish 
of the period were comparatively few4   
,the palontologist1 so  far as the      
question of number is involved1 is in   
the circumstances1 not  of the          
naturalist who has only once crossed the

 unknown lake1 but of the  angler who1  
day after day1 casts his line into some 
inland sea abounding  in shell-fish and 
crustacea1 and1 after the lapse of      
months1 can scarce  detect a nibble1    
and1 after the lapse of years1 can      
reckon up all the  fish which he has    
caught as considerably under a score4   
,the existence  of this great division  
of the animal kingdom1 like that of the 
earlier  reptiles during the            
,carboniferous period1 did not form a   
prominent  characteristic of those ages 
of the earth's history in which they    
began  to be4    ,the earliest          
discovered vertebral remains of the     
system--those of the  ,upper ,ludlow    
rock--were found in digging the         
foundations of a house at  ,ludford1 on 
the confines of ,shropshire1 and        
submitted1 in #ahch1 by  ,sir ,roderick 
,murchison to ,agassiz1 through the late
 ,dr4 ,malcolmson of  ,madras4 ,i used  
at the time to correspond on geological 
subjects with ,dr4  ,malcolmson1--an    

accomplished geologist and a good man1  
too early lost to  science and his      
friends1--and still remember the        
interest which attached  on this        
occasion to his communication bearing   
the ,paris post-mark1  from which ,i    
learned for the first time that there   
existed ichthyic  fragments greatly     
older than even the ichthyolites of the 
,lower ,old ,red  ,sandstone1 and which 
made me acquainted with ,agassiz's      
earliest formed  decision regarding     
them4 ,though existing in an exceedingly
 fragmentary  condition1--for the       
materials of the thin dark-colored layer
 in which  they had lain seemed as if   
they had been triturated in a           
mortar1--the  ichthyologist succeeded in
 erecting them into six genera2 though  
it may  be very possible1--as some of   
these were formed for the reception of  
detached spines1 and others for the     
reception of detached teeth1--that1  as 
in the case of ,dipterus and            
,asterolepis1 the fragments of but  a   

single genus may have been multiplied   
into two genera or more4 ,and  minute   
scale-like markings1 which mingled with 
the general mass1 and  were at first    
regarded as the impressions of real     
scales1 have been  since recognized as  
of the same character with the          
scale-like markings  of the ,seraphim of
 ,forfarshire1 a huge crustacean4 ,even 
admitting1  however1 that a set of teeth
 and spines1 with perhaps the shagreen  
points  represented in page #ed1 fig4   
#b1 b1 in addition1 may have all        
belonged  to but a single species of    
fish1 there seem to be materials enough1
  among the remains found1 for the      
erection of two species more4 ,and we   
have evidence that at least two of the  
three kinds were fishes of the  ,placoid
 order1 7,onchus ,murchisoni and ,onchus
 tenuistriatus17 and--as  the supposed  
scales must be given up--no good        
evidence that the other kind  was not4  
,the ichthyic remains of the ,silurian  
,system next discovered  were first     

introduced to the notice of geologists  
by ,professor ,phillips1  at the meeting
 of the ,british ,association in        
#ahdb4bb ,they occurred1  he stated1 in 
a quarry near ,hales ,end1 at the base  
of the ,upper ,ludlow  rock1 immediately
 over the ,aymestry ,limestone1 and were
 so exceedingly  diminutive1 that they  
appeared to the naked eye as mere       
discolored spots2  but resolved under   
the microscope into scattered groupes of
 minute  spines1 like those of the      
,cheiracanthus1 with what seemed to be  
still  more minute scales1 or1          
perhaps1--what in such circumstances    
could  scarce be distinguished from     
scales1--shagreen points of the         
scale-like  type4 ,the next ichthyic    
organism detected in the ,silurian rocks
 occurred  in the ,wenlock ,limestone1 a
 considerably lower and older deposit1  
and was  first described in the         
8,edinburgh ,review0 for #ahde by a     
vigorous writer  and masterly geologist1
 7generally understood to be ,professor 

,sedgwick of  ,cambridge17 as 8a        
characteristic portion of a fish        
undoubtedly belonging  to the           
,cestraciont family of the ,placoid     
order40 ,in the 8,american  ,journal of 
,science0 for #ahdf1 ,professor         
,silliman figured1 from a work  of the  
,states' ,surveyors1 the defensive spine
 of a ,placoid found in the  ,onondago  
,limestone of ,new ,york1--a rock which 
occurs near the base of the  ,upper     
,silurian ,system1 as developed in the  
western world2#bc and in  the same      
passage he made reference to a mutilated
 spine detected in a  still lower       
,american deposit1--the ,oriskany       
,sandstone4 ,in the ,geological         
,journal for #ahdg1 it was announced by 
,professor ,sedgwick1 that he had  found
 8defences of fishes0 in the ,upper     
,llandeilo ,flags1 and by ,sir          
,roderick ,murchison1 that the 8defence 
of an ,onchus0 had been detected  by the
 geologists of the ,government survey1  
in the ,limestone near ,bala4  ,sir     

,roderick referred in the same number to
 the remains of a fish found  by        
,professor ,phillips in the ,wenlock    
,shale4 ,and such1 up to the present    
time1 is the actual amount of the       
evidence with which we have to deal1    
and the dates of its piecemeal          
production4 ,let us next consider the   
order of its occurrence in the geologic 
scale4                                  
-----                             ,upper
               ,fish1 #ahch1            
,ludlow4       #a     7,murchison47     
,fish1 #ahdb1                           
-----   7,phillips47                    
,aymestry                               
,limestone4    #b                       
-----      ,,upper ,,silurian ,,rocks4  
,lower                                  
,ludlow4       #c                       
-----                                   
,wenlock             ,fish1 #ahde1      
,limestone4    #d     7,sedgwick47      
,fish1 #ahdf1                           
-----   7,silliman47                    

,wenlock       #e     ,fish1 #ahdg4     
,shale4              7,phillips47       
-----                                   
-----                                   
-----                                   
,caradoc                                
,sandstone1    #f                       
c4                    ,,lower ,,silurian
 ,,rocks4              -----            
,llandeilo           ,fish1 #ahdg1      
,flags1 c4    #g     7,sedgwick47       
-----                                   
-----                                   
-----                                   
,plynlimmon                             
,group4       a                         
-----                             ,bala 
,fish1 #ahdg1      ,,cambrian ,,rocks4  
,limestone4   b    7,geologists of      
,government                             
-----   ,survey47                       
,snowdon                                
,group4       c    ,fucoids4            
-----    ,the better marked             
sub-divisions of the ,silurian ,system1 

as described  in the great work         
specially devoted to it1 may be regarded
 as seven  in number4 ,an eight has     
since been added1 by the transference of
 the  ,tilestones from the lower part of
 the ,old ,red ,sandstone group1 to the 
upper part of the ,silurian group       
underneath2 but in order the better to  
show how ichthyic discovery has in its  
slow course penetrated into the  depths1
 ,i shall retain the divisions          
recognized as those of the system  when 
that course began4 ,the highest or most 
modern ,silurian deposit1  then1 7,no4  
#a of the accompanying diagram17 is the 
,upper ,ludlow ,rock2  and it is in the 
superior strata of this division that   
the bone-bed  discovered in #ahch       
occurs2 while the exceedingly minute    
vertebrate  remains described by        
,professor ,phillips in #ahdb occur in  
its base4 ,the  division next in the    
descending order is the ,aymestry       
,limestone1 7,no4 #b27  the next 7,no4  
#c47 the ,lower ,ludlow rock2 then 7,no4

 #d47 the ,wenlock or  ,dudley          
,limestone occurs2 and then1 last and   
oldest deposit of the ,upper  ,silurian 
formation1 the ,wenlock shale1 7,no4    
#e47 ,it is in the fourth1 or  ,wenlock 
,limestone division1 that the defensive 
spine described in the  8,edinburgh     
,review0 for #ahde as the oldest        
vertebrate organism known at  the time1 
was found2#bd while the vertebrate      
organism found by ,professor  ,phillips 
belongs to the fifth1 or base deposit of
 the ,upper ,silurian4  ,further1 the   
,american spines of ,onondago and       
,oriskany1 described in #ahdf1  occurred
 in rocks deemed contemporary with those
 of the ,wenlock division4  ,we next    
cross the line which separates the base 
of the ,upper from the top  of the      
,lower ,silurian deposits1 and find a   
great arenaceous formation1  7,no4 #f17 
known as the ,caradoc ,sandstones2 while
 the ,llandeilo ,flags1 7,no4  #g17 the 
formation upon which the sandstones     
rest1 compose1 according to  the        

sections of ,sir ,roderick1 published in
 #ahci1 the lowest deposit of  the      
,lower ,silurian rocks4 ,and it is in   
the upper part of this lowest  member of
 the system that the ichthyic defences1 
announced in #ahdg by  ,professor       
,sedgwick1 occur4 ,vertebrate remains   
have now been detected in  the same     
relative position in the seventh and    
most ancient member  of the system1 that
 they were found to occupy in its first 
and most  modern member ten years ago4  
,but this is not all4 ,beneath the      
,lower  ,silurian division there occur  
vast fossiliferous deposits1 to which   
the  name 8,cambrian ,system0 was given1
 merely provisionally1 by ,sir          
,roderick1  but which ,professor        
,sedgwick still retains as              
representative of a  distinct geologic  
period2 and it is in these1 greatly     
below the ,lower  ,silurian base line1  
as drawn in #ahci1 that the ,bala       
,limestones occur4  ,the ,plynlimmon    
rocks 7a7--a series of conglomerate1    

grauwacke1 and  slate beds1 several     
thousand yards in thickness--intervene  
between the  ,llandeilo ,flags and the  
,limestones of ,bala1 7b47 ,and1 of     
consequence1  the defensive spine of the
 ,onchus1 announced in #ahdg as detected
 in  these limestones by the geologists 
of the ,government ,survey1 must have   
formed part of a fish that perished many
 ages ere the oldest of the ,lower      
,silurian formations began to be        
deposited4    ,let us now1 after this   
survey of both the amount of our        
materials1 and  the order and time of   
their occurrence1 pass on to the        
question of size1  as already stated4   
,did the ichthyic remains of the        
,silurian ,system1  hitherto examined   
and described1 belong to large or to    
small fishes8 ,the  question cannot be  
altogether so conclusively answered as  
in the case  of those ,ganoids of the   
,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone whose dermal
 skeletons  indicate their original     
dimensions and form4 ,in fishes of the  

,placoid  order1 such as the ,sharks and
 ,rays1 the dermal skeleton is greatly  
less  continuous and persistent than in 
such ,ganoids as the ,dipterians and    
,clacanths2 and when their remains occur
 in the fossil state1 we can  reason1 in
 most instances1 regarding the bulk of  
the individuals of which  they formed   
part1 merely from that of detached teeth
 or spines1 whose  proportion to the    
entire size of the animals that bore    
them cannot be  strictly determined4 ,we
 can1 indeed1 do little more than infer1
 that  though a large ,placoid may have 
been armed with but small spines or     
teeth1 a small ,placoid could not have  
borne very large ones4 ,and to this     
,placoid order all the ,silurian fish1  
from the ,aymestry ,limestone to the    
,cambrian deposits of ,bala inclusive1  
unequivocally belong4 ,nor1 as has  been
 already said1 is there sufficient      
evidence to show that any of the        
ichthyic remains of the ,upper ,ludlow  
rocks do not belong to it4 ,it is       

peculiarly the order of the system4 ,the
 ,ludlow bone-bed contains not  only    
defensive spines1 but also teeth1       
fragments of jaws1 and shagreen  points2
 whereas1 in all the inferior deposits  
which yield any trace of  the           
vertebrata1 the remains are those of    
defensive spines exclusively4  ,let us1 
then1 take the defensive spine as the   
part on which to found our  comparison4 
,one of the best marked ,placoids of the
 ,upper ,ludlow bone-bed is that        
,onchus ,murchisoni to which the        
distinguished geologist whose name it   
bears refers1 in his communication1 as  
so nearly resembling the oldest         
,placoid yet known1--that of the ,bala  
,limestone4 ,and the living fishes  with
 which the ,onchus ,murchisoni must be  
compared1 says ,agassiz1  though 8the   
affinity10 he adds1 8may be rather      
distant10 are those of  the genera      
8,cestracion1 ,centrina1 and ,spinax40  
,i have placed  before me a specimen of 
recent ,spinax1 of a species well known 

to  all my readers on the sea-coast1 the
 ,spinax ,acanthias1 or common          
dog-fish1 so little a favorite with our 
fishermen4 ,it measures exactly  two    
feet three inches in length2 and of the 
defensive spines of its two             
dorsals1--these spear-like thorns on the
 creature's back immediately in  advance
 of the fins1 which so frequently wound 
the fisher's hand1--the  anterior and   
smaller measures1 from base to point1 an
 inch and a half1  and the posterior and
 larger1 two inches4 ,i have also placed
 before me  a specimen of ,cestracion   
,phillippi1 7the ,port ,jackson ,shark17
 a fish  now recognized as the truest   
existing analogue of the ,silurian      
,placoids4  ,it measures twenty-two     
three fourth inches in length1 and is   
furnished1  like ,spinax1 with two      
dorsal spines1 of which the anterior and
 larger  measures from base to point one
 one half inch1 and the posterior and   
smaller1 one one fifth inch4 ,but the   
defensive spine of the ,onchus          

,murchisoni1 as exhibited in one of the 
,ludlow specimens1 measures1  though    
mutilated at both ends1 three inches and
 five eighth parts in  length4 ,even    
though existing but as a fragment1 it is
 as such nearly  twice the length of the
 largest spine of the dog-fish1         
unmutilated and  entire1 and            
considerably more than twice the length 
of the largest  spine of the ,port      
,jackson ,shark4 ,the spines detected by
 ,professor  ,phillips1 in an inferior  
stratum of the same upper deposit1 were1
 as  has been shown1 of microscopic     
minuteness2 and when they seemed to     
rest on the extreme horizon of ichthyic 
existence as the most ancient  remains  
of their kind1 the author of the        
8,vestiges0 availed himself of  the     
fact4 ,he regarded the little creatures 
to which they had belonged  is the ftal 
embryos of their class1 or--to employ   
the language of the  ,edinburgh         
,reviewer--as 8the tokens of ,nature's  
first and half-abortive  efforts to make

 fish out of the lower animals40 ,from  
the latter editions  of his work1 the   
paragraph to which the ,reviewer refers 
has1 ,i find1  been expunged2 for the   
horizon has greatly extended1 and what  
seemed  to be its line of extreme       
distance has travelled into the middle  
of  the prospect4 ,but that the passage 
should have at all existed is a not     
uninstructive circumstance1 and shows   
how unsafe it is1 in more than  external
 nature1 to regard the line at which1   
for the time1 the landscape  closes1 and
 heaven and earth seem to meet1 as in   
reality the world's end4  ,the ,wenlock 
spine1 though certainly not microscopic1
 is1 ,i am informed  by ,sir ,philip    
,egerton1 of but small size2 whereas the
 contemporary spine  of the ,onondago   
,limestone1 though comparatively more a 
fragment than the  spine of the ,upper  
,ludlow ,onchus1--for it measures only  
three inches in  length1--is at least   
five times as bulky as the largest spine
 of ,spinax  ,acanthias4 ,representing  

one of the massier fishes disporting    
amid the  some four or five small ones1 
of which in my illustration1 the        
naturalist  catches a glimpse in fording
 the unknown lake1 it at least serves to
  show that all the ,silurian           
ichthyolites must not be described as   
small1  seeing that not only might many 
of its undetected fish have been large1 
but that some of those which have been  
detected were actually so4  ,another    
,american spine1 of nearly the same     
formation1--for it occurs in  a         
limestone1 varying from twenty to       
seventy feet in thickness1 which        
immediately overlies that of the        
,onondago deposit1 though still more    
fragmentary than the first1 for its     
length is only two three eighth         
inches1--maintains throughout a nearly  
equal thickness1--a circumstance  in    
itself indicative of considerable size2 
and in positive bulk it  almost rivals  
the ,onondago one4 ,of the ,lower       
,silurian and ,bala fishes no           

descriptions or figures have yet        
appeared4 ,and such1 up to the present  
time1 is the testimony derived from this
 department of ,geology1 so far  as ,i  
have been able to determine it1         
regarding the size of the ancient       
,silurian vertebrata4 8,no organism10   
says ,professor ,oken1 8is1 nor ever    
has one been1 created1 which is not     
microscopic40 ,the ,professor's pupils  
and abettors1 the assertors of the      
development hypothesis1 appeal to  the  
geological evidence as altogether on    
their side in the case2 and  straightway
 a few witnesses enter court4 ,but1 lo6 
among the expected  dwarfs1 there appear
 individuals of more than the average   
bulk and  stature4    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #dg4    a4 ,posterior ,spine of   
,spinax ,acanthias4    b4 ,fragment of  
,onondago ,spine4    7,natural ,size47  
,still1 however1 the question of        
organization remains4 ,did these ancient
  ,placoid fishes stand high or low in  
the scale8 ,according to the poet1      

8,what can we reason but from what we   
know80 ,we are acquainted with the      
,placoid fishes of the present time2 and
 from these only1 taking analogy  as our
 guide1 can we form any judgment        
regarding the rank and standing  of     
their predecessors1 the ,placoids of the
 geologic periods4 ,but the             
consideration of this question1 as it is
 specially one on which the  later      
assertors of the development hypothesis 
concentrate themselves1 ,i  must1 to    
secure the space necessary for its      
discussion1 defer till my  next chapter4
 ,meanwhile1 ,i am conscious ,i owe an  
apology to the reader  for what he must 
deem tedious minuteness of description1 
and a too  prolix amplitude of          
statement4 ,it is only by representing  
things as they  actually are1 and in the
 true order of their occurrence1 that   
the effect  of the partially selected   
facts and exaggerated descriptions of   
the  ,lamarckian can be adequately met4 
,true1 the disadvantages of the more    

sober mode are unavoidably great4 ,he   
who feels himself at liberty to  arrange
 his collected shells1 corals1 and      
fish-bones1 into artistically  designed 
figures1 and to select only the pretty  
ones1 will be of course  able to make of
 them a much finer show than he who is  
necessitated to  represent them in the  
order and numerical proportions in which
 they occur  on some pebbly beach washed
 by the sea4 ,and such is the advantage1
 in a  literary point of view1 of the   
ingenious theorist1 who1 in making      
figures  of his geological facts1 takes 
no more of them than suits his purpose1 
over the man who has to communicate the 
facts as he finds them4 ,but the        
homelier mode is the true one4 8,could  
we obtain10 says a distinguished        
metaphysician1 8a distinct and full     
history of all that has passed in  the  
mind of a child1 from the beginning of  
life and sensation till it  grows up to 
the use of reason1--how its infant      
faculties began to work1  and how they  

brought forth and ripened all the       
various notions1 opinions1  and         
sentiments which we find in ourselves   
when we come to be capable  of          
reflection1--this would be a treasure of
 natural history which would  probably  
give more light into the human faculties
 than all the systems  of philosophers  
about them since the beginning of the   
world4 ,but it is  in vain10 he adds1   
8to wish for what nature has not put    
within the reach  of our power40 ,in    
like manner1 could we obtain1 it may be 
remarked1 a  full and distinct account  
of a single class of the animal kingdom1
 from  its first appearance till the    
present time1 8this would be a treasure 
of natural history which would cast more
 light0 on the origin of living         
existences1 and the true economy of     
creation1 than all the theories of  all 
the philosophers 8since the beginning of
 the world40 ,and in order to           
approximate to such a history as nearly 
as possible1--and it does seem  possible

 to approximate near enough to          
substantiate the true readings of  the  
volume1 and to correct the false        
ones1--it is necessary that the real    
vestiges of creation should be carefully
 investigated1 and their order of       
succession ascertained4          ,,high 
,,standing ,,of ,,the                   
,,placoids4--,,objections ,,considered4 
,we have seen that some of the ,silurian
 ,placoids were large of size3 the      
question still remains1 ,were they high 
in intelligence and organization8       
,the ,edinburgh ,reviewer1 in contending
 with the author of the 8,vestiges10    
replies in the affirmative1 by claiming 
for them the first place among  fishes4 
8,taking into account10 he says1 8the   
brain and the whole nervous1            
circulating1 and generative systems1    
they stand at the highest point of  a   
natural ascending scale40 ,they are     
fishes1 he again remarks1 that rank     
among 8the very highest types of their  
class40    8,the fishes of this early   

age1 and of all other ages previous to  
the ,chalk10 says his antagonist1 in    
reply1 8are1 for the most part1         
cartilaginous4 ,the cartilaginous       
fishes--,chondropterygii of ,cuvier--are
  placed by that naturalist as a second 
series in his descending scale2  being1 
however1 he says1 #8in some measure     
parallel to the first4'  ,how far this  
is different from their being the       
highest types of the  fish class1 need  
not be largely insisted upon4 ,linnus1  
again1 was so  impressed by the low     
characters of many of this order1 that  
he actually  ranked them with worms4    
,some of the cartilaginous fishes1      
nevertheless1  have certain peculiar    
features of organization1 chiefly       
connected with  reproduction1 in which  
they excel other fish2 but such features
 are  partly partaken of by families in 
inferior sub-kingdoms1 showing that     
they cannot truly be regarded as marks  
of grade in their own class4 ,when  we  
look to the great fundamental characters

 particularly to the framework  for the 
attachment of the muscles1 what do we   
find8--why1 that of these               
,placoids1--#8the highest types of their
 class1'--it is barely possible to      
establish their being vertebrata at all1
 the back-bone having generally  been   
too slight for preservation1 although   
the vertebral columns of later  fossil  
fishes are as entire as those of any    
other animals4 ,in many of  them traces 
can be observed of the muscles having   
been attached to the  external plates1  
strikingly indicating their low grade as
 vertebrate  animals4 ,the ,edinburgh   
,reviewer #8highest types of their      
class' are in  reality a separate series
 of that class1 generally inferior1     
taking the  leading features of         
organization of structure as a          
criterion1 but when  details of         
organization are regarded1 stretching   
farther1 both downward  and upward1 than
 the other series2 so that1 looking at  
one extremity1 we  are as much entitled 

to call them the lowest1 as the         
,reviewer1 looking at  another          
extremity1 is to call them the #8highest
 of their class4' ,of the  general      
inferiority there can be no room for    
doubt4 ,their cartilaginous  structure  
is1 in the first place1 analogous to the
 embryonic state of  vertebrated animals
 in general4 ,the maxillary and         
intermaxillary bones  are in them       
rudimental4 ,their tails are finned on  
the under side only1--an  admitted      
feature of the salmon in an embryonic   
stage2 and the mouth is  placed on the  
under side of the head1--also a mean and
 embryonic feature  of structure4 ,these
 characters are essential and important1
 whatever  the ,edinburgh ,reviewer may 
say to the contrary2 they are the       
characters  which1 above all1 ,i am     
chiefly concerned in looking to1 for    
they are  features of embryonic         
progress1 and embryonic progress is the 
grand key  to the theory of             
development40    ,such is the ingenious 

piece of special pleading which this    
most popular  of the ,lamarckians       
directs against the standing and        
organization of the  earlier fishes4    
,let us examine it somewhat in detail1  
and see whether  the slight admixture of
 truth which it contains serves to do   
aught more  than to render current1 like
 the gilding of a counterfeit guinea    
spread  over the base metal1 the amount 
of error which lies beneath4 ,i know    
not a better example than that which it 
furnishes1 of the entanglement  and     
perplexity which the meshes of an       
artificial classification1 when         
converted1 in argumentative processes1  
into symbols and abstractions1 are  sure
 to involve subjects simple enough in   
themselves4    ,fishes1 according to the
 classification of a preponderating     
majority  of the ichthyologists that    
have flourished from the earliest times 
down to those of ,agassiz1 have been    
divided into two great series1 the      
,ordinary or osseous1 and the           

,chondropterygii or cartilaginous4 ,and 
these two divisions of the class1       
instead of being ranged consecutively   
in a continuous line1 the one in advance
 of the other1 have been  ranged in two 
parallel lines1 the one directly abreast
 of the other4  ,there is this further  
peculiarity in the arrangement1 that the
 line  of the cartilaginous series1 from
 the circumstance that some of its      
families rise higher and some sink lower
 in the scale than any of the  ordinary 
fishes1 outflanks the array of the      
osseous series at both  ends4 ,the front
 which it presents contains fewer genera
 and species  than that of the osseous  
division2 but1 like the front of an army
 drawn  out in single file1 it extends  
along a greater length of ground4 ,and  
to this long-fronted series of the      
cartilaginous1 or1 according to         
,cuvier1 chondropterygian fishes1 the   
,placoid families of ,agassiz           
belong1--among the rest1 the ,placoids  
of the ,silurian formations1 ,upper  and

 ,lower4 ,but though all the ,placoids  
of this latter naturalist be            
cartilaginous fishes1 all cartilaginous 
fishes are not ,placoids4 ,the          
,sturionid are cartilaginous1 and are1  
as such1 ranked by ,cuvier  among the   
,chondropterygii1 whereas ,agassiz      
places them in his ,ganoid  order4 ,many
 of the extinct fishes1 too1 such as the
 ,acanthodei1  ,dipterid1 ,cephalaspid1 
were1 as we have seen1 cartilaginous in 
their internal framework1 and yet true  
,ganoids notwithstanding4 ,the          
principle of ,agassiz's classification  
wholly differs from that of ,cuvier  and
 the older ichthyologists2 for it is a  
classification founded1 not  on the     
character of the internal but on that of
 the cuticular or dermal  skeleton4 ,and
 while to the geologist it possesses    
great and obvious  advantages over every
 other1--for of the earlier fishes very 
little more  than the cuticular skeleton
 survives1--it has this further         
recommendation  to the naturalist1 that1

 7in so far at least as its author has  
been true  to his own principles17      
instead of anomalously uniting the      
highest and  lowest specimens of their  
class1--the fishes that most nearly     
approximate  to the reptiles on the one 
hand1 and the fishes that sink furthest 
towards the worms on the other1--it     
gathers into one consistent order all   
the individuals of the higher type1     
distinguished above their fellows  by   
their development of brain1 the         
extensive range of their instincts1  and
 the perfection of their generative     
systems4 ,further1 the history of       
animal existences1 as recorded in the   
sedimentary rocks of our planet1  reads 
a recommendation of this scheme of      
classification which it extends  to no  
other4 ,we find that in the progress of 
creation the fishes began  to be by     
groupes and septs1 arranged according to
 the principle on which  it erects its  
orders4 ,the ,placoids came first1 the  
,ganoids succeeded  them1 and the       

,ctenoids and ,cycloids brought up the  
rear4 ,the march has  been marshalled   
according to an appointed programme1 the
 order of which  it is peculiarly the   
merit of ,agassiz to have ascertained4  
,now1 may ,i request the reader to mark1
 in the first place that what we  have  
specially to deal with at the present   
stage of the argument are the  ,placoid 
fishes of the ,silurian formations1     
,upper and ,lower4 ,may ,i ask him  to  
take note1 in the second1 that the      
long-fronted chondropterygian  series of
 ,cuvier1 though it includes1 as has    
already been said1 the  ,placoid order  
of ,agassiz1--just as the red-blooded   
division of animals  includes the bimana
 and quadrumana1--is no more to be      
regarded as  identical with the         
,placoids1 than the red-blooded animals 
are to be  regarded as identical with   
the apes or with the human family4 ,it  
simply  includes them in the character  
of one of the three great divisions into
  which it has been separated1--the     

division ranged1 if ,i may so express   
myself1 on the extreme right of the     
line2 its middle portion1 or main  body1
 being composed of the ,sturiones1 a    
family on the general level of  the     
osseous fishes2 while1 ranged on the    
extreme left1 we find the low  division 
of the ,suctorii1 i4 e4 ,cyclostomi1 or 
,lampreys4 ,but with  the middle and    
lower divisions we have at present      
nothing to do2 for of  neither of them1 
whether ,sturiones or ,suctorii1 does   
the ,silurian  ,system exhibit a trace4 
,further be it remarked1 that the scheme
 of  classification which gives an      
abstract standing to the                
,chondropterygii1  is in itself merely a
 certain perception of resemblance which
 existed  in certain minds1 having      
cartilage for its general idea2 just as 
another certain perception of           
resemblance in one other certain mind   
had cuticular skeleton for its general  
idea1 and as yet another  perception of 
resemblance in yet other certain minds  

had red blood  for its general idea4 ,as
 shown by the disparities which obtain  
among  the section which the scheme     
serves to separate from the others1 it  
no  more determines rank or standing    
than that greatly more ancient scheme   
of classification into 8ring-streaked   
and spotted10 which served to           
distinguish the flocks of the patriarch 
,jacob from those of ,laban his         
father-in-law1 but which did not        
distinguish goats from sheep1 nor sheep 
from cattle4    ,the effect of          
introducing1 after this manner1         
generalizations made  altogether        
irrespective of rank1 and avowedly      
without reference to it1  into what are 
inherently and specifically questions of
 rank1 admits of  a simple illustration4
    ,let us suppose that it was not with
 the standing of the ,silurian ,placoids
  that we had to deal1 but with that of 
the mammals of the recent  period1      
including the quadrumana1 and even the  
bimana1 and that we  had ventured to    

describe them1 in the words of the      
,edinburgh ,reviewer1  as 8the very     
highest types of their class40 ,what    
would be thought of  the reasoner who1  
in challenging the justice of the       
estimate1 would  argue that these       
creatures1 men as well as monkeys1      
belonged simply to  that division of    
red-blooded animals which includes1 with
 the bimana  and quadrumana1 the frog1  
the gudgeon1 and the earthworm8--a      
division1  he might add1 8which1 when   
details of organization are regarded1   
stretches farther1 both downward and    
upward10 than that division of the      
white-blooded animals to which the crab1
 the spider1 the cuttle-fish1  and the  
dragon fly belong2 8so that1 looking at 
one extremity1 any one  is as much      
entitled to call the red-blooded animals
 the lowest division1  as any other1    
looking at another extremity1 is to call
 them the highest  division1 of         
animals40 ,what1 it might well be asked 
in reply1 has the  earthworm1 with its  

red-blood to do in a question respecting
 the place  and standing of the bimana8 
,or what1 in the parallel case1 have the
  ,suctorii--the worms of ,linnus--to do
 in a question respecting the  place and
 standing of the real ,placoids8 ,true  
it is that1 according to  one principle 
of classification1 now grown somewhat   
obsolete1 men and  earthworms are       
equally red-blooded animals2 true it is 
that1 according  to another principle of
 classification1 the ,placoids of       
,agassiz and the  cartilaginous worms of
 ,linnus are equally ,chondropterygii4  
,the bimana  and the earthworm have     
their red blood in common2 the glutinous
 hag and  the true ,placoids have as    
certainly their internal cartilage in   
common2  and if the fact of the red     
blood of the worm lowers in no degree   
the rank  of the bimana1 then1 on the   
same principle1 the fact of the internal
  cartilage of the glutinous hag cannot 
possibly detract from the standing  of  
the true ,placoid4 ,in both cases they  

are creatures that entirely             
differ1--the earthworms from the bimana1
 and the cartilaginous worms  from the  
,placoids2 and the classification which 
tags them together1  whether it be that 
of ,aristotle or that of ,cuvier1 cannot
 be converted  into a sort of minus     
quantity1 of force enough to detract    
from the value  and standing of the     
bimana in the one case1 or of the true  
,placoids  in the other4 ,it is in no   
degree derogatory to the human family   
that  earthworms possess red blood2 it  
is in no degree derogatory to the true  
,placoids that the ,suctorii possess    
cartilaginous skeletons4    ,let the    
reader now mark the use which has been  
made1 by the author of  the 8,vestiges10
 of the name and authority of ,linnus4  
8,linnus10 he  states1 8was so impressed
 by the low character of many of this   
order1  7the ,chondropterygii17 that he 
actually ranked them with worms40 ,now1 
what is the fact here8 ,simply that     
,linnus had no such general order as    

the ,chondropterygii in his eye at all4 
,though chiefly remarkable as a         
naturalist for the artificialness of his
 classifications1 his estimate  of the  
cartilaginous fishes was                
remarkable--though carried too far in   
its  extremes1 and in some degree       
founded in error--for an opposite       
quality4  ,it was an estimate formed1 in
 the main1 on a natural basis4 ,instead 
of  taking their cartilaginous skeleton 
into account1 he looked chiefly at      
their standing as animals2 and1 struck  
with that extent of front which  they   
present1 and with both their superiority
 on the extreme right1 and  their       
inferiority on the extreme left1 to the 
ordinary fishes1 he erected  them into  
two separate orders1 the one lower and  
the other higher than  the members of   
the osseous line4 ,and so far was he    
from regarding the  true                
,placoids--those ,chondropterygii which 
to an internal skeleton of  cartilage   
add external plates1 points1 or spines  

of bone--as low in the  scale1 that he  
actually raised them above fishes       
altogether1 by erecting  them into an   
order of reptiles1--the older ,amphibia 
,nantes4 ,surely1 if  the name of       
,linnus was to be introduced into this  
controversy at all1 it  ought to have   
been in connection with this special    
fact2 seeing that  the point to be      
determined in the question under        
discussion is simply  the place and     
standing of that very order which the   
naturalist rated so  high1--not the     
place and standing of the order which he
 degraded4 ,it so  happens that there is
 one of the ,chondropterygii which1 so  
far from  being a true ,placoid1 does   
not possess a single osseous plate1     
point1 or  spine3 it is a worm like     
creature1 without eyes1 without movable 
jaws1  without vertebral joints1 without
 scales1 always enveloped in slime1 and 
greatly abhorred by our ,scotch boatmen 
of the ,moray ,frith1 who hold that  it 
burrows1 like the grave-worm1 in the    

decaying bodies of the dead4  ,and this 
creature1 8the glutinous hag10 or1      
according to north-country  fishermen1  
the 8ramper-eel10 or 8poison-ramper10   
was regarded by ,linnus  as belonging1  
not to the class of fishes1 but to the  
,vermes4 ,now1 this  is the special fact
 with which1 in the development         
controversy1 the  author of the         
8,vestiges0 connects the name of the    
,swedish naturalist6  ,all the fish of  
the ,silurian ,system belonged to that  
true ,placoid order  which ,linnus1     
impressed by its high standing1 erected 
into an order1  not of worms1 but of    
reptiles4 ,he elevated ,a1 the true     
,placoid1 while he  degraded ,b1 the    
glutinous hag4 ,but it was necessary to 
the argument of  the author of the      
8,vestiges0 that the earliest existing  
fish should be  represented as fish low 
in the scale2 and so he has cited the   
name and  authority of ,linnus in its   
bearing against the glutinous hag ,b1 as
 if  it had borne against the standing  

of the true ,placoid ,a4 ,the           
,patagonians  are the tallest and       
bulkiest men in the world1 whereas their
 neighbors1  the ,fuegians are a slim   
and diminutive race4 ,and if1 in some   
controversy  raised regarding the real  
size of the more gigantic tribe1 they   
were to  be described as the 8very      
tallest types of their class10 any      
statement  in reply1 to the effect that 
some trustworthy voyager had examined   
certain races of the extreme south of   
,america1 and had found that they  were 
both short and thin1 would be neither   
relevant in its facts nor  legitimate in
 its bearing4 ,but if the               
controversialist who thus strove  to    
strengthen his case by the voyager's    
authority1 was at the same time  fully  
aware that the voyager had seen not only
 the diminutive ,fuegians1  but also the
 gigantic ,patagonians1 and that he had 
described these last  as very gigantic  
indeed1 the introduction of the         
statement regarding the  smaller race1  

when he wholly sank the statement       
regarding the larger1  would be not     
merely very irrelevant in the           
circumstances1 but also very  unfair4   
,such1 however1 is the style of         
statement to which the author of  the   
8,vestiges0 has 7,i trust inadvertently7
 resorted in this controversy4    ,it is
 not uninstructive to mark how slowly   
and gradually the naturalists  have been
 groping their way to a right           
classification in the ichthyic          
department of their science1 and how it 
has been that identical  perception of  
resemblance1 having cartilage for its   
general idea1  to which the author of   
the 8,vestiges0 attaches so much        
importance1  that has served mainly to  
retard their progress4 ,not a few of the
 more  distinguished among their number 
deemed it too important a distinction   
to be regarded as merely secondary2 and 
so long as it was retained as  a primary
 characteristic1 the fishes failed to   
range themselves in the  natural        

order2--dissimilar tribes were brought  
into close neighborhood1  while tribes  
nearly allied were widely separated4 ,it
 failed1 as has  been shown1 to         
influence ,linnus2 and though he no     
doubt pressed his  peculiar views too   
far when he degraded the glutinous hag  
into a worm1  and elevated the ,sharks  
and ,rays into reptiles1 it is certainly
 worthy  of remark1 that1 in the scheme 
of classification which is now regarded 
as the most natural1--that of ,professor
 ,muller1 modified by ,professor        
,owen1--the ichthyic worms of the ,swede
 are placed in the first and  lowest    
order of fishes1--the ,dermopteri1--and 
the greater part of his  ichthyic       
reptiles1 in the eleventh and           
highest1--the ,plagiostomi4 ,cuvier     
yielded1 as has been shown1 to the idea 
of resemblance founded on the  material 
of the ichthyic framework1 and so ranged
 his fishes into two  parallel lines4   
,professor ,oken1 after first           
enunciating as law that 8the            

characteristic organ of fishes is the   
osseous system10 confessed the  8great  
difficulty0 which attaches to the       
question of skeletal 8texture  or       
substance10 and finally gave up the     
distinction founded on it as            
obstinately irreducible to the purposes 
of a natural classification4  8,the     
cartilaginous fishes10 he says1 8appear 
to belong to each other1  and are also  
usually arranged together2 yet amongst  
them we find those  species1 such as the
 ,lampreys1 which obviously occupy the  
lowest grade  of all fishes1 while the  
,sharks and ,rays remind us of the      
,reptilia40  ,and so1 sinking the       
consideration of texture altogether1 he 
placed the  family of the ,lamprey1     
including the glutinous hag1 at the     
bottom of the  scale1 and the ,sharks   
and ,rays at the top4 ,agassiz's system1
 peculiarly  his own1 has had the rare  
merit1 as ,i have shown1 of furnishing a
 key  to the history of the fish in its 
several dynasties1 which we may in  vain

 seek in any other4 ,his divisions1--if1
 retaining his strongly-marked          
,placoids and ,ganoids1 as orders       
stamped in the mint of nature1 we throw 
his perhaps less obviously divisible    
,ctenoids and ,cycloids into one        
order1--the corneous or                 
horn-covered1--are scarcely less        
representative  of periods than those   
great classes of the vertebrata1        
mammals1 birds1  reptiles1 and fishes1  
which we find not less regularly ranged 
in their  order of succession in the    
geologic record than in the 8,animal    
,kingdom0  of ,cuvier1--a shrewd        
corroboration1 in both cases1 ,i am     
disposed to  think1 of the rectitude of 
the arrangement4 ,what seems to be the  
special  defect of his system is1 that  
having erected his four orders1 and then
  finding a certain number of residuary 
families that1 on his principle  of     
cuticular character1 stubbornly refused 
to fall into any determinate  place1 he 
distributed them among the others1 with 

reference chiefly to  the totally       
distinct principle of ,cuvier4 ,thus the
 ,suctorii1 soft1  smooth1 slimy-skinned
 fishes1 that do not possess a single   
placoid  character1 and are not true    
,placoids1 he has yet placed in his     
,placoid  order1 influenced1 apparently1
 by the 8perception of resemblance that 
has cartilage for its central idea20 and
 the effect has been a massing  into one
 anomalous and entangled group the      
fishes of the first period  of geologic 
history1 with fishes of which we do not 
find a trace save  in the existing scene
 of things1 and of the highest families 
of their  class with families that      
occupy the lowest place4 ,but we live in
 an age  in which even the benefactors  
of the world of mind cannot make false  
steps with impunity2 and so1 while      
,agassiz's three ichthyic orders will   
continue to be recognized by the        
palontologist as the orders of three    
great geologic periods1 the ,suctorii   
have already been struck from off  his  

higher fishes by the classification of  
,muller and ,owen1 and carried  to that 
lowest point in the scale 7indicated by 
,linnus and ,oken7 which  their inferior
 standing renders so obviously the      
natural one4 ,some of  my readers may   
perhaps remember how finely ,bacon1 in  
his 8,wisdom of the  ,ancients10        
interprets the old mythologic story of  
,prometheus4 ,prometheus1  says the     
philosopher1 had conferred inestimable  
favors on men1 by  moulding their forms 
into shape1 and bringing them fire from 
heaven2 and  yet they complained of him 
and his teachings to ,jupiter4 ,and the 
god1  instead of censuring their        
ingratitude1 was pleased with the       
complaint1  and rewarded them with      
gifts4 ,in putting nature to the        
question1 it is  eminently wholesome to 
be doubting1 cross-examining1           
complaining2 ever  demanding of our     
masters and benefactors the             
philosophers1 that they  should reign   
over us1 not arbitrarily and            

despotically1        8,like the old     
kings1 with high exacting looks1        
,sceptred and globed10    but like our  
modern constitutional monarchs1 who     
govern by law2 and1  further1 that an   
appeal from their decisions on all      
subjects within the  jurisdiction of    
,nature should for ever be open to      
,nature herself4 ,the  seeming          
ingratitude of such a course1 if the    
8complaints0 be made in a  right spirit 
and on proper grounds1 ,jupiter always  
rewards with gifts4    ,let us now see  
for ourselves1 in this spirit1 whether  
there may not be  something absolutely  
derogatory1 in the existence of a       
cartilaginous  skeleton1 to the         
creatures possessing it2 or whether a   
deficit of  internal bone may not be    
greatly more than neutralized1 as it    
assuredly  must have been in the view of
 ,linnus1 ,muller1 and ,owen1 by a      
larger than  ordinary share of a vastly 
more important substance4          ,,the
 ,,placoid ,,brain4 ,,embryonic         

,,characteristics ,,not ,,necessarily   
,,of ,a ,,low  ,,order4      ,that      
special substance1 according to whose   
mass and degree of development  all the 
creatures of this world take rank in the
 scale of creation1  is not bone1 but   
brain4 ,were animals to be ranged       
according to  the solidity of their     
bones1 the class of birds would be      
assigned the  first place2 the family of
 the ,felid1 including the tiger and    
lion1  the second2 and the other        
terrestrial carnivora the third4 ,man   
and the  herbivorous animals1 though    
tolerably low in the scale1 would be in 
advance of at least the reptiles4 ,most 
of these1 however1 would take           
precedence of the sagacious ,delphinid2 
the osseous fishes would  come next in  
order2 the true ,placoids would follow1 
succeeded by the  ,sturiones2 and the   
,suctorii1 i4 e4 ,cyclostomi or         
,lampreys1 would  bring up the rear4    
,there would be evidently no order here3
 the utter  confusion of such an        

arrangement1 like that of the bits of a 
dissected  map flung carelessly out of  
its box by a child1 would of itself     
demonstrate the inadequacy and          
erroneousness of the regulating         
principle4  ,but how very different the 
appearance presented1 when for solidity 
of  bone we substitute development of   
brain6 ,man takes his proper place  at  
the head of creation2 the lower mammalia
 follow1--each species in  due order1   
according to its modicum of             
intelligence2 the birds succeed  the    
mammalia2 the reptiles succeed the      
birds2 the fishes succeed the  reptiles2
 next in the long procession come the   
invertebrate animals2 and  these1 too1  
take rank1 if not according to their    
development of brain  proper1 at least  
according to their development of the   
substance of  brain4 ,the occipital     
nervous ganglion of the scorpion greatly
 exceeds  in size that of the earthworm2
 and the occipital nervous ring of the  
lobster1 that of the intestinal         

,ascaris4 ,at length1 when we reach the 
lowest or acrite division of the animal 
kingdom1 the substance of  brain        
altogether disappears4 ,it has been     
calculated by naturalists1 that  in the 
vertebrata1 the brain in the class of   
fishes bears an average  proportion to  
the spinal cord of about two to one2 in 
the class of  reptiles1 of about two and
 a half to one2 in the class of birds1  
of about  three to one2 in the class of 
mammals1 of about four to one2 and in   
the  high-placed1 sceptre-bearing human 
family1 a proportion of not less than   
twenty-three to one4 ,it is palpably    
according to development of brain1  not 
development of bone1 that we are to     
determine points of precedence  among   
the animals1--a fact of which no one can
 be more thoroughly aware  than the     
author of the 8,vestiges0 himself4 ,of  
this let me adduce a  striking instance1
 of which ,i shall make further use     
anon4    8,all life10 says ,oken1 8is   
from the sea2 none from the continent4  

,man also is a child of the warm and    
shallow parts of the sea in the         
neighborhood of the land40 ,such also   
was the hypothesis of ,lamarck and      
,maillet4 ,in following up the view of  
his masters1 the author of the          
8,vestiges0 fixes on the ,delphinid as  
the sea-inhabiting progenitors  of the  
simial family1 and1 through the simial  
family1 of man ,for that  highest order 
of the mammalia to which the ,simiad    
7monkeys7 belong1  8there remains10 he  
says1 8a basis in the ,delphinid1 the   
last and  smallest of the cetacean      
tribes4 ,this affiliation has a special 
support  in the brain of the dolphin    
family1 which is distinctly allowed to  
be1  in proportion to general bulk1 the 
greatest among mammalia next to the     
orang-outang and man4 ,we learn from    
,tiedemann1 that each of the cerebral   
hemispheres is composed1 as in man and  
the monkey tribe1 of three  lobes1--an  
anterior1 a middle1 and a posterior2 and
 these hemispheres  present much more   

numerous circumvolutions and grooves    
than those of any  other animal4 ,here  
it might be rash to found any thing upon
 the ancient  accounts of the           
dolphin1--its familiarity with man1 and 
its helping him  in shipwreck and       
various marine disasters2 although it is
 difficult to  believe these stories to 
be altogether without some basis in     
fact4 ,there  is no doubt1 however1 that
 the dolphin evinces a predilection for 
human  society1 and charms the mariner  
by the gambols which it performs beside 
his vessel40    ,here1 then1 the author 
of the 8,vestiges0 palpably founds on a 
large  development of brain in the      
dolphin1 and on the manifestation of a  
correspondingly high order of           
instincts1--and this altogether         
irrespective  of the structure or       
composition of the creature's internal  
skeleton4 ,the  substance to which he   
looks as all-important in the case is   
brain1 not  bone4 ,for were he to       
estimate the standing of the dolphin1   

not by its  brain1 but by its skeleton1 
he would have to assign to it a place1  
not  only not in advance of its brethren
 the mammalia of the sea1 but  even in  
the rear of the reptiles of the sea1 the
 marine tortoises1 or  turtles1--and    
scarce more than abreast of the osseous 
fishes4 8,fishes10  says ,professor     
,owen1 in his 8,lectures on the         
,vertebrate ,animals10  8have the least 
proportion of earthy matter in their    
bones2 birds the  largest4 ,the         
mammalia1 especially the active1        
predatory species1 have  more earth1 or 
harder bones1 than reptiles4 ,in each   
class1 however1 there  are differences  
in the density of bone among its several
 members4 ,for  example1 in the         
fresh-water fishes1 the bones are       
lighter1 and retain  more animal matter1
 than in those which swim in the denser 
sea4 ,and in  the dolphin1 a            
warm-blooded marine animal1 they differ 
little in this  respect from those of   
the sea-fish40 ,such being the fact1 it 

is surely  but fair to inquire of the   
author of the 8,vestiges10 why he should
  determine the rank and standing of the
 ,delphinid according to one set  of    
principles1 and the rank and standing of
 the ,placoids according to  another and
 entirely different set8 ,if the        
,delphinid are to be placed  high in the
 scale1 notwithstanding the softness of 
their skeletons1  simply because their  
brains are large1 why are the ,placoids 
to be  placed low in the scale1         
notwithstanding the largeness of their  
brains1  simply because their skeletons 
are soft8 ,it is not too much to demand1
  that on the principle which he himself
 recognizes as just1 he should  either  
degrade the dolphin or elevate the      
,placoid4 ,for it is altogether         
inadmissible that he should reason on   
one set of laws when the exigencies  of 
his hypothesis require that creatures   
with soft skeletons should be  raised in
 the scale1 and on another and entirely 
different set when its  necessities     

demand that they should be depressed4   
,but do the ,placoids possess in reality
 a large development of brain8 ,i  have 
examined the brains of almost all the   
common fish of our coast1 both  osseous 
and cartilaginous1 not1 ,i fear1 with   
the skill of a ,tiedemann1  but all the 
more intelligently in consequence of    
what ,tiedemann had  previously done and
 written3 and so ,i can speak with some 
little  confidence on the subject1 so   
far at least as my modicum of           
experience1  thus acquired1 extends4 ,of
 all the common fish of the ,scottish   
seas1  the spotted or lesser dog-fish   
bears1 in proportion to its size1 the   
largest brain2 the gray or picked       
dog-fish ranks next in its degree  of   
development2 the ,rays1 in their various
 species1 follow after2 and  the osseous
 fishes compose at least the great body 
of the rear2 while  still further       
behind1 there lags a hapless class--the 
,suctorii1 one of  which1 the glutinous 
hag1 has scarce any brain1 and one1 the 

,amphioxus  or lancelet1 wants brain    
altogether4 ,i have compared the brain  
of the  spotted dog-fish with that of a 
young alligator1 and have found that in 
scarce any perceptible degree was it    
inferior1 in point of bulk1 and very    
slightly indeed in point of             
organization1 to the brain of the       
reptile4  ,and the instincts of this    
,placoid family1--one of the truest     
existing  representatives of the        
,placoids of the ,silurian ,system#be to
 which we  can appeal1--correspond1 we  
invariably find1 with their superior    
cerebral  development4 ,i have seen the 
common dog-fish1 ,spinax ,acanthias1    
hovering in packs in the ,moray ,frith1 
some one or two fathoms away from  the  
side of the herring boat from which1    
when the fishermen were engaged  in     
hauling their nets1 ,i have watched     
them1 and have admired the caution      
which1 with all their ferocity of       
disposition1 they rarely failed to      
manifest2--how they kept aloof from the 

net1 even more warily than the  cetacea 
themselves1--though both dog-fish and   
cetacea are occasionally                
entangled2--and how1 when a few herrings
 were shaken loose from the  meshes they
 at once darted upon them1 exhibiting   
for a moment1 through  the green depths1
 the pale gleam of their abdomens1 as   
they turned upon  their sides to seize  
the desired morsels1--a motion rendered 
necessary  by the position of the mouth 
in this family2 and how next1 their     
object  accomplished1 they fell back    
into their old position1 and waited on  
as  before4 ,and ,i have been assured by
 intelligent fishermen1 that at the     
deep-sea white-fishing1 in which baited 
hooks1 not nets1 are employed1  the     
degree of shrewd caution exercised by   
these creatures seems more              
extraordinary still4 ,the hatred which  
the fisher bears to them arises not     
more from the actual amount of mischief 
which they do him1 than from the        
circumstance that in most cases they    

persist in doing it with complete       
impunity to themselves4 ,i have seen1   
said an observant ,cromarty fisherman   
to the writer of these chapters1 a pack 
of dog-fish watching beside  our boat1  
as we were hauling our lines1 and       
severing the hooked fish1  as they      
passed them1 at a bite1 just a little   
above the vent1 so that  they themselves
 escaped the swallowed hook2 and ,i have
 frequently lost1  in this way1 no      
inconsiderable portion of a fishing4 ,i 
have observed1  however1 he continued1  
that when a fresh pack of hungry        
dog-fish came  up1 and joined the pack  
that had been robbing us so coolly1 and 
at their  leisure1 a sudden rashness    
would seize the whole1--the united packs
 would  become a mere heedless mob1 and1
 rushing forward1 they would swallow    
our fish entire1 and be caught          
themselves by the score and the hundred4
  ,we may see something very similar to 
this taking place among even the        
shrewder mammalia4 ,when pig refuses to 

take his food1 his mistress  straightway
 calls upon the cat1 and1 quickened by  
the dread of the coming  rival1 he      
gobbles up his rations at once4 ,with   
the comparatively large  development of 
brain1 and the corresponding            
manifestations of instinct1  which the  
true ,placoids exhibit1 we find other   
unequivocal marks of a  general         
superiority to their class4 ,in their   
reproductive organs they  rank not with 
the common fishes1 nor even with the    
lower reptiles1  but with the           
,chelonians and the ,sauria4 ,among the 
,rays1 as among the  higher animals1    
there are individual attachments formed 
between male and  female3 their eggs    
unlike the mere spawn of the osseous    
fishes1 or of  even the ,batrachians1   
are1 like those of the tortoise and the 
crocodile1  comparatively few in number1
 and of considerable size3 their young1 
too1 like the young of birds and of the 
higher reptiles1 pass through  no such  
metamorphosis as those of the toad and  

frog1 or of the amphibia  generally4    
,and some of their number--the common   
dog-fish for instance--are              
ovoviviparous1 bringing forth their     
young1 like the common viper and the    
viviparous lizard1 alive and fully      
formed4    8,but such features10 says   
the author of the 8,vestiges10 referring
  chiefly to certain provisions         
connected with the reproductory system  
in the ,placoids1 8are partly partaken  
of by families in inferior              
sub-kingdoms1 showing that they cannot  
truly be regarded as marks of  grade in 
their own class40 ,nay1 single features 
do here and there occur  in the inferior
 sub-kingdoms1 which very nearly        
resemble single features  in the placoid
 character and organization1 which even 
very nearly  resemble single features in
 the human character and organization2  
but  is there any of the inferior       
sub-kingdoms in which there occurs such 
a collocation of features8 or does such 
a collocation occur in any  class of    

animals--setting the ,placoids wholly   
out of view--which is not  a high class8
 ,nay1 further1 does there occur in any 
of the inferior  sub-kingdoms--existing 
even as a single feature--that most     
prominent1  leading characteristic of   
this series of fishes1--a large brain8  
,but is not the 8cartilaginous          
structure0 of the ,placoids analogous to
  the embryonic state of vertebrated    
animals in general8 ,do not the other   
placoid peculiarities to which the      
author of the 8,vestiges0 refers1--such 
as the heterocercal or one-sided tail1  
the position of the mouth on the  under 
side of the head1 and the rudimental    
state of the maxillaries  and           
intermaxillaries1--bear further         
analogies with the embryonic state  of  
the higher animals8 ,and is not         
8embryonic progress the grand key to    
the theory of development80 ,let us     
examine this matter4 8,these are the    
characters10 says this ingenious writer1
 8which1 above all1 ,i am chiefly       

concerned in looking to2 for they are   
features of embryonic progress1 and     
embryonic progress is the grand key to  
the theory of development40 ,bold       
assertion1 certainly2 but1 then1        
assertion is not argument6 ,the         
statement  is not a reason for the faith
 that is in the author of the           
8,vestiges10  but simply an avowal of   
it2 it is simply a confession1 not a    
defence1  of the ,lamarckian creed2 and1
 instead of being admitted as embodying 
a  first principle1 it must be put      
stringently to the question1 in order to
  determine whether it contain a        
principle at all4    ,in the first      
place1 let us remark1 that the          
cartilaginous structure  of the         
,placoids bears no very striking analogy
 to the cartilaginous  structure of the 
higher vertebrata in the embryonic      
state4 ,in the case  of the ,delphinid1 
with their soft skeletons1 the analogy  
is greatly  more close4 ,bone consists  
of animal matter1 chiefly gelatinous1   

hardened  by a diffusion of inorganic   
earth4 ,in the bones of young and ftal  
mammalia1 inhabitants of the land1 the  
gelatinous prevails2 in the old  and    
middle-aged there is a preponderance of 
the earth4 ,now1 in the bones  of the   
dolphin there is comparatively little   
earth4 ,the analogies of  its internal  
skeleton bear1 not on the skeletons of  
its brethren the  mature full-grown     
mammals of the land1 but on the         
skeletons of their  immature or ftal    
offspring4 ,but in the case of the true 
,placoids that  analogy is faint indeed4
 ,their skeletons contain true          
bone2--the vertebral  joints of the     
,sharks and ,rays possess each1 as has  
been shown1 an osseous  nucleus1 which  
retains1 when subjected to the heat of a
 common fire1  the complete form of the 
joint2 and their cranial framework has  
its  surface always covered over with   
hard osseous points4 ,but though their  
skeletons possess thus their modicum of 
bone1 unlike those of embryonic  birds  

or mammals1 they contain1 in what is    
properly their cartilage1 no  gelatine4 
,the analogy signally fails in the very 
point in which it has  been deemed      
specially to exist4 ,the cartilage of   
the ,chondropterygii  is a substance so 
essentially different from that of young
 or embryonic  birds and mammals1 and so
 unique in the animal kingdom1 that the 
heated  water in which the one readily  
dissolves has no effect whatever upon   
the  other4 ,it is1 however1 a curious  
circumstance1 exemplified in some of the
  ,shark family1#bf though it merely    
serves1 in its exceptive character1  to 
establish the general fact1 that while  
the rays of the double fins1  which     
answer to the phalanges1 are all formed 
of this indissoluble  cartilage1 those  
rays which constitute their outer       
framework1 with the  rays which         
constitute the framework of all the     
single fins1 are composed  of a mucoidal
 cartilage1 which boils into glue4 ,at  
certain definite  lines a change occurs 

in the texture of the skeleton2 and it  
is certainly  suggestive of thought1    
that the difference of substance which  
the change  involves distinguishes that 
part of the skeleton which is           
homologically  representative of the    
skeletons of the higher vertebrata1 from
 that part  of it which is peculiar to  
the creature as a fish1 viz4 the dorsal 
and  caudal rays1 and the extremities of
 the double fins4 ,these emphatically   
ichthyic portions of the animal may be  
dissipated by boiling1 whereas  what    
,linnus would perhaps term its reptilian
 portion abides the heat  without       
reduction4    ,but is not the one-sided 
tail1 so characteristic of the sharks1  
and of  almost all the ancient ,ganoids1
 also a characteristic of the young     
salmon  just burst from the egg8 ,yes1  
assuredly2 and1 so far as research on   
the  subject has yet extended1 of not   
only the salmon1 but of all the other   
osseous fishes in their ftal state4 ,the
 salmon1 on its escape from the  egg1 is

 a little monster of about three        
quarters of an inch in length1  with a  
huge heart-shaped bag1 as bulky as all  
the rest of its body1  depending from   
its abdomen4 ,in this bag provident     
nature has packed up  for it1 in lieu of
 a nurse1 food for five weeks2 and1     
moving about every  where in its shallow
 pool1 with its provision knapsack slung
 fast to it1  it reminds one disposed to
 be fanciful1 save that its burden is on
 the  wrong side1 of ,scottish soldiers 
of the olden time summoned to attend    
their king in war1--        8,each on   
his back1 a slender store1      ,his    
forty days' provision bore1        ,as  
ancient statutes tell40    ,around that 
terminal part of the creature's body    
traversed by the  caudal portion of the 
vertebral column1 which commences in the
 salmon  immediately behind the         
ventrals1 there runs at this period1 and
 for the  ensuing five weeks in which it
 does not feed1 a membranous fringe or  
fin1  which exactly resembles that of   

the tadpole1 and which1 existing simply 
as an expansion of the skin1 exhibits no
 mark or rays4 ,in the place of  the    
true caudal fin1 however1 we may detect 
with the assistance of a  lens1 an      
internal framework with two well-marked 
lobes1 and ascertain1  further1 that    
this tail is set on awry1--the effect of
 a slight upward  bend in the creature's
 body4 ,and when viewed in a strong     
light as a  transparency1 we perceive   
that the spinal cord takes the same     
upward  bend1 and1 as in the sturgeon1  
passes in an exceedingly attenuated     
form into the upper lobe4 ,what may be  
regarded as the design of the           
arrangement is probably to be found in  
the peculiar form given to the  little  
creature by the protuberan bag in front4
 ,a wise instinct teaches  it1 from the 
moment of its exclusion from the egg1 to
 avoid its enemies4  ,in the instant the
 human shadow falls upon its pool1 we   
see it darting  into some recess at the 
side or bottom1 with singular alacrity2 

and in  order to enable it to do so1 and
 to steer itself aright1--as1 like an   
ill-trimmed vessel1 deep in the water   
ahead1 the balance of its body  is      
imperfect1--there is1 if ,i may so      
express myself1 a heterocercal          
peculiarity of helm required4 ,it has   
got an irregularly-developed tail to    
balance an irregularly-developed body1  
as skiffs lean on the one beam  and full
 on the other require1 in rowing1 a cast
 of the rudder to keep  them straight in
 their course4    ,sinking altogether1  
however1 the final cause of the         
peculiarity1 and  regarding it simply as
 a ftal one1 that indicates a certain   
stage  of imperfection in the creature  
in which it occurs1 on what principle1  
,i ask1 are we to infer that what is a  
sign of immaturity in the young  of one 
set of animals1 is a mark of inferior   
organization in the adult  forms of     
another set8 ,the want of eyes in any of
 the animal families1 or  the want of   
organs of progression1 or a fixed and   

sedentary condition1  like that of the  
oyster1 are all marks of great          
inferiority4 ,and yet1  if we admit the 
principle1 that what are evidences of   
immaturity in  the young members of one 
family are signs of inferior            
organization in  the fully-grown members
 of another1 it could easily be shown   
that eyes  and legs are defects1 and    
that the unmoving oyster stands higher  
in the  scale than the ever-restless    
fish or bird4 ,the immature ,tubularia  
possess locomotive powers1 whereas in   
their fully developed state they  remain
 fixed to one spot in their convoluted  
tubes4 ,the immature ,lepas  is         
furnished with members well adapted for 
swimming1 and with which it  swims      
freely2 as it rises towards maturity1   
these become blighted and  weak2 and1   
when fully grown1--fixed by its fleshy  
pedicle to the rock or  floating log to 
which it attached itself in its         
transition state1--it is  no longer able
 to swim4 ,the immature ,balanus is     

furnished with two  eyes3 in its state  
of maturity these are extinguished1 and 
it passes its  period of full           
development in darkness4 ,further1 it is
 not generally held  that in the human  
family a white skin is a decided mark of
 degradation1  but rather the reverse2  
and yet nothing can be more certain than
 that  the ,negro ftus has a white skin4
 ,since eyes1 and organs of progression1
  and a power of moving freely1 and a   
white skin1 are mere embryonic          
peculiarities in the ,balanus1 the      
,lepas1 the ,tubularia1 and the  ,negro1
 and yet are in themselves1 when found  
in the mature animal1  evidences of a   
high1 not of a low standing1 on what    
principle1 ,i ask are  we to infer that 
the peculiarity of a heterocercal tail1 
embryonic in the  salmon1 is1 when found
 in the mature ,placoid1 an evidence1   
not of a high  standing1 but of a low8  
,every true analogy in the case favors  
an exactly  opposite view4 ,in the      
heterocercal or one-sided tail1 the     

vertebral  joints gradually diminish1 as
 in the tails of the ,sauria and        
,ophidia1  till they terminate in a     
point2 whereas the homocercal tail      
common to the  osseous fishes exhibits  
no true analogy with the tails of the   
higher  orders4 ,its abruptly           
terminating vertebral column1 immensely 
developed  posterior processes1 and     
broadly expanded osseous rays1 seem to  
be simply  a few of the many marks of   
decline and degradation which fishes1   
the  oldest of the vertebrata1 exhibit  
in this late age of the world1 and      
which1 in at least the earlier geologic 
periods1 when they were greatly  younger
 as a class1 they did not betray4       
,illustration3 ,fig4 #dh4    a4 ,tail of
 ,spinax ,acanthias4    b4 ,tail of     
,ichthyosaurus ,tenuirostris1           
7,buckland47    ,in illustration of this
 view1 ,i would fain recommend to the   
reader a  simple experiment4 ,let him   
procure the tail of a common dog-fish1  
7fig4  #dh1 a17 and cutting it across   

about half an inch above where the      
caudal fin begins1 let him boil it      
smartly for about half an hour4 ,he     
will first see it swell and then burst1 
all around those thinner parts  of the  
fin that are traversed by the caudal    
rays1--wholly mucoidal1 as  shown by    
this test1 in their texture1 and which  
yield to the boiling  water1 as if      
formed of isinglass4 ,they finally      
dissolve1 and drop away1  with the      
surrounding cuticular integument2 and   
then there only remains1  as the        
insoluble framework of the whole1 the   
bodies of the vertebr1  with their      
neural and hmal processes4 ,the tail has
 now lost much of its  ichthyic         
character1 and has acquired1 instead1 a 
considerable degree of  resemblance to  
the reptilian tail1 as exemplified in   
the saurians4 ,i  have introduced into  
the wood-cut1 for the purpose of        
comparison1 the  tail of the            
ichthyosaurus1 7b47 ,it consists1 like  
the other1 of a  series of gradually    

diminishing vertebr1 and must have also 
supported1  says ,professor ,owen1 a    
propelling fin1 placed vertically1 as in
 the  shark1 which1 however1 from its   
perishable nature1 has in every instance
  disappeared in the earth1 as that of  
the dog-fish disappears in the  boiling 
water4 ,it will be seen that its        
processes are comparatively  smaller    
than those of the fish1 and that the    
bodies of its vertebr are  shorter and  
bulkier2 but there is at least a general
 correspondence of  the parts2 and were 
the tail of the crocodile1 of which the 
vertebral  bodies are slender and the   
processes large1 to be substituted for  
that of  the enaliosaur here1 the       
correspondence would be more marked     
still4 ,after  thus developing the tail 
of the reptile out of that of the       
fish1--as the  cauldron-bearing ,irish  
magician of the tale developed young    
ladies out  of old women1--simply by    
boiling1 let the reader proceed to a    
second  stage of the experiment1 and see

 whether he may not be able still       
further  to develope the reptilian tail 
so obtained1 into that of the mammal1 by
  burning4 ,let him spread it out on a  
piece of iron hoop1 and thrust it  into 
the fire2 and then1 after exposure for  
some time to a red heat has  consumed   
and dissipated its merely cartilaginous 
portions1 such as the  neural and hmal  
processes1 with the little pieces which 
form the sides  of the neural arch1 and 
left only the whitened bodies of the    
vertebr1  let him say whether the bony  
portion which remains does not present a
  more exact resemblance to the         
mammiferous tail--that of the dog1 for  
example--than any thing else he ever    
saw4 ,the ,lamarckians may well deem it 
an unlucky circumstance1 that one       
special portion of their theory should  
demand the depreciation of the          
heterocercal tail1 seeing that it might 
be  represented with excellent effect in
 another1 as not merely a connecting    
link in the upward march of progression 

between the tail of the true fish  and  
that of the true reptile1 but as        
actually containing in itself--as  the  
caterpillar contains the future pupa and
 butterfly--the elements of  the        
reptilian and mammiferous tail4 ,if     
there be any virtue in analogy1  the    
heterocercal tail is1 ,i repeat1 of a   
decidedly higher type than the          
homocercal one4 ,it furnishes the first 
example in the vertebrata of the        
coccygeal vertebr diminishing to a      
point1 which characterizes not only  all
 the higher reptiles1 but also all the  
higher mammals1 and which we  find      
represented by the ,os coccygis in man  
himself4 ,but to this special  point ,i 
shall again refer4    ,with regard to   
that rudimentary state of the occipital 
framework of  the ,placoids to which the
 author of the 8,vestiges0 refers1 it   
may be but  necessary to say that1      
notwithstanding the simplicity of their 
box-like  skulls1 they bear in their    
character1 as cases for the protection  

of  the brain1 at least as close an     
analogy to the skulls of the higher     
animals1 as those of the osseous fishes1
 which consist usually of the           
extraordinary number of from sixty to   
eighty bones1--a mark--the author of    
the 8,vestiges0 himself being judge in  
the case--rather of inferiority than    
the reverse4 8,elevation is marked in   
the scale10 we find him saying1  8by an 
animal exchanging a multiplicity of     
parts serving one end1 for  a smaller   
number40 ,the skull of a cod consists of
 about thrice as many  separate bones as
 that of a man4 ,but ,i do not well see 
that in this case  the fact either of   
simplicity in excess or of multiplicity 
in excess  can be insisted upon in      
either direction1 as a proper basis for 
argument4  ,nearly the same remark      
applies to the maxillaries as to the    
skull4 ,the  under jaw in man consists  
of a single bone2 that of the           
thornback--if we  do not include the two
 suspending ribs1 which belong equally  

to the  upper jaw--of two bones1 7the   
number in all the mammiferous           
quadrupeds37  that of the cod of four   
bones1 and1 if we include the suspending
  ribs1 of twelve4 ,on what principle   
are we to hold1 with one as the         
representative number of the highest    
type of jaw1 that two indicates  a lower
 standing than four1 or four than       
twelve8 ,in reference to  the further   
statement1 that in many of the ancient  
fishes 8traces can  be observed of the  
muscles having been attached to the     
external plates1  strikingly indicating 
their low grade as vertebrate animals10 
it may  be answer enough to state1 that 
the peculiarity in question was not a   
characteristic of the most ancient      
fishes1--the ,placoids of the ,silurian 
system1--but of some ,ganoids of the    
succeeding systems4 ,the reader may     
remember1 as a case in point1 the       
example furnished by the nail-like bone 
of ,asterolepis1 figured in page #aaa1  
in which there exists depressions       

resembling that of the round ligament in
 the head of the quadrupedal            
thigh-bone4 ,and as for the remark that 
the opening of the mouth of  the        
,placoid1 8on the under side of the     
head10 is indicative of a low  embryonic
 condition1 it might be almost          
sufficient to remark1 in turn1  that the
 lowest family of fishes--that to which 
the supposed worms of  ,linnus          
belong--have the mouth not under1 but at
 the anterior termination  of the       
head1--in itself an evidence that the   
position of the mouth at the  extremity 
of the muzzle1 common to the greater    
number of the osseous  fishes1 can be no
 very high character1 seeing that the   
humblest of the  ,suctorii possess it2  
and that many osseous fishes1 whose     
mouths open1  not on the under1 but the 
upper side of the snout1 as in the      
distorted  and asymmetrical genus       
,platessa1 are not only in no degree    
superior to  their bony neighbors1 and  
far inferior to the placoid ones1 but   

bear1  in direct consequence of the     
arrangement1 an expression of           
unmistakable  stupidity4 ,the objection1
 however1 admits of a greatly more      
conclusive  reply4    ,illustration3    
,fig4 #di4    ,,port ,,jackson ,,shark1 
7,cestracion ,phillippi47    8,this     
fish1 to speak in the technical language
 of ,agassiz10 says the  ,edinburgh     
,reviewer1 in reference to the ancient  
ichthyolite of the  ,wenlock ,shale1    
8undoubtedly belongs to the ,cestraciont
 family of the  ,placoid order1--proving
 to demonstration that the oldest known 
fossil fish  #ahde belongs to the       
highest type of that division of the    
vertebrata40  ,i may add1 that the      
character and family of this ancient    
specimen was  determined by our highest 
,british authority in fossil            
ichthyology1  ,sir ,philip ,egerton4    
,and it is in depreciation of ,professor
 ,sedgwick's  statement regarding its   
high standing that the author of the    
8,vestiges0  refers to the supposed     

inferiority indicated by a mouth        
opening1 not at  the extremity of the   
muzzle1 but under the head4 ,let us1    
then1 fully  grant1 for the argument's  
sake1 that the occurrence of the mouth  
in the  muzzle is a sign of superiority1
 and its occurrence under the head a    
mark of great inferiority1 and then     
ascertain how the fact stands with      
regard to the ,cestracion4 8,the        
,cestracion sub-genus10 says ,mr4 ,james
  ,wilson1 in his admirable treatise on 
fishes1 which forms the article         
,,ichthyology in the 8,encyclopdia      
,britannica10 8has the temporal         
aperture1  the anal fin1 and rounded    
teeth1 of ,squalus ,mustelus2 but the   
mouth is  ,,terminal1 or ,,at ,,the     
,,extremity ,,of ,,the ,,pointed        
,,muzzle40 ,the accompanying  figure1   
7fig4 #di17 taken from a specimen of    
,cestracion in the  collection of       
,professor ,john ,fleming1 may be       
recorded as of some little  interest1   
both from its direct bearing on the     

point in question1 and from  the        
circumstance that it represents1 not    
inadequately for its size1 the  sole    
surviving species 7,cestracion          
,phillippi7 of the oldest vertebrate    
family of creation4 ,with this family1  
so far as is yet known1 ichthyic        
existence first began4 ,it does not     
appear that on the globe which we       
inhabit there was ever an ocean tenanted
 by living creatures at all that  had   
not its ,cestracion1--a statement which 
could not be made regarding  any other  
vertebrate family4 ,in ,agassiz's       
8,tabular ,view of the ,genealogy  of   
,fishes10 the ,cestracionts1 and they   
only1 sweep across the entire  geologic 
scale4 ,and1 as shown in the figure1 the
 mouth in this ancient  family1 instead 
of opening1 as in the ordinary sharks1  
under the middle  of the head1 to expose
 them to the suspicion of being         
creatures of low  and embryonic         
character1 opened in a broad1           
honest-looking muzzle1 very  much       

resembling that of the hog4 ,the mouths 
of the most ancient ,placoids  of which 
we know any thing1 did not1 ,i          
reiterate1 open under their  heads4     
,but why introduce the element of       
embryonic progress into this question   
at all8 ,it is not a question of        
embryonic progress4 ,the very           
legerdemain  of the sophist--the        
juggling by which he substitutes his    
white balls  for black1 or converts his 
pigeons into crows--consists in the art 
of  attaching the conclusions founded on
 the facts or conditions of one         
subject1 to some other subject          
essentially distinct in its nature4     
,gestation is not creation4 ,the history
 of the young of animals in their       
embryonic state is simply the history of
 the ftal young2 just as the  history of
 insect transformation1 in which it has 
been held by good men1  but weak        
reasoners1 that there exists direct     
evidence of the doctrine  of the        
resurrection1 is the history of insect  

transformation1 and of  nothing else4   
,true1 the human mind is so constituted 
that it converts  all nature into a     
storehouse of comparisons and analogies2
 and this fact  of the metamorphosis of 
the creeping caterpillar1 after first   
passing  through an intermediate period 
of apparent death as an inert aurelia1  
into a winged image1 seemed to have     
seized on the human fancy at a very     
early age1 as wonderfully illustrative  
of life1 death1 and the future  state4  
,the ,egyptians wrapped up the bodies of
 their dead in the chrysalis  form1 so  
that a mummy1 in their apprehension1 was
 simply a human pupa1  waiting the      
period of its enlargement2 and the      
,greeks had but one word  in their      
language for butterfly and the soul4    
,but not the less true is  it1          
notwithstanding1 that the facts of      
insect transformation furnish no        
legitimate key to the totally distinct  
facts of a resurrection of the  body1   
and of a life after death4 ,and on what 

principle1 then1 are we to  trace the   
origin of past dynasties in the changes 
of the ftus if not  the rise of the     
future dynasty in the transformations of
 the caterpillar8  8,these embryonic    
characters that of the heterocercal     
tail1 and of the  mouth of the ordinary 
shark type are essential and important10
 remarks  the author of the 8,vestiges10
 8whatever the ,edinburgh ,reviewer may 
say  to the contrary2--they are the     
characters which1 above all1 ,i am      
chiefly  concerned in looking to1 for   
they are the features of embryonic      
progress1  and embryonic progress is the
 grand key to the theory of             
development40  ,yes2 the grand key to   
the theory of ftal development2 for     
embryonic  progress is ftal development4
 ,but on what is the assertion based    
that they form a key to the history of  
creation8 ,aurelia are not human  bodies
 laid out for the sepulchre1 nor are    
butterflies human souls2  as certainly  
gestation is not creation1 nor a life of

 months in the  uterus a succession of  
races for millions of ages outside of   
it4 ,on  what grounds1 then1 is the     
assertion made8 ,does it embody the     
result  of a discovery or announce the  
message of a revelation8 ,did the author
  of the 8,vestiges0 find it out for    
himself1 or did an angel from heaven    
tell it him8 ,if it be a discovery1 show
 us1 we ask1 the steps through  which   
you have been conducted to it2 if a     
revolution produce1 for our             
satisfaction1 the evidence on which it  
rests4 ,for we are not to accept  as    
data1 in a question of science1 idle    
comparisons or vague analogies1  whether
 produced through the intentional       
juggling of the sophist1 or             
involuntarily conjured up in the dreamy 
delirium of an excited fancy4    ,it is 
one of the difficulties incident to the 
task of replying to any  dogmatic       
statement of error1 that every mere     
annunciation of a false  fact or false  
principle must be met by elaborate      

counter-statement or  carefully         
constructed argument and that prolixity 
is thus unavoidably  entailed on the    
controversialist who labors to set right
 what his  antagonist has set wrong4    
,the promulgator of error may be lively 
and  entertaining1 whereas his          
pains-taking confutator runs no small   
risk of  being tedious and dull4 ,may   
,i1 however1 solicit the forbearance of 
the  reader1 if1 after already spending 
much time in skirmishing on ground      
taken up by the enemy1--one of the      
disadvantages incident to the mere      
defendant in a controversy of this      
nature1--,i spend a little more in      
indicating what ,i deem the proper      
ground on which the standing of the     
earlier vertebrata should be decided4   
,to the test of brain ,i have  already  
referred1 as all-important in the       
question3 ,i would now refer to  the    
test of what may be termed homological  
symmetry of organization4          ,,the
 ,,progress ,,of ,,degradation4 ,,its   

,,history4      ,though all animals be  
fitted by nature for the life which     
their instincts  teach them to pursue1  
naturalists have learned to recognize   
among them  certain aberrant and        
mutilated forms1 in which the type of   
the special  class to which they belong 
seems distorted and degraded4 ,they     
exist  as the monster families of       
creation1 just as among families there  
appear from time to time monster        
individuals1--men1 for instance1        
without feet1 or hands1 or eyes1 or with
 their feet1 hands1 or eyes  grievously 
misplaced1--sheep with their fore legs  
growing out of their  necks1 or         
ducklings with their wings attached to  
their haunches4 ,among  these degraded  
races1 that of the footless serpent1    
which 8goeth upon  its belly10 has been 
long noted by the theologian as a race  
typical1 in  its condition and nature1  
of an order of hopelessly degraded      
beings1  borne down to the dust by a    
clinging curse2 and1 curiously enough1  

when  the first comparative anatomists  
in the world give their readiest  and   
most prominent instance of degradation  
among the denizens of the  natural      
world1 it is this very order of footless
 reptiles that they  select4 ,so far as 
the geologist yet knows1 the ,ophidians 
did not appear  during the ,secondary   
ages1 when the monarchs of creation     
belonged to  the reptilian division1 but
 were ushered upon the scene in the     
times of  the ,tertiary deposits1 when  
the mammalian dynasty had supplanted    
that  of the ,iguanodon and             
,megalosaurus4 ,their ill omened birth  
took place  when the influence of their 
house was on the wane1 as if to set such
 a  stamp of utter hopelessness on its  
fallen condition1 as that set by the    
birth of a worthless or idiot heir on   
the fortunes of a sinking family4  ,the 
degradation of the ,ophidians consists  
in the absence of limbs1--an  absence   
total in by much the greater number of  
their families1 and  represented in     

others1 as in the boas and pythons1 by  
mere abortive  hinder limbs concealed in
 the skin2 but they are thus not only   
monsters  through defect of parts1 if ,i
 may so express myself1 but also        
monsters  through redundancy1 as a      
vegetative repetition of vertebra and   
ribs1 to  the number of three or four   
hundred1 forms the special contrivance  
by  which the want of these is          
compensated4 ,i am also disposed to     
regard the  poison-bag of the venomous  
snakes as a mark of degradation2--it    
seems1  judging from analogy1 to be a   
protective provision of a low character1
  exemplified chiefly in the            
invertebrate families1--ants1           
centipedes1  and mosquitos1--spiders1   
wasps1 and scorpions4 ,the higher       
carnivora  are1 we find1 furnished with 
unpoisoned weapons1 which1 like those of
  civilized man1 are sufficiently       
effective1 simply from the excellence   
of their construction1 and the power    
with which they are wielded1 for  every 

purpose of assault or defence4 ,it is   
only the squalid savages and  degraded  
boschmen of creation that have their    
feeble teeth and tiny  stings steeped in
 venom1 and so made formidable4         
,monstrosity through  displacement of   
parts constitutes yet another form of   
degradation2 and  this form1 united1 in 
some instances1 to the other two1 we    
find curiously  exemplified in the      
geological history of the fish1--a      
history which1 with  all its blanks and 
missing portions1 is yet better known   
than that of  any other division of the 
vertebrata4 ,and it is1 ,i am convinced1
 from a  survey of the progress of      
degradation in the great ichthyic       
division1--a  progress recorded as 8with
 a pen of iron in the rock for          
ever10--and not  from superficial views 
founded on the cartilaginous or         
non-cartilaginous  texture of the       
ichthyic skeleton1 that the standing of 
the kingly fishes  of the earlier       
periods is to be adequately determined4 

,any other mode  of survey1 save the    
parallel mode which takes development of
 brain into  account1 evolves1 we find1 
nothing like principle1 and lands the   
inquirer  in inextricable difficulties  
and inconsistencies4    ,in all the     
higher non-degraded vertebrata we find a
 certain uniform  type of skeleton1     
consisting of the head1 the vertebral   
column1 and  four limbs2 and these last1
 in the various symmetrical forms1      
whether  exemplified in the higher fish1
 the higher reptiles1 the higher birds1 
the higher mammals1 or in man himself1  
occur always in a certain  determinate  
order4 ,in all the mammals1 the scapular
 bases of the fore  limbs begin opposite
 the eighth vertebra from the skull     
backwards1 the  seven which go before   
being cervical or neck vertebr2 in the  
birds1--a  division of the vertebrata   
that1 from their peculiar organization1 
require longer and more flexible necks  
than the mammals1--the scapulars  begin 
at distances from the occiput1 varying1 

according to the species1  from opposite
 the thirteenth to opposite the         
twenty-fourth vertebra2  and in the     
reptiles--a division which1 according to
 ,cuvier1 8presents  a greater diversity
 of forms1 characters1 and modes of     
gait1 than any  of the other two10--they
 occur at almost all points1 from       
opposite  the second vertebra1 as in the
 frog1 to opposite the thirty-third or  
thirty-fourth vertebra1 as in some      
species of plesiosaurus4 ,but in        
all1--whether mammals1 birds1 or        
undegraded reptiles1--they are so       
placed1  that the creatures possess     
necks1 of greater or less length1 as an 
essential portion of their general type4
 ,the hinder limbs have also in  all    
these three divisions of the animal     
kingdom their typical place4  ,they     
occur opposite1 or very nearly opposite1
 the posterior termination  of the      
abdominal cavity1 and mark the line of  
separation between the  vertebr of the  
trunk 7dorsal1 lumbar1 and sacral7 and  

the third and  last1 or caudal division 
of the column1--a division represented  
in  man by but four vertebr1 and in the 
crocodile by about thirty-five1  but    
which is found to exist1 as ,i have     
already said1 in all the more  perfect  
forms4 ,the limbs1 then1 in all the     
symmetrical animals of the  first three 
classes of the vertebrata1 mark the     
three great divisions of  the vertebral 
column1--the division of the neck1 the  
division of the  trunk1 and the division
 of the tail4 ,let us now inquire how   
the case  stands with the fourth and    
lowest class1--that of the fishes4      
,in those existing ,placoids that       
represent the fishes of the earliest    
vertebrate period1 the places of the    
double fins1--pectorals and             
ventrals1--which form in the ichthyic   
class the true homologues of the  limbs1
 correspond to the places which these   
occupy in the symmetrical  mammals1     
birds1 and reptiles4 ,the scapular bases
 of the fore or pectoral  fins          

ordinarily begin opposite the twelfth or
 fourteenth vertebra2#bg  but they      
range1 as in man and the mammals1 in a  
forward direction1 so  that the fins    
themselves are opposite the eighth or   
tenth4 ,the pelvic  bases of the ventral
 fins are placed nearly opposite the    
base of the  abdomen1 so that1 as in all
 the symmetrical animals1 the vent opens
  between1 or nearly between1 those     
hinder limbs which the bases support4   
,in the ,rays1 which1 so far as is yet  
known1 did not appear in creation  until
 the ,secondary ages had begun1 the     
bases of the fore limbs1 i4  e4 pectoral
 fins1 are attached to the lower part of
 a huge cervical  vertebra1 nearly equal
 in length to all the trunk vertebr     
united2 and  in the ,chimerid1 which    
also first appear in the ,secondary     
division1  they are attached1 as in the 
osseous fishes1 to the hinder part of   
the  head4 ,but in the representatives  
of all those ,silurian ,placoids yet    
known1 of which the family can be       

determined1 or any thing with safety    
predicated1 the cervical division is    
found to occur as a series of  vertebr3 
they present in this1 as in the hinder  
portion of their bodies1  the           
homological symmetry of organization    
typical of that vertebral  sub-kingdom  
to which they belong4    ,in the second 
great period of ichthyic                
existence1--that of the ,old  ,red      
,sandstone1--we find the first example1 
in the class of fishes1 of  8monstrosity
 through displacement of parts10 and    
apparently also--in  at least two       
genera1 though the evidence on this head
 be not yet quite  complete--of         
8monstrosity through defect of parts40  
,in all the ,ganoids  of the period1    
with 7so far as we can determine the    
point7 only two  exceptions1 the        
scapular bases of the fore limbs are    
brought forward  from their typical     
place opposite the base of the cervical 
vertebr1 and  stuck on to the occipital 
plate4 ,there occurs1 in consequence1 in

 one  great order of the ichthyic class1
 such a departure from the symmetrical  
type as would take place in a monster   
example of the human family in  whom the
 neck had been annihilated1 and the arms
 stuck on to the back of  the head4 ,and
 in the genera ,coccosteus and          
,pterichthys we find the  first example 
of degradation through defect4 ,in the  
,pterichthys the  hinder limbs seem     
wanting1 and in the ,coccosteus we find 
no trace  of the fore limbs4 ,the one   
resembles a monster of the human family 
born without hands1 and the other a     
monster born without feet4 ,ages  and   
centuries pass1 and long unreckoned     
periods come to a close2 and  then1     
after the termination of the ,palozoic  
period1 we see that change  taking place
 in the form of the ichthyic tail1 to   
which ,i have already  referred1 7and to
 which ,i must refer at least once      
more17 as singularly  illustrative of   
the progress of degradation4 ,yet other 
ages and centuries  pass away1 during   

which the reptile class attains to its  
fullest  development1 in point of size1 
organization1 and number2 and then1     
after  the times of the ,cretaceous     
deposits have begun1 we find yet another
  remarkable monstrosity of displacement
 introduced among all the fishes of  one
 very numerous order1 and among no      
inconsiderable proportion of the  fishes
 of another4 ,in the newly-introduced   
,ctenoids1 7,acanthopterygii17  and in  
those families of the ,cycloids which   
,cuvier erected into the order          
,malacopterygii sub-brachiati1 the      
hinder limbs are brought forward1  and  
stuck on to the base of the previously  
misplaced fore limbs4 ,all the  four    
limbs1 by a strange monstrosity of      
displacement1 are crowded into  the     
place of the extinguished neck4 ,and    
such1 at the present day1 is the        
prevalent type among fishes4            
,monstrosity through defect is also     
found  to increase2 so that the         
snake-like apoda1 or feet-wanting       

fishes1 form  a numerous order1 some of 
whose genera are devoid1 as in the      
common eels  and the congers1 of only   
the hinder limbs1 while in others1 as in
 the  genera ,murna and ,synbranchus1   
both hinder and fore limbs are wanting4 
,in the class of fishes1 as fishes now  
exist1 we find many more evidences  of  
the monstrosity which results from both 
the misplacement and defect  of parts1  
than in the other three classes of the  
vertebrata united1 and  knowing their   
geological history better than that of  
any of the others1  we know1 in         
consequence1 that the monstrosities did 
not appear early1  but late1 and that   
the progress of the race as a whole1    
though it  still retains not a few of   
the higher forms1 has been a progress1  
not of  development from the low to the 
high1 but of degradation from the high  
to  the low4    ,the reader may mark for
 himself1 in the flounder1 plaice1      
halibut1 or  turbot1--fishes of a family
 of which there appears no trace in the 

earlier  periods1--an extreme example of
 the degradation of distortion          
superadded  to that of displacement4 ,at
 a first glance the limbs seem but to   
exhibit merely the amount of natural    
misarrangement and misorder common  to  
the ,acanthopterygii and                
,sub-brachiati2--the base of the        
pectorals  are stuck on to the head1 and
 the base of the ventrals attached to   
that  of the pectorals4 ,from the       
circumstance1 however1 that the creature
 is  twisted half round and laid on its 
side1 we find that at least one of the  
pairs of double fins--the               
pectorals--perform the part of single   
fins1--one  projecting from the animal's
 superior1 the other from its inferior  
side1  in the way the anal and dorsal   
fins project from the upper and under   
surfaces of other fishes2 while its real
 dorsal and anal fins1 both  developed  
very largely1 and--in order to preserve 
its balance--in about an  equal degree1 
and wonderfully correspondent in form1  

perform1 from their  lateral position1  
the functions of single fins4 ,indeed1  
at a first glance  they seem the        
analogues of the largely-developed      
pectorals of a very  different family of
 flat fishes1--the ,rays4 ,it would     
appear as if single  and double fins1 by
 some such mutual agreement as that     
which1 according  to the old ballad1    
took place between the churl of         
,auchtermuchty and his  wife1 had agreed
 to exchange callings1 and perform each 
the work of the  other4 ,the tail1 too1 
possesses1 in consequence of the twist1 
not the  vertical position of other     
fish-tails1 but is spread out           
horizontally1  like the tails of the    
cetacea4 ,it is however1 in the head of 
the flounder  and its cogeners that we  
find the more extraordinary distortions 
exemplified4 ,in order to accommodate it
 to the general twist1 which  rendered  
lateral what in other fishes is dorsal  
and abdominal1 and dorsal  and abdominal
 what in other fishes is lateral1 one   

half its features had  to be twisted to 
the one side1 and the other half to the 
other4 ,the face  and cranium have      
undergone such a change as that which   
the human face and  cranium would       
undergo1 were the eyes to be drawn      
towards the left ear1  and the mouth    
towards the right4 ,the skull1 in       
consequence1 exhibits1 in  its fixed    
bones1 a strange ,cyclopean character1  
unique among the families  of creation3 
it has its one well-marked eye orbit    
opening1 like that of  ,polyphemus1     
direct in the middle of the fore part of
 its head2 while  the other1 external to
 the cranium altogether1 we find placed 
among the  free bones1 directly over the
 maxillaries4 ,and the wry              
mouth--twisted in  the opposite         
direction1 as if to keep up such a      
balance of deformity as  that which the 
breast-hump of a hunchback forms to the 
hump behind--is in  keeping with the    
squint eyes4 ,the jaws are strangely    
asymmetrical4 ,in  symmetrical fishes   

the two bones that compose the anterior 
half of the  lower jaw are as perfectly 
correspondent in form and size as the   
left  hand or left foot is              
correspondent1 in the human subject1 to 
the right  hand or right foot2 but not  
such their character in the flounder4   
,the one is a broad1 short1 nearly      
straight bone2 the other is larger1     
narrower1 and bent like a bow2 and while
 the one contains only from four  to six
 teeth1 the other contains from thirty  
to thirty-five4 ,scarcely in  the entire
 ichthyic kingdom are there any two jaws
 that less resemble  one another than   
the two halves of the jaw of the        
flounder1 turbot1  halibut1 or plaice4  
,the intermaxillary bones are equally   
ill matched3  the one is fully twice the
 size of the other1 and contains about  
thrice  as many teeth4 ,that bilateral  
symmetry of the skeleton which is so    
invariable a characteristic of the      
vertebrata1 that ordinary observers1    
who have eyes for only the rare and the 

uncommon1 fail to remark it1  but which 
a ,newton could regard as so wonderful1 
and so thoroughly in  harmony with the  
uniformity of the planetary system1 has 
scarce any  place in the asymmetrical   
head of the flounder4 ,there exists in  
some of  our north country fishing      
villages an ancient apologue1 which1    
though  not remarkable for point or     
meaning1 at least serves to show that   
this  peculiar example of distortion the
 rude fishermen of a former age were    
observant enough to detect4 ,once on a  
time the fishes met1 it is said1 to     
elect a king2 and their choice fell on  
the herring4 8,the herring king60       
contemptuously exclaimed the flounder1 a
 fish of consummate vanity1 and  greatly
 piqued on this occasion that its own   
presumed claims should have  been       
overlooked2 8where1 then1 am ,i80 ,and  
straightway1 in punishment of  its      
conceit and rebellion1 8its eyes turned 
to the back of its head40  ,here is     
there a story palpably founded on the   

degradation of misplacement  and        
distortion1 which originated ages ere   
the naturalist had recognized  either   
the term or the principle4    ,it would 
be an easy matter for an ingenious      
theorist1 not much disposed  to         
distinguish between the minor and the   
master laws of organized  being1 to get 
up quite as unexceptionable a theory of 
degradation as  of development4 ,the    
one-eyed1 one-legged ,chelsea pensioner1
 who had a  child1 unborn at the time1  
laid to his charge1 agreed to recognize 
his  relationship to the little         
creature1 if1 on its coming into the    
world1  it was found to have a green    
patch over its eye1 and a wooden leg4   
,and1 in order to construct a hypothesis
 of progressive degradation1  the       
theorist has but to take for granted the
 transmission to other  generations of  
defects and compensating redundancies at
 once as extreme  and accidental as the 
loss of eyes or limbs1 and the          
acquisition of  timber legs or green    

patches4 ,the snake1 for instance1 he   
might regard as  a saurian1 that1 having
 accidentally lost its limbs1 exerted   
itself to  such account throughout a    
series of generations1 in making up for 
their  absence1 as to spin out for      
itself1 by dint of writhing and         
wriggling1  rather more than a hundred  
additional vertebr1 and to alter1 for   
purposes of greater flexibility1 the    
structure of all the rest4 ,and as      
fishes1 when nearly stunned by a blow1  
swim for a few seconds on their  side1  
he might regard the flounders as a race 
of half-stunned fishes1  previously     
degraded by the misplacement of their   
limbs1 that1 instead of  recovering     
themselves from the blow given to some  
remote parent of the  family1 had       
expended all their energies in twisting 
their mouths round  to what chanced to  
be the under side on which they were    
laid1 and their  eyes to what chanced to
 be the upper1 and that made their      
pectorals  serve for anal and dorsal    

fins1 and their anal and dorsal fins    
serve  for pectorals4 ,but while we must
 recognize in nature certain laws of    
disturbance1 if ,i may so speak1 through
 which1 within certain limits1  traits  
which are the result of habit or        
circumstance in the parents are         
communicated to their offspring1 we     
would err as egregiously1 did we  take  
only these into account1 without noting 
that infinitely stronger  antagonist law
 of reproduction and restoration which1 
by ever gravitating  towards the        
original type1 preserves the integrity  
of races1 as the  astronomer would1 who1
 in constructing his orrery1 recognized 
only that  law of propulsion through    
which the planets speed through the     
heavens1  without taking into account   
that antagonist law of gravitation      
which1  by maintaining them in their    
orbits1 insures the regularity of their 
movements4 ,the law of restoration would
 recover and right the stunned  fish    
laid on its side2 the law of            

reproduction would give limbs to the    
offspring of the mutilated saurian4 ,we 
have evidence1 in the extremeness  of   
the degradation in these cases1 that it 
cannot be a degradation  hereditarily   
derived from accident4 ,nature is1 we   
find1 active1 not in  perpetuating the  
accidental wooden legs and green patches
 of ancestors  in their descendants1 but
 in restoring to the offspring the true 
limbs  and eyes which the parents have  
lost4 ,it is1 however1 not with a theory
  of hereditary degradation1 but a      
hypothesis of gradual development1 that 
,i have at present to deal2 and what ,i 
have to establish as proper to  the     
present stage of my argument is1 that   
this principle of degradation  really   
exists1 and that the history of its     
progress in creation bears  directly    
against the assumption that the earlier 
vertebrata were of a  lower type than   
the vertebrata of the same ichthyic     
class which exist  now4#bh    ,the      
progress of the ichthyic tail1 as       

recorded in geologic history1           
corresponds with that of the ichthyic   
limbs4 ,and as in the existing  state of
 things we find fishes that nearly      
represent1 in this respect1  all the    
great geologic periods1--,i say nearly1 
not fully1 for ,i  am acquainted with no
 fish adequately representative of the  
period  of the ,old ,red ,sandstone1--it
 may be well to cast a glance over the  
contemporary series1 as illustrative of 
the consecutive one4 ,in those          
,placoids of the shark family that to a 
large brain unite homological  symmetry 
of organization1 and represent the      
fishes of the first period1  we find1 as
 ,i have already shown1 that the vertebr
 gradually diminish  in the caudal      
division of the column1 until they      
terminate in a point1--a  circumstance  
in which they resemble not merely the   
betailed reptiles1  but also all the    
higher mammiferous quadrupeds1 and even 
man himself4  ,and it is this           
peculiarity1 stamped upon the less      

destructible portions  of the framework 
of the tail1--vertebr and               
processes1--rather than the  one-sided  
or heterocercal form of the surrounding 
fin1 composed of but  a mucoidal        
substance1 that constitutes its grand   
characteristic2 seeing  that in some    
,placoid genera1 such as ,scyllium      
,stellare1 the terminal  portion of the 
fin is scarce less largely developed    
above than below1  and that in others1  
as in most of the ,ray family1 the under
 lobe of the  fin is wholly wanting4 ,in
 the sturgeon1--one of the few ,ganoids 
of the  present time1--we become        
sensible of a peculiar modification in  
this  heterocercal type of tail3 the    
lower lobe is1 we find1 composed1 as in 
,spinax and ,scyllium1 of rays          
exclusively2 while through the centre   
of the upper lobe there runs an acutely 
angular patch of lozenge-shaped  plates1
 like that which runs through the centre
 of the double fins of  ,dipterus and   
the ,clacanths4 ,but while in the sharks

 the gradually  diminishing vertebr     
stand out in bold relief1 and form the  
thickest  portion of the tail1 that     
which represents them in the sturgeon   
7the  angular patch7 is slim and        
thin1--slimmer in the middle than even  
at the  sides2--in part a consequence1  
no doubt1 of the want1 in this fish1 of 
solid vertebr1 but a consequence also of
 the extreme attenuation of the  nervous
 cord1 in its prolongation into the lobe
 of the fin4 ,further1  the rays of the 
tail--its peculiarly ichthyic portion1  
which are purely  mucoidal in ,spinax1  
,scyllium1 and ,cestracion--have become 
osseous in  the sturgeon4 ,the fish has 
set and become fixed1 as cement sets in 
a building1 or colors are fixed by a    
mordant4 ,and it is worthy of special   
remark that1 correspondent with the     
peculiarly ichthyic development  of tail
 in this fish1 we find the prevailing   
ichthyic displacement of  the fore      
limbs4 ,again1 in the ,lepidosteus1     
another of the true ,ganoids  which     

still exist1 the internal angle of the  
upper lobe of the tail  wholly          
disappears1 and with the internal angle 
the prolongation of the  nervous cord4  
,still1 however1 it is what the tail of 
the sturgeon would  become were the     
angular patch to be obliterated1 and    
rays substituted  instead1--it is a tail
 set on awry4 ,and in this fish also we 
find the  ichthyic displacement of fore 
limb4 ,one step more1 and we arrive at  
the homocercal or equal-lobed tail1     
which seems to attain to its most       
extreme type in those fishes in which1  
as in the perch and flounder1 the  last 
vertebral joint1 either very little or  
very abruptly diminished  in size1      
expands into broad processes without    
homologue in the higher  animals1 on    
which the caudal rays rest as their     
bases4 ,and in by much the  larger      
proportion of these fishes all the four 
limbs are slung round the  neck2--they  
at once exhibit the homocercal tail in  
its broadest type1 and  displacement of 

limb in its most extreme form4          
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ej4    ,,tail ,,of
 ,,osteolepis4    ,illustration3 ,fig4  
#ea4    ,,tail ,,of ,,lepidosteus       
,,osseus4    ,now1 in tracing the       
geologic history of the ichthyic tail1  
we find these  several steps or         
gradations from the heterocercal to the 
homocercal1  represented by periods and 
formations4 ,the ,siluran periods may be
  regarded as representative of that    
true heterocercal tail of the           
,placoids1 exemplified in ,spinax1 7page
 #agb1 fig4 #dh17 and ,cestracion1      
7page #agg1 fig4 #di47 ,the whole caudal
 portion of this latter animal1         
commencing immediately behind the       
ventrals1 is1 as becomes a true  tail1  
slim1 when compared with its trunk2 the 
vertebr are of very  considerable       
solidity2 the rays mucoidal2 and where  
the spinal column  runs into the        
terminal fin1 it takes such an upward   
turn as that which  the horse-jockey    
imparts1 by the process of nicking1 to  

the tails of  the hunter and the        
racehorse4 ,and with the heterocercal   
tail1 so true in  its homologies to the 
tails of the higher vertebrata1 we find 
associated1  as has been shown1 the true
 homological position of the fore limbs4
  ,with the commencement of the ,old    
,red ,sandstone the ganoidal tail first 
presents itself2 and we become sensible 
of a change in the structure  of the    
attached fin1 similar to that           
exemplified in the caudal rays of  the  
sturgeon4 ,as shown by the              
irregularly-angular patch of scales     
which  in all the true ,clacanths1 and  
almost all the ,dipterians1#bi runs     
through the upper lobe of the fin1 and  
terminates in a point1 7see  fig4 #ej17 
it must have possessed the gradually    
diminishing vertebr1 or  a diminishing  
spinal cord1 their analogue2 but the    
rays1 fairly set1  as their state of    
keeping in the rocks certify1 exist as  
narrow oblong  plates of solid bone2 and
 their anterior edges are strengthened  

by a line  of osseous defences1 that    
pass from scales into rays4 ,and in     
harmonious  accompaniment with this     
fairly stereotyped edition of the       
ichthyic  tail1 we find1 in the fishes  
in which it appears1 the first instance 
of  displacement of limb1--the bases of 
the pectorals being removed from  their 
original position1 and stuck on to the  
nape of the neck4 ,it may  be remarked1 
in passing1 that in the tails of two    
ganoidal genera of  this period1--the   
,coccosteus and ,pterichthys1--the      
analogies traceable  lie rather in the  
direction of the tails of the ,rays than
 in those of  the ,sharks2 and that one 
of these1 the ,coccosteus1 seems1 as has
 been  already intimated1 to have had no
 pectorals1 while it is doubtful whether
  in the ,pterichthys the pectorals were
 not attached to the shoulder1  instead 
on the head4 ,in the ,carboniferous and 
,permian systems there  occur1          
especially among the numerous species of
 the genus ,paloniscus1  tails of the   

type exemplified by the internal angle  
of the tail of  the sturgeon3 the       
lozenge-shaped scales run in acutely    
angular patches  through their upper    
lobes2 but such is their extreme        
flatness1 as shown  by the disposition  
of the enamelled covering1 that it      
appears exceedingly  doubtful whether   
any vertebral column ran beneath2--they 
seem but to have  covered greatly       
diminished prolongations of the spinal  
cord4 ,in the  base of the ,secondary   
division1--another long stage towards   
the existing  state of things1--we find1
 with the homocercal tail1 which now    
appears  for the first time1 numerous   
tails like that of the ,lepidosteus1    
7fig4  #ea17 of an intermediate         
type2--they are rather tails set on awry
 than  truly heterocercal4 ,the         
diminished cord has disappeared from    
among the  fin rays4 ,in the numerous   
,lepidoid genus1 and the genera         
,semionotus  and ,tetra gonolepis1--all 
ganoidal fishes of the ,secondary       

period--this  intermediate style is very
 marked2 while in their contemporaries  
of the  genera ,urus1 ,microdon1 and    
,pycnodus1 we find the earliest examples
  of true homocercal tails4 ,and in the 
,ctenoids and ,cycloids of the ,chalk   
the homocercal tail receives its fullest
 development4 ,it finds bases for  its  
rays in broad non-homological processes1
 that spread out behind                 
abruptly-terminating vertebr1 7fig4     
#eb17 in the same period in which1  by a
 strange process of degradation1 the    
four ichthyic limbs are first  gathered 
into a cluster1 and hung about the      
neck4#cj    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #eb4   
,,tail ,,of ,,perch4    ,i am aware that
 by some very distinguished comparative 
anatomists1 among  the rest ,professor  
,owen1 the attachment1 so common among  
fishes1 of the  scapular arch and the   
fore limbs to the occipital bone1 is    
regarded1  not as a displacement1 but as
 a normal and primary condition of the  
parts4 ,recognizing in the scapular     

bones the ribs of the occipital         
centrum1 the anatomists of this school  
of course consider them1 when  found    
articulated to the occiput1 as in their 
proper and original place1  and as in a 
state of natural dislocation when       
removed1 as in all the  reptiles1 birds1
 and mammals1 farther down4 ,we find    
,professor ,oken  borrowing support to  
his hypothesis from this view4 ,the     
limbs1 he tells  us1 are simply ribs1   
that in the course of ages have been set
 free1 and  have become by development  
what they now are4 ,and it is           
unquestionably  a curious and           
interesting fact1 that there are certain
 animals1 such  as the crocodile1 in    
which every centrum of the vertebral    
column1 and  of every vertebra of the   
head1 has its ribs or rib-like          
appendages1  with the exception of the  
occipital centrum4 ,and it is another   
equally  curious fact1 that there is    
another certain class of animals1 such  
as  the osseous horn-covered fishes1    

with the ,sturionid1 ,salamandroidei1   
and at least one genus among the        
,placoids1 7the ,chimroidei17 in which  
this occipital centrum bears as its ribs
 the scapular bones1 with  their        
appendages the fore limbs4 ,it is the   
centrum without ribs  that is selected  
in these animals as the centrum to which
 the scapular  ribs should be attached4 
,be it remembered1 however1 that while  
it  is unquestionably the part of the   
comparative anatomist to determine  the 
relations and homologies of those parts 
of which all animals are  composed1 and 
to interpret the significancy in the    
scale of being of the  various modes and
 forms in which they exist1 it is as    
unquestionably the  part of the         
geologist to declare their history1 and 
the order of their  succession in time4 
,the questions which fall to be         
determined by the  geologist and        
anatomist are entirely different4 ,it is
 the function of the  anatomist to      
decide regarding the high and the low1  

the typical and the  aberrant2 and so1  
beginning at what is lowest or highest  
in the scale1  or least or most         
symmetrical in type1 he passes through  
the intermediate  forms to the opposite 
extreme3 and such is the order natural  
and proper  to his science4 ,it is the  
vocation of the geologist1 on the other 
hand1  to decide regarding the early and
 the late4 ,it is with time1 not with   
rank1 that he has to deal4 ,nor is it in
 the least surprising that he  should   
seem at issue with the comparative      
anatomist1 when1 in classifying  his    
groupes of organized being according to 
the periods of their  appearance1 there 
is an order of arrangement forced upon  
him1 different  from that which1 on an  
entirely different principle1 the       
anatomist  pursues4 ,nor can there be a 
better illustration of a collision of   
this  kind1 than the one furnished by   
the case in point4 ,that peculiarity of 
structure which1 as the lowest in the   
vertebral skeleton1 is to the           

comparative anatomist the primary and   
original one1 and which1 as such1       
furnishes him with his starting point1  
is to the geologist not primary1  but   
secondary1 simply because it was not    
primary1 but secondary1 in the  order of
 its occurrence4 ,it belongs1 so far as 
we yet know1 not to the  first period of
 vertebrate existence1 but to the       
second2 and appears  in geologic history
 as does that savage state which certain
 philosophers  have deemed the original 
condition of the human species1 in the  
history  of civilization1 when read by  
the light of the ,revealed ,record1     
under the  shadow of those gigantic     
ruins of the ,east that date only a few 
centuries  after the ,flood4 ,it is     
found to be a degradation first         
introduced  during the lapse of an      
intermediate age1--not the normal       
condition which  obtained during the    
long cycles of the primal one4 ,it      
indicates1 not the  starting point from 
which the race of creation began1 but   

the stage of  retrogradation beyond it  
at which the pilgrims who set out in a  
direction  opposite to that of the goal 
first arrived4#ca    ,this fact of      
degradation1 strangely indicated in     
geologic history1 with  reference to all
 the greater divisions of the animal    
kingdom1 has often  appeared to me a    
surpassingly wonderful one4 ,we can see 
but imperfectly1  in those twilight     
depths to which all such subjects       
necessarily belong2  and yet at times   
enough does appear to show us what a    
very superficial  thing infidelity may  
be4 ,the general advance in creation has
 been  incalculably great4 ,the lower   
divisions of the vertebrata preceded    
the higher2--the fish preceded the      
reptile1 the reptile preceded the  bird1
 the bird preceded the mammiferous      
quadruped1 and the mammiferous          
quadruped preceded man4 ,and yet1 is    
there one of these great divisions  in  
which1 in at least some prominent       
feature1 the present1 through this      

mysterious element of degradation1 is   
not inferior to the past8 ,there  was a 
time in which the ichthyic form         
constituted the highest example  of     
life2 but the seas during that period   
did not swarm with fish of the  degraded
 type4 ,there was1 in like manner1 a    
time when all the carnivora  and all the
 herbivorous quadrupeds were represented
 by reptiles2 but  there are no such    
magnificent reptiles on the earth now as
 reigned over  it then4 ,there was an   
after time1 when birds seem to have been
 the sole  representatives of the       
warm-blooded animals2 but we find1 from 
the prints  of their feet left in       
sandstone1 that the tallest men might   
have        8,walked under their huge   
legs1 and peeped about40    ,further1   
there was an age when the quadrupedal   
mammals were the magnates  of creation2 
but it was an age in which the sagacious
 elephant1 now  extinct1 save in the    
comparatively small ,asiatic and        
,african circles1 and  restricted to two

 species1 was the inhabitant of every   
country of the ,old  ,world1 from its   
southern extremity to the frozen shores 
of the northern  ocean2 and when vast   
herds of a closely allied and equally   
colossal genus  occupied its place in   
the ,new4 ,and now1 in the times of the 
high-placed  human dynasty1--of those   
formally delegated monarchs of creation1
 whose  nature it is to look behind them
 upon the past1 and before them1 with   
mingled fear and hope1 upon the         
future1--do we not as certainly see the 
elements of a state of ever-sinking     
degradation1 which is to exist for      
ever1 as of a state of ever-increasing  
perfectibility1 to which there is  to be
 no end8 ,nay1 of a higher race1 of     
which we know but little1 this  much we 
at least know1 that they long since     
separated into two great  classes1--that
 of the 8elect angels10 and of 8angels1 
that kept not their  first estate40     
,,evidence ,,of ,,the ,,silurian        
,,molluscs--,,of ,,the ,,fossil ,,flora4

 ,,ancient ,,tree4      ,after dwelling 
at such length on the earlier fishes1 it
 may seem scarce  necessary to advert to
 their lower contemporaries the         
mollusca1--that  great division of the  
animal kingdom which ,cuvier places     
second in the  descending order1 in his 
survey of the entire series1 and first  
among the  invertebrates2 and which     
,oken regards as the division out of    
which the  immediately preceding class  
of the vertebral animals have been      
developed4  8,the fish10 he says1 8is to
 be viewed as a mussel1 from between    
whose  shells a monstrous abdomen has   
grown out40 ,there is1 however1 a       
peculiarity in the molluscan group of   
the ,silurian system1 to which ,i  must 
be permitted briefly to refer1 as1 to   
employ the figure of ,sterne1  it       
presents 8two handles0 of an essentially
 different kind1 and as in all  such    
two-handled cases1 the mere special     
pleader is sure to avail himself  of    
only the handle which best suits his    

purpose for the time4    ,cuvier's first
 and highest class of the molluscs is   
formed of what are  termed the          
,cephalopods1--a class of creatures     
possessed of great freedom  of motion3  
they can walk1 swim1 and seize their    
prey2 they have what even  the lowest   
fishes such as the lancelet1 want1--a   
brain enclosed in a  cartilaginous      
cavity in the head1 and perfectly formed
 organs of sight2  they possess1 too1   
what is found in no other               
mollusc1--organs of hearing2  and in    
sagacity and activity they prove more   
than matches for the smaller  fishes1   
many of which they overmaster and       
devour4 ,with this highest  class there 
contrasts an exceedingly low molluscous 
class at the bottom  of the scale1 or1  
at least1 at what is now the bottom of  
the scale2 for  they constitute         
,cuvier's fifth class2 while his sixth  
and last1 the  ,cirrhopodes1 has been   
since withdrawn from the molluscs       
altogether1  and placed in a different  

division of the animal kingdom4 ,and    
this low  class1 the ,brachiopods1 are  
creatures that1 living in bivalve       
shells1  unfurnished with spring hinges 
to throw them open1 and always fast     
anchored to the same spot1 can but      
thrust forth1 through the interstitial  
chinks of their prison-houses1 spiral   
arms1 covered with cilia1 and  winnow   
the water for a living4 ,now1 it so     
happens that the molluscan  group of the
 ,silurian system is composed chiefly of
 these two extreme  classes4 ,it        
contains some of the other forms2 but   
they are few in number1  and give no    
character to the rocks in which they    
occur4 ,there was nothing  by which ,i  
was more impressed1 in a visit to a     
,silurian region1 than that  in its     
ancient graveyards1 as in those of the  
present day1 though in a  different     
sense1 the high and the low should so   
invariably meet together4  ,it is1      
however1 not impossible that1 in even   
the present state of things1  a similar 

union of the extreme forms of the marine
 mollusca may be taking  place in       
deep-sea deposits4 ,most of the         
intermediate forms provided  with shells
 capable of preservation1 such as the   
shelled ,gasteropoda  and the           
,conchifers1 are either littoral1 or    
restricted to comparatively  small      
depths2 whereas the ,brachiopoda are    
deep-sea shells2 and the  ,cephalopoda  
may be found voyaging far from land1 in 
the upper strata  of the sea above them4
 ,even in the seas that surround our own
 island1  the ,brachiopodous            
molluscs--terebratula and crania--have  
been found1 ever  since deep-sea        
dredging became common1 to be not very  
rare shells2 and in  the ,mediterranean1
 where they are less rare still1 fleets 
of ,argonauts1  the representatives of a
 highly organized family of the         
,cephalopods1 to  which it is now       
believed the ,bellerophon of the        
,palozoic rocks belonged1  may be seen  
skimming along the surface1 with sail   

and oar1 high over the  profound depths 
in which they lie4 ,and1 of course1 when
 death comes1 that  comes to high and   
low1 the remains of both ,argonauts and 
,brachiopods  must lie together at the  
bottom1 in beds almost totally devoid of
 the  intermediate forms4    ,now1 the  
author of the 8,vestiges10 in           
maintaining his hypothesis1  suspends it
 on the handle furnished him by the     
immense abundance of the  ,silurian     
,brachiopods4 ,the ,silurian period1 he 
says1 exhibits 8a scanty  and most      
defective development of life2 so much  
so1 that ,mr4 ,lyell calls  it1 par     
excellence1 the age of ,brachiopods1    
with reference to the by  no means      
exalted bivalve shell-fish which forms  
its predominant class4  ,such being the 
actual state of the case1 ,i must       
persist in describing  even the fauna of
 this age1 which we now know was not the
 first1 as1  generally speaking1 such a 
humble exhibition of the animal kingdom 
as  we might expect1 upon the           

development theory1 to find at an early 
stage  of the history of organization40 
,the reader will at once discern the    
fallacy here4 ,the ,silurian period was 
peculiarly an age of ,brachiopods1  for 
in no other period were ,brachiopods so 
numerous1 specifically or  individually1
 or of such size or importance2 whereas 
it was not so  peculiarly an age of     
,cephalopods1 for these we find         
introduced in still  greater numbers    
during the ,liasic and ,oolitic periods4
 ,in #ahdh1 when  ,professor ,edward    
,forbes edited the ,palontological map  
of ,britain and  ,ireland1 which forms  
one of the very admirable series of     
8,johnstone's  ,physical ,atlas10 the   
,cephalopods of the ,silurian rocks of  
,england and  ,wales were estimated at  
forty-eight species1 and the            
,brachiopods at  one hundred and fifty2 
whereas at the same date there were two 
hundred  and five ,cephalopods of the   
,oolitic formations enumerated1 and but 
fifty-four ,brachiopods4 ,it is the     

molluscs of the inferior1 not those  of 
the superior class1 that constitute     
7with their contemporaries the          
,trilobites7 the characteristic fossils 
of the ,silurian rocks2 and hence  the  
propriety of the distinctive name       
suggested by ,sir ,charles ,lyell4  ,but
 in the development question1 what we   
have specially to consider is1  not the 
numbers of the low1 but the standing of 
the high4 ,a country  may be            
distinctively a country of flocks and   
herds1 or a country of  the carnivorous 
mammalia1 or1 like ,new ,south ,wales or
 the ,galapagos1 a  country of marsupial
 animals or of reptiles4 ,its human     
inhabitants may  be merely a few hunters
 or shepherds1 too inconsiderable in    
numbers1 and  too much like their       
brethren elsewhere1 to give it any      
peculiar standing  as a home of men4    
,but in estimating the highest point in 
the scale to  which the animal kingdom  
has attained within its limits1 it is of
 its few  men1 not of its many beasts1  

that we must take note4 ,and the point  
to be  specially decided regarding the  
organisms of the ,silurian system1 in   
this  question1 is1 not the proportion  
in number which the lower forms bore  to
 the higher1 but the exact rank which   
the higher bore in the scale  of        
existence4 ,did the system furnish but a
 single ,cephalopod or a single  fish1  
we would yet have as certainly to       
determine that the chain of being       
reached as high as the ,cephalopod or   
the fish1 as if the remains of these    
creatures constituted its most abundant 
fossils4 ,the chain of animal  life     
reached quite as high on the evening of 
the sixth day of creation1  when the    
human family was restricted to a single 
pair1 as it does now1  when our statists
 reckon up by millions the inhabitants  
of the greater  capitals of the world2  
and the special pleader who1 in         
asserting the  contrary1 would insist on
 determining the point1 not by the rank 
of the  men of ,eden1 but by the number 

of minnows or sticklebacks that swarmed 
in its rivers1 might be perhaps deemed  
ingenious in his expedients1 but        
certainly not very judicious in the use 
of them4 ,it is worthy of remark1       
however1 that the ,brachiopods of those 
,palozoic periods in which the  group   
occupied such large space in creation1  
consisted of greatly larger  and more   
important animals than any which it     
contains in the present day4  ,it has   
yielded to what geological history shows
 to be the common fate1  and sunk into a
 state of degradation and decline4      
,the geological history of the          
vegetable1 like that of the animal      
kingdom1  has been pressed into the     
service of the development hypothesis2  
and  certainly their respective courses1
 both in actual arrangement and in      
their relation to human knowledge1 seem 
wonderfully alike4 ,it is not  much more
 than twenty years since it was held    
that no exogenous plant  existed during 
the ,carboniferous period4 ,the frequent

 occurrence of  ,conifer in the         
,secondary deposits had been            
conclusively determined  from numerous  
specimens2 but1 founding on what seemed 
a large amount of  negative evidence1 it
 was concluded that1 previous to the    
,liasic age1  nature had failed to      
achieve a tree1 and that the rich       
vegetation of the  ,coal ,measures had  
been exclusively composed of magnificent
 immaturities  of the vegetable         
kingdom1--of gigantic ferns and         
club-mosses1 that  attained to the size 
of forest trees1 and of thickets of the 
swamp-loving  horsetail family of       
plants1 that well nigh rivalled in      
height those  forests of masts which    
darken the rivers of our great          
commercial cities4  ,such was the view  
promulgated by ,m4 ,adolphe ,brongniart2
 and it may be  well to remark that1 so 
far as the evidence on which it was     
based was  positive1 the view was sound4
 ,it is a fact1 that inferior orders of 
plants were developed in those ages in a

 style which1 in their present  state of
 degradation1 they never exemplify3 they
 took their place1 not1  as now1 among  
the pigmies and abortions of creation1  
but among its  tallest and goodliest    
productions4 ,it is1 however1 not a fact
 that they  were the highest vegetable  
forms of their time4 ,true exogenous    
trees  also existed in great numbers and
 of vast size4 ,in various localities   
in the coal fields of both ,england and 
,scotland1--such as ,lennel ,braes  and 
,allan ,bank in ,berwickshire1          
,high-,heworth1 ,fellon1 ,gateshead1 and
  ,wideopen near ,newcastle-upon-,tyne1 
and in quarries to the west of the  city
 of ,durham1--the most abundant fossils 
of the system are its true  woods4 ,in  
the quarry of ,craigleith1 near         
,edinburgh1 three huge trunks  have been
 laid open during the last twenty years1
 within the space of  about a hundred   
and fifty yards1 and two equally massy  
trunks1 within  half that space1 in the 
neighboring quarry of ,granton1 all low 

in the  ,coal ,measures4 ,they lie      
diagonally athwart the strata1--at an   
angle of  about thirty1--with the nether
 and weightier portion of their boles   
below1 like snags in the ,mississippi2  
and we infer1 from their general        
direction1 that the stream to which they
 reclined must have flowed from  nearly 
north-east to south-west4 ,the current  
was probably that of a  noble river1    
which reflected on its broad bosom the  
shadow of many a  stately tree4 ,with   
the exception of one of the ,granton    
specimens1 which  still retains its     
strong-kneed roots1 they are all mere   
portions of  trees1 rounded at both ends
 as if by attrition or decay2 and yet   
one  of these portions measures about   
six feet in diameter by sixty-one feet  
in length2 another four feet in diameter
 by seventy feet in length2 and  the    
others1 of various thickness1 but all   
bulky enough to equal the  masts of     
large vessels1 range in length from     
thirty-six to forty-seven  feet4 ,it    

seems strange to one who derives his    
supply of domestic fuel  from the       
,dalkeith and ,falkirk coal-fields1 that
 the ,carboniferous  flora could ever   
have been described as devoid of trees4 
,i can scarce  take up a piece of coal  
from beside my study fire1 without      
detecting  in it fragments of carbonized
 wood1 which almost always exhibit the  
characteristic longitudinal fibres1 and 
not unfrequently the medullary  rays4   
,even the trap-rocks of the district    
enclose1 in some instances1  their      
masses of lignite1 which present in     
their transverse sections1  when cut by 
the lapidary1 the net-like reticulations
 of the conifer4  ,the fossil botanist1 
who devoted himself chiefly to the study
 of  microscopic structure1 would have  
to decide1 from the facts of the case1  
not that trees were absent during the   
,carboniferous period1 but that1  in    
consequence of their having been present
 in amazing numbers1 their  remains had 
entered more palpably and extensively   

into the composition  of coal than those
 of any other vegetable4#cb ,so far as  
is yet known1  they all belonged to the 
two great divisions of the coniferous   
family1  araucarians and pines4 ,the    
huge trees of ,craigleith and ,granton  
were of  the former tribe1 and          
approximate more nearly to ,altingia    
excelsa1 the  ,norfolk-,island pine1--a 
noble araucarian1 that rears its proud  
head from a  hundred and sixty to two   
hundred feet over the soil1 and exhibits
 a green  and luxuriant breadth of      
foliage rare among the ,conifer1--than  
any other  living tree4                 
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ec4    ,,altingia 
,,excelsa1 7,,norfolk-,,island ,,pine47 
,from a young specimen in the ,botanic  
,garden1 ,edinburgh4    ,beyond the     
,coal ,measures terrestrial plants      
become extremely rare4 ,the  fossil     
botanist1 on taking leave of the lower  
,carboniferous beds1 quits  the land1   
and sets out to sea2 and it seems in no 
way surprising1 that  the specimens     

which he there adds to his herbarium    
should consist mainly  of ,fucace and   
,conferve4 ,the development hypothesis  
can borrow no  support from the simple  
fact1 that while a high terrestrial     
vegetation  grows upon dry land1 only   
alg grow in the sea2 and even did the   
,old ,red  ,sandstone and ,silurian     
systems furnish1 as their vegetable     
organisms1  fucoids exclusively1 the    
evidence would amount to no more than   
simply  this1 that the land of the      
,palozoic periods produced plants of the
 land1  and the sea of the ,palozoic    
periods produced plants of the sea4     
,in the ,upper ,old ,red                
,sandstone1--the formation of the       
,holoptychius  and the                  
,stagonolepis1--the only vegetable      
remains which ,i have yet  seen are of a
 character so exceedingly obscure and   
doubtful1 that all  ,i could venture to 
premise regarding them is1 that they    
seem to be  the fragments of sorely     
comminuted fucoids4 ,in the formation of

 the  ,middle ,old ,red1--that of the   
,cephalaspis and the gigantic lobster of
  ,carmylie1--the vegetable remains are 
at once more numerous and better        
defined4 ,i have detected among the gray
 micaceous sandstones of  ,forfarshire a
 fucoid furnished with a thick1 squat   
stem1 that branches  into numerous      
divergent leaflets or fronds1 of a slim 
parallelogrammical1  grass-like form1   
and which1 as a whole1 somewhat         
resembles the scourge  of cords attached
 to a handle with which a boy whips his 
top4 ,and  ,professor ,fleming describes
 a still more remarkable vegetable      
organism  of the same formation1 8which1
 occurring in the form of circular1 flat
  patches1 composed each of numerous    
smaller contiguous circular pieces1 is  
altogether not unlike what might be     
expected to result from a compressed    
berry1 such as the bramble or rasp40 ,in
 the ,lower ,old ,red1--the formation   
of the ,coccosteus and                  
,cheiracanthus1--the remains of fucoids 

are more  numerous still4 ,there are    
gray slaty beds among the rocks of      
,navity1 that  owe their fissile        
character mainly to their layers of     
carbonized weed2  and 8among the rocks  
of ,sandy-,bay1 near ,thurso10 says ,mr4
 ,dick1 8the  dark impressions of large 
fucoids are so numerous1 that they      
remind one  of the interlaced boughs and
 less bulky pine-trunks that lie deep in
 our  mosses40 ,a portion of a stem from
 the last locality1 which ,i owe to ,mr4
  ,dick1 measures three inches in       
diameter2 but the ill-compacted cellular
  tissue of the alg is but indifferently
 suited for preservation2 and so  it    
exists as a mere coaly film1 scarcely   
half a line in thickness4    ,the most  
considerable collection of the ,lower   
,old ,red fucoids which  ,i have yet    
seen is that of the ,rev4 ,charles      
,clouston of ,sandwick1 in  ,orkney1--a 
skilful cultivator of geological        
science1 who has specially  directed his
 palontological inquiries on the        

vegetable remains of the  flagstones of 
his district1 as the department in which
 most remained  to be done2 but his     
numerous specimens only serve to show   
what a  poverty-stricken flora that of  
the ocean of the ,lower ,old ,red       
,sandstone  must have been4 ,i could    
detect among them but two species of    
plants2--the  one an imperfectly        
preserved vegetable1 more nearly        
resembling a  club-moss than aught else 
which ,i have seen1 but which bore on   
its  surface1 instead of the well-marked
 scales of the ,lycopodiace1  irregular 
rows of tubercles1 that1 when elongated 
in the profile1 as  sometimes happens1  
might be mistaken for minute1           
ill-defined leaves2  the other1 a       
smooth-stemmed fucoid1 existing on the  
stone in most cases  as a mere film1 in 
which1 however1 thickly-set longitudinal
 fibres are  occasionally traceable1 and
 which may be always distinguished from 
the  other by its sharp-edged outline1  
and from the circumstance that its      

stems continue to retain the same       
diameter for considerable distances1    
after throwing off at acute angles      
numerous branches nearly as bulky  as   
themselves4 ,in a ,thurso specimen1     
about two feet in length1 which ,i  owe 
to the kindness of ,mr4 ,dick1 there are
 stems continuous throughout1  that1    
though they ramify in that space into   
from six to eight branches1  are nearly 
as thick atop as at bottom4 ,they are   
the remains1 in all  probability1 of a  
long1 flexible weed1 that may have      
somewhat resembled  those fucoids of the
 intertropical seas1 which1 streaming   
slantwise  in the tide1 rise not        
unfrequently to the surface in from     
fifteen to  twenty fathoms of water2 and
 as1 notwithstanding their obscurity1   
they are among the most perfect         
specimens of their class yet found1  and
 contrast with the stately araucarians  
of the ,coal ,measures1 in a  style     
which cannot fail to delight the heart  
of every assertor of the  development   

hypothesis1 ,i present them to the      
reader from ,mr4 ,dick's  specimen1 in a
 figure 7fig4 #ed7 which1 however slight
 its interest1 has  at least the merit  
of being true4 ,the stone exhibits      
specimens of the two  species of ,mr4   
,clouston's collection1--the            
sharp-edged1 finely-striated  weed1 a1  
and that roughened by tubercles1 b2     
which1 besides the  distinctive         
character manifested on its surface1    
differs from the other  in rapidly      
losing breath with every branch which it
 throws off1 and1  in consequence1 runs 
soon to a point4 ,the cut on the        
opposite page  7fig4 #ee7 represents not
 inadequately the cortical peculiarities
 of  the two species when best          
preserved4 ,the surface of the tubercled
 one  will perhaps remind the           
,algologist of the knobbed surface of   
the thong  or receptacle of ,himanthalia
 lorea1 a recent fucoid1 common on the  
western coast of ,scotland1 but rare on 
the east4 ,an ,orkney specimen  lately  

sent me by ,mr4 ,william ,watt1 from a  
quarry at ,skaill1 has much  the        
appearance of one of the smaller ferns1 
such as the moor-worts1 sea             
spleen-worts1 or maiden-hairs4 ,it      
exists as an impression in diluted      
black1 on a ground of dark gray1 and has
 so little sharpness of outline1  that1 
like minute figures in oil-paintings1 it
 seems more distinct when  viewed at    
arm's length than when microscopically  
examined2 but enough  remains to show   
that it must have been a terrestrial1   
not a marine  plant4 ,the accompanying  
print 7fig4 #ef7 may be regarded as no  
unfaithful  representation of this      
unique fossil its state of imperfect    
keeping4  ,the vegetation of the        
,silurian system1 from its upper beds   
down till  where we reach the zero of   
life1 is1 like that of the ,old ,red    
,sandstone1  almost exclusively         
fucoidal4 ,in the older fossiliferous   
deposits of the  system in ,sweden1     
,russia1 the ,lake ,districts of        

,england1 ,canada1 and  the ,united     
,states1 fucoids occur1 to the          
exclusion1 so far as is yet  known1 of  
every other vegetable form2 and such is 
their abundance in some  localities1    
that they render the argillaceous rocks 
in which they lie  diffused1 capable of 
being fired as an alum slate1 and exist 
in others  as seams of a compact        
anthracite1 occasionally used as fuel4  
,they also  occur in those districts of 
,wales in which the place and sequence  
of the  various ,silurian formations    
were first determined1 though apparently
  in a state of keeping from which      
little can be premised regarding  their 
original forms4 ,sir ,roderick          
,murchison sums up his notice of the    
vegetable remains of the system in the  
province whence it derives its  name1 by
 stating that he had submitted his      
specimens to 8,mr4 ,robert ,brown  and  
,dr4 ,greville1 and that neither of     
these eminent botanists were able  to   
say much more regarding them than that  

they were fucoid-like bodies40          
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ed4    ,,fucoids  
,,of ,,the ,,lower ,,old ,,red          
,,sandstone4    a4 ,smooth-stemmed      
species4    b4 ,tubercled species4      
7,one sixth nat4 size1 linear47         
,illustration3 ,fig4 #ee4    a4         
,smooth-stemmed species4    b4          
,tubercled species4    7,natural size47 
,such are the vegetable organisms of the
 ,old ,red ,sandstone and ,silurian     
systems3 they are the remains of the    
ancient marine plants of ancient  marine
 deposits and1 as such1 lend quite as   
little support to the  development      
hypothesis as the recent alg of our     
existing seas4 ,the  case1 stated in its
 most favorable form1 amounts simply to 
this1--that  at certain early           
periods1--represented by the ,upper and 
,lower ,silurian  and the ,old ,red     
deposits1--the seas produced sea-plants2
 and that1 at  a certain later          
period1--that of the ,carboniferous     
system1--the land  produced land-plants4

 ,but even this1 did it stand alone1    
would be a too  favorable statement4 ,i 
have seen1 on one occasion1 the         
fisherman bring  up with his nets1 far  
in the open sea1 a wild rose-bush1 that1
 though  it still bore its              
characteristic thorns1 was encrusted    
with serpula1  and laden with pendulous 
lobularia4 ,it had been swept from its  
original  habitat by some river in      
flood1 that had undermined and torn down
 the  bank on which it grew2 and after  
floating about1 mayhap for months1 had  
become so saturated with water1 that it 
could float no longer4 ,and in  that    
single rose-bush1 dragged up to the     
light and air from its place  among     
,sertularia1 ,flustra1 ,serpula1 and the
 deep-sea fucoids1 ,i had as  certain an
 evidence of the existence of the       
dicotyledonous plant1 as if  ,i had all 
the families of the ,rosaec before me4  
,now1 we are furnished  by the more     
ancient formations with evidence        
regarding the existence  of a           

terrestrial vegetation1 such as that    
which the rose-bush in this  case       
supplied4 ,we cannot expect that the    
proofs should be numerous4 ,in  the     
chart of the ,pacific attached to the   
better editions of 8,cook's  ,voyages10 
there are several notes along the tract 
of the great navigator1  that indicate  
where1 in mid ocean1 trees or fragments 
of trees had been  picked up4 ,these    
entries1 however1 are but few1 though   
they belong to all  the three voyages   
together3 if ,i remember aright1 there  
are only five  entries in all1--two in  
the ,northern1 and three in the         
,southern ,pacific4  ,the floating shrub
 or tree1 at a great distance from land1
 is of rare  occurrence in even the     
present scene of things1 though the     
breadth of  land be great1 and trees    
numerous2 and in the times of the       
,silurian and  ,old ,red ,sandstone     
systems1 when the breadth of land was   
apparently not  great1 and trees and    
shrubs1 in consequence1 not numerous1 it

 must  have been of rarer occurrence    
still4 ,we learn1 however1 from ,sir    
,charles  ,lyell1 that in the 8,hamilton
 group of the ,united ,states1--a series
 of  beds that corresponds in many of   
its fossils with the ,ludlow rocks of   
,england1--plants allied to the         
,lepidodendra of the ,carboniferous type
  are abundant2 and that in the lower   
,devonian strata of ,new ,york the same 
plants occur associated with ferns40    
,and ,i am able to demonstrate1 from  an
 interesting fossil at present before   
me1 that there existed in the  period of
 the ,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone        
vegetable forms of a class greatly      
higher than either ,lepidodendra or     
ferns4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ef4     
,,fern8 ,,of ,,the ,,lower ,,old ,,red  
,,sandstone4    7,natural size47        
,illustration3 ,fig4 #eg4    ,,lignite  
,,of ,,the ,,lower ,,old ,,red          
,,sandstone4    7,one third nat4 size1  
linear47    ,in my little work on the   
,old ,red ,sandstone1 ,i have referred  

to an  apparent lignite of the ,lower   
,old ,red of ,cromarty1 which presented1
 when  viewed by the microscope1 marks  
of the internal fibre4 ,the surface1    
when under the glass1 resembled1 ,i     
said1 a bundle of horse-hairs lying     
stretched in parallel lines3 and in this
 specimen alone1 it was added1  had ,i  
found aught in the ,lower ,old ,red     
,sandstone approaching to proof of  the 
existence of dry land4 ,about four years
 ago ,i had this lignite put            
stringently to the question by ,mr4     
,sanderson1 and deeply interesting was  
the result4 ,i must first mention1      
however1 that there cannot rest the     
shadow of a doubt regarding the place of
 the organism in the geologic  scale4   
,it is unequivocally a fossil of the    
,lower ,old ,red ,sandstone4 ,i  found  
it partially embedded1 with many other  
nodules half-disinterred  by the sea1 in
 an ichthyolitic deposit1 a few hundred 
yards to the  east of the town of       
,cromarty1 which occurs more than four  

hundred  feet over the ,great           
,conglomerate base of the system4 ,a    
nodule that  lay immediately beside it  
contained a well-preserved specimen of  
the  ,coccosteus ,decipiens2 and in the 
nodule in which the lignite itself  is  
contained1 7fig4 #eg17 the practised eye
 may detect a scattered group  of scales
 of ,diplacanthus1 a scarce less        
characteristic organism of  the lower   
formation4 ,and what1 asks the reader1  
is the character of this  very ancient  
vegetable1--the most ancient1 by three  
whole formations1  that has presented   
its internal structure to the           
microscope8 ,is it as  low in the scale 
of development as in the geological     
scale8 ,does this  venerable ,adam of   
the forest appear1 like the ,adam of the
 infidel1 as a  squalid1 ill-formed     
savage1 with a rugged shaggy nature1    
which it would  require the suggestive  
necessities of many ages painfully to   
lick into  civilization8 ,or does it    
appear rather like the ,adam of the poet

 and the  theologian1 independent1 in   
its instantaneously-derived perfection1 
of  all after development8              
8,adam1 the goodliest man of men since  
born      ,his sons40    ,is its tissue 
vascular or cellular1 or1 like that of  
some of the  cryptogamia1 intermediate8 
,or what1 in fine1 is the nature and    
bearing  of its mute but emphatic       
testimony1 on that doctrine of          
progressive  development of late so     
strangely resuscitated8    ,in the first
 place1 then1 this ancient fossil is a  
true wood1--a  ,dicotyledonous or       
,polycotyledonous ,gymnosperm1 that1    
like the pines  and larches of our      
existing forests1 bore naked seeds1     
which1 in their  state of germination1  
developed either double lobes to shelter
 the embryo  within1 or shot out a      
fringe of verticillate spikes1 which    
performed  the same protective          
functions1 and that1 as it increased in 
bulk year  after year1 received its     
accessions of growth in outside layers4 

,in  the transverse section the cells   
bear the reticulated appearance which   
distinguish the conifer1 7fig4 #eh1 a27 
the lignite had been exposed  in its bed
 to a considerable degree of pressure2  
and so the openings  somewhat resemble  
the meshes of a net that has been drawn 
a little awry2  but no general          
obliteration of their original character
 has taken place1  save in minute       
patches1 where they have been injured by
 compression or  the bituminizing       
process4 ,all the tubes indicated by the
 openings are1 as  in recent conifer1 of
 nearly the same size2 and though1 as in
 many of  the more ancient lignites1    
there are no indications of annual      
rings1 the  direction of the medullary  
rays is distinctly traceable4 ,the      
longitudinal  sections are rather less  
distinct than the transverse one2 in the
 section  parallel to the radius of the 
stem or bole the circular disks of the  
conifer were at first not at all        
detected2 and1 as since shown by a  very

 fine microscope1 they appear simply as 
double and triple lines of  undefined   
dots1 7b17 that somewhat resemble the   
stippled markings  of the miniature     
painter2 nor are the openings of the    
medullary rays  frequent in the         
tangental section 7i4 e4 that parallel  
to the bark17  7c27 but nothing can be  
better defined than the peculiar        
arrangement  of the woody fibre1 and the
 longitudinal form of the cells4 ,such  
is the  character of this1 the most     
ancient of lignites yet found1 that     
yields  to the microscope the           
peculiarities of its original structure4
 ,we find  in it an unfallen ,adam1--not
 a half-developed savage4#cc            
,illustration3 ,fig4 #eh4    ,,internal 
,,structure ,,of ,,lignite ,,of ,,lower 
,,old ,,red ,,sandstone4    a4          
,transverse section4    b4 ,longitudinal
 section1 7parallel to radius1 or       
medullary rays47    c4 ,longitudinal    
section1 7tangental1 or parallel to the 
bark47    7,mag4 forty diameters47      

,the olive leaf which the dove brought  
to ,noah established at least three     
important facts1 and indicated a few    
more4 ,it showed most conclusively  that
 there was dry land1 that there were    
olive trees1 and that the  climate of   
the surrounding region1 whatever change 
it might have  undergone1 was still     
favorable to the development of         
vegetable life4  ,and1 further1 it might
 be very safely inferred from it1 that  
if olive  trees had survived1 other     
trees and plants must have survived     
also2 and  that the dark muddy          
prominences round which the ebbing      
currents were fast  sweeping to lower   
levels1 would soon present1 as in       
antediluvian times1  their coverings of 
cheerful green4 ,the olive leaf spoke   
not of merely  a partial1 but of a      
general vegetation4 ,now1 the coniferous
 lignite of  the ,lower ,old ,red       
,sandstone we find charged1 like the    
olive leaf1 with  a various and         
singularly interesting evidence4 ,it is 

something to know1  that in the times of
 the ,coccosteus and ,asterolepis there 
existed dry  land1 and that that land   
wore1 as at after periods1 its soft1 gay
 mantle  of green4 ,it is something also
 to know1 that the verdant tint was not 
owing to a profuse development of the   
mere immaturities of the vegetable      
kingdom1--crisp1 slow-growing lichens1  
or watery spore-propagated fungi  that  
shoot up to their full size in a        
night1--nor even to an abundance  of the
 more highly organized families of the  
liverworts and the mosses4  ,these may  
have abounded then1 as now2 though we   
have not a shadow of  evidence that they
 did4 ,but while we have no proof       
whatever of their  existence1 we have   
conclusive proof that there existed     
orders and  families of a rank far above
 them4 ,on the dry land of the ,lower   
,old  ,red ,sandstone1 on which1        
according to the theory of ,adolphe     
,brogniart1  nothing higher than a      
lichen or a moss could have been        

expected1 the  ship-carpenter might have
 hopefully taken axe in hand1 to explore
 the  woods for some such stately pine  
as the one described by ,milton1--      
8,hewn on ,norwegian hills1 to be the   
mast      ,of some great admiral40      
,viewed simply in its picturesque       
aspect1 this olive leaf of the ,old     
,red seems not at all devoid of poetry4 
,we sail upwards into the high  geologic
 zones1 passing from ancient to still   
more ancient scenes of  being2 and1 as  
we voyage along1 find ever in the       
surrounding prospect1  as in the        
existing scene from which we set out1 a 
graceful intermixture  of land and      
water1 continent1 river1 and sea4 ,we   
first coast along the  land of the      
,tertiary1 inhabited by the strange     
quadrupeds of ,cuvier1  and waving with 
the reeds and palms of the ,paris       
,basin2 the land of the  ,wealden1 with 
its gigantic iguanodon rustling amid its
 tree ferns and  its cycade1 comes next2
 then comes the green land of the       

,oolite1 with  its little pouched       
insectivorous quadruped1 its flying     
reptiles1 its  vast jungles of the      
,brora equisetum1 and its forests of the
 ,helmsdale  pine2 and then1 dimly as   
through a haze1 we mark1 as we speed on1
 the  thinly scattered islands of the   
,new ,red ,sandstone1 and pick up in our
  course a large floating leaf1 veined  
like that of a cabbage1 which not a     
little puzzles the botanists of the     
expedition4 ,and now we near the vast   
,carboniferous continent1 and see along 
the undulating outline1 between us  and 
the sky1 the strange forms of a         
vegetation1 compared with which that  of
 every previously seen land seems       
stunted and poor4 ,we speed day after   
day along endless forests1 in which     
gigantic club-mosses wave in air a      
hundred feet over head1 and skirt       
interminable marshes1 in which thickets 
of reeds overtop the mast-head4 ,and1   
where mighty rivers come rolling to  the
 sea1 we mark1 through the long-retiring

 vistas which they open into  the       
interior1 the higher grounds of the     
country covered with coniferous  trees1 
and see doddered trunks of vast size1   
like those of ,granton  and ,craigleith1
 reclining under the banks in deep muddy
 reaches1 with  their decaying tops     
turned adown the current4 ,at length the
 furthermost  promontory of this long   
range of coast comes full in view3 we   
near it1--we  have come up abreast of   
it3 we see the shells of the ,mountain  
,limestone  glittering white along its  
further shore1 and the green depths     
under our  keel lightened by the flush  
of innumerable corals2 and then1 bidding
  farewell to the land forever1--for so 
the geologists of but five years  ago   
would have advised1--we launch into the 
unmeasured ocean of the ,old  ,red1 with
 its three consecutive zones of animal  
life4 ,not a single patch  of land more 
do those geologic charts exhibit which  
we still regard as  new4 ,the zones of  
the ,silurian and ,cambrian succeed the 

zones of the ,old  ,red2 and1 darkly    
fringed by an obscure bank of cloud     
ranged along the  last zone in the      
series1 a night that never dissipates   
settles down upon  the deep4 ,our       
voyage1 like that of the old fabulous   
navigators of five  centuries ago1      
terminates on the sea in a thick        
darkness1 beyond which  there lies no   
shore and there dawns no light4 ,and it 
is in the middle of  this vast ocean1   
just where the last zone of the ,old    
,red leans against  the first zone of   
the ,silurian1 that we have succeeded in
 discovering  a solitary island unseen  
before1--a shrub-bearing land1 much     
enveloped  in fog1 but with hills that  
at least look green in the distance4    
,there  are patches of floating sea-weed
 much comminuted by the surf all around 
it2 and on one projecting headland we   
see clear through our glasses a         
cone-bearing tree4    ,this certainly is
 not the sort of arrangement demanded by
 the exigencies  of the development     

hypothesis4 ,a true wood at the base of 
the ,old ,red  ,sandstone1 or a true    
,placoid in the ,limestones of ,bala1   
very considerably  beneath the base of  
the ,lower ,silurian system1 are        
untoward misplacements  for the purposes
 of the ,lamarckian2 and who that has   
watched the progress  of discovery for  
the last twenty years1 and seen the     
place of the  earliest ichthyolite      
transferred from the ,carboniferous to  
the ,cambrian  system1 and that of the  
earliest exogenous lignite from the     
,lias to the  ,lower ,devonian1 will now
 venture to say that fossil wood may not
 yet  be detected as low in the scale as
 any vegetable organism whatever1 or    
fossil fish as low as the remains of any
 animal8 ,but though the response  of   
the earlier geologic systems be thus    
unfavorable to the development          
hypothesis1 may not men such as the     
author of the 8,vestiges0 urge1 that    
the geologic evidence1 taken as a whole1
 and in its bearing on groupes  and     

periods1 establishes the general fact   
that the lower plants and  animals      
preceded the higher1--that the conifera1
 for instance1 preceded  our true forest
 trees1 such as the oak and elm1--that1 
in like manner1 the  fish preceded the  
reptile1 that the reptile preceded the  
bird1 that the  bird preceded the       
mammiferous quadruped and the           
quadrumana1 and that the  mammiferous   
quadruped and the quadrumana preceded   
man8 ,assuredly yes6  ,they may and do  
urge that ,geology furnishes evidence of
 such a succession  of existences2 and  
the arrangement seems at once a very    
wonderful and  very beautiful one4 ,of  
that great and imposing procession of   
being of  which this world has been the 
scene1 the programme has been admirably 
marshalled4 ,but the order of the       
arrangement in no degree justifies the  
inference based upon it by the          
,lamarckian4 ,the fact that fishes and  
reptiles were created on an earlier day 
than the beasts of the field  and the   

human family1 gives no ground whatever  
for the belief that 8the  peopling of   
the earth was one of a natural kind1    
requiring time10 or that  the reptiles  
and fishes have been not only the       
predecessors1 but also the  progenitors 
of the beasts and of man4 ,the          
geological phenomena1 even had  the     
author of the 8,vestiges0 been consulted
 in their arrangement1 and  permitted to
 determine their sequence1 would yet    
have failed to furnish1  not merely an  
adequate foundation for the development 
hypothesis1  but even the slightest     
presumption in its favor4 ,in making    
good the  assertion1 may ,i ask the     
reader to follow me through the details 
of a  simple though somewhat lengthened 
illustration8          ,,superposition  
,,not ,,parental ,,relation4 ,,the      
,,beginnings ,,of ,,life4      ,several 
thousand years ago1 ere the upheaval of 
the last of our raised  beaches1 there  
existed somewhere on the ,british coast 
a submarine bed1  rich in sea-weed and  

the less destructible zoophytes1 and    
inhabited by  the commoner crustace and 
molluscs4 ,shoals of herrings frequented
 it  every autumn1 haunted by their     
usual enemies the dog-fish1 the cod1 and
  the porpoise2 and1 during the other   
seasons of the year1 it was swum  over  
by the ling1 the hake1 and the turbot4  
,a considerable stream1 that  traversed 
a wide extent of marshy country1 waving 
with flags and reeds1  and in which the 
frog and the newt bred by millions1     
entered the sea  a few hundred yards    
away1 and bore down1 when in flood1 its 
modicum  of reptilian remains1 some of  
which1 sinking over the submarine bed1  
found a lodgment at the bottom4         
,portions of reeds and flags were also  
occasionally entombed1 with now and then
 boughs of the pine and juniper1  swept 
from the higher grounds4 ,through       
frequent depositions of earthy  matter  
brought down by the streamlet1 and of   
sand thrown up by the sea1  a gradual   
elevation of the bottom went on1 till at

 length the deep-sea  bed came to exist 
as a shallow bank1 over which birds of  
the wader family  stalked mid-leg deep  
when plying for food2 and on one        
occasion a small  porpoise1 losing his  
way1 and getting entangled amid its     
shoals1 perished  on it1 and left his   
carcass to be covered up by its mud and 
silt4 ,that  elevation of the land1 or  
recession of the sea1 to which the      
country owes  its last acquired marginal
 strip of soil1 took place1 and the     
shallow  bank became a flat meadow1     
raised some six or eight feet above the 
sea-level4 ,herbs1 shrubs1 and trees1 in
 course of time covered it over2  and   
then1 as century succeeded century1 it  
gathered atop a thick stratum  of peaty 
mould1 embedding portions of birch and  
hazel bushes1 and a few  doddered oaks4 
,when in this state1 at a comparatively 
recent period1  an ,italian boy1        
accompanied by his monkey1 was passing  
over it1 when  the poor monkey1         
hard-wrought and ill-fed1 and withal but

 indifferently  suited originally for   
braving the rigors of a keen northern   
climate1  lay down and died1 and his    
sorrowing master covered up the remains4
 ,not  many years after1 the mutilated  
corpse of a poor shipwrecked sailor was 
thrown up1 during a night-storm1 on the 
neighboring beach3 it was a mere        
fragment of the human frame1--a         
mouldering unsightly mass1 decomposing  
in the sun2 and a humane herd-boy1      
scooping out a shallow grave for it1    
immediately over that of the monkey1    
buried it up4 ,last of all1 a farmer1   
bent on agricultural improvement1       
furrowed the flat meadow to the depth   
of some six or eight feet1 by a broad   
ditch1 that laid open its organic       
contents from top to bottom4 ,and then a
 philosopher of the school of  ,maillet 
and ,lamarck1 chancing to come that way1
 stepped aside to examine  the          
phenomena1 and square them with his     
theory4    ,first1 along the bottom of  
the deep ditch he detects marine        

organisms of  a low order1 and generally
 of a small size ,there are dark        
indistinct  markings traversing the gray
 silt which he correctly enough regards 
as the remains of fucoids and blent with
 these1 he finds the stony  cells of    
flustra1 the calcareous spindles of the 
sea-pen1 the spines  of echinus1 and the
 thin granular plates of the crustacea4 
,layers of  mussel and pecten shells    
come next1 mixed up with the shells of  
buccinum1  natica1 and trochus4 ,over   
the shells there occur defensive spines 
of  the dog-fish1 blent with the        
button-like1 thornset boucles of the    
ray4  ,and the minute skeletons of      
herrings1 with the vertebral and        
cerebral  bones of cod1 rest over these 
in turn4 ,he finds1 also1 well-preserved
  bits of reed1 and a fragment of pine4 
,higher up1 the well-marked bones  of   
the frog occur1 and the minute skeleton 
of a newt2 higher still1 the  bones of  
birds of the diver family2 higher still1
 the skeleton of a  porpoise2 and still 

higher1 he discovers that of a monkey1  
resting amid  the decayed boles and     
branches of dicotyledonous plants and   
trees4 ,he  pursues his search1 vastly  
delighted to find his doctrine of       
progressive  development so beautifully 
illustrated2 and last of all he detects1
 only  a few inches from the surface1   
the broken remains of the poor sailor4  
,and  having thus collected his facts1  
he sets himself to collate them with    
his hypothesis4 ,to hold that the       
zoophytes had been created zoophytes1   
the molluscs molluscs1 the fishes       
fishes1 the reptiles reptiles1 or the   
man a man1 would be1 according to our   
philosopher1 alike derogatory to  the   
,divine wisdom and to the acumen and    
vigor of the human intellect3 it  would 
be 8distressing to him to be compelled  
to picture the power of  ,god1 as put   
forth in any other manner than in those 
slow1 mysterious1  universal laws1 which
 have so plainly an eternity to work    
in20 nor1  with so large an amount of   

evidence before him as that which the   
ditch  furnishes1--evidence conclusive  
to the effect that creation is but      
development1--does he find it necessary 
either to cramp his faculties or        
outrage his taste1 by a weak yielding to
 the requirements of any such  belief4  
,meanwhile the farmer1--a plain1        
observant1 elderly man1 comes up1 and   
he and the philosopher enter into       
conversation4 8,i have been reading  the
 history of creation in the side of your
 deep ditch10 says the  philosopher1    
8and find the record really very        
complete4 ,look there10 he  adds1       
pointing to the unfossiliferous strip   
that runs along the bottom  of the bank2
 8there1 life1 both vegetable and       
animal1 first began4 ,it  began1 struck 
by electricity out of albumen1 as a     
congeries of minute  globe-shaped       
atoms1--each a hollow sphere within a   
sphere1 as in the  well-known ,chinese  
puzzle2 and from these living atoms were
 all the  higher forms progressively    

developed4 ,the ditch1 of course1       
exhibits  none of the atoms with which  
being first commenced2 for the atoms    
don't  keep2--we merely see their place 
indicated by that unfossiliferous band  
at the bottom2 but we may detect        
immediately over it almost the first    
organisms into which--parting thus early
 into the two great branches of  organic
 being--they were developed4 ,there are 
the fucoids1 first-born  among          
vegetables1--and there the zoophytes1   
well nigh the lowest of the  animal     
forms4 ,the fucoids are marine plants2  
for1 according to ,oken1  #8all life is 
from the sea1--none from the continent2'
 but there1 a few  feet higher1 we may  
see the remains of reeds and            
flags1--semi-aqueous1  semi-aerial      
plants of the comparatively low         
monocotyledonous order into  which the  
fucoids were developed2 higher still we 
detect fragments  of pines1 and1 ,i     
think1 juniper1--trees and shrubs of the
 land of an  intermediate order1 into   

which the reeds and flags were developed
  in turn2 and in that peaty layer      
immediately beneath the vegetable       
mould1 there occur boughs and trunks of 
blackened oak1--a noble tree  of the    
dicotyledonous division1--the highest to
 which vegetation in its  upward course 
has yet attained4 ,nor is the progress  
of the other great  branch of organized 
being--that of the animal kingdom--less 
distinctly  traceable4 ,the zoophytes   
became crustacea and molluscs1--the     
crustacea  and molluscs1 dog-fishes and 
herrings1--the dog-fish1 a low placoid1 
shot up chiefly into turbot1 cod1 and   
ling2 but the smaller osseous  fish was 
gradually converted into a batrachian   
reptile2 in short1  the herring became a
 frog1--an animal that still testifies  
to its  ichthyological origin1 by       
commencing life as a fish4 ,gradually1  
in  the course of years1 the reptile1   
expanding in size and improving in      
faculty1 passed into a warm-blooded     
porpoise2 the porpoise at length1       

tiring of the water as he began to know 
better1 quitted it altogether1  and     
became a monkey1 and the monkey by slow 
degrees improved into  man1--yes1 into  
man1 my friend1 who has still a         
tendency1 especially  when just shooting
 up to his full stature1 and studying   
the #8,vestiges1'  to resume the monkey4
 ,such1 ,sir1 is the true history of    
creation1 as  clearly recorded in the   
section of earth1 moss1 and silt1 which 
you have  so opportunely laid bare4     
,where that ditch now opens1 the        
generations  of the man atop lived1     
died1 and were developed4 ,there        
flourished  and decayed his             
great-great-great-great-grandfather the 
sea-pen1--his                           
great-great-great-grandfather the       
mussel1--his great-great-grandfather    
the herring1--his great-grandfather the 
frog1--his grandfather the              
porpoise1--and his father the monkey4   
,and there also lived1 died1 and  were  
developed1 the generations of the oak1  

from the kelp-weed and tangle  to the   
reed and the flag1 and from the reed and
 the flag1 to the pine1  the juniper1   
the hazel1 and the birch40    8,master10
 replies the farmer1 8,i see you are a  
scholar and1 ,i suspect1  a wag4 ,it    
would take a great deal of believing to 
believe all that4  ,in the days of my   
poor old neighbor the infidel weaver1   
who died of  delirium tremens thirty    
years ago1 ,i used to read ,tom ,paine2 
and1 as ,i  was a little wild at the    
time1 ,i was1 ,i am afraid1 a bit of a  
sceptic4  ,it wasn't easy work always to
 be as unbelieving as ,tom1 especially  
when  the conscience within got queasy2 
but it would be a vast deal easier1     
,master1 to doubt with ,tom than to     
believe with you4 ,i am a plain  man1   
but not quite a fool2 and as ,i have now
 been looking about me in  this         
neighborhood for the last forty years1  
,i have come to know that it  gives no  
assurance that any one thing grew out of
 any other thing because  it chances to 

be found atop of it1 ,master4 ,see1     
yonder is ,dobbin lying  lazily atop of 
his bundle of hay2 and yonder little    
,jack1 with bridle in  hand1 and he in a
 few minutes will be atop of ,dobbin4   
,and all ,i see in  that ditch1 ,master1
 from top to bottom1 is neither more nor
 less than a  certain top-upon-bottom   
order of things4 ,i see sets of bones   
and dead  plants lying on the top of    
other sets of bones and dead            
plants1--things  lying atop of things1  
as ,i say1 like ,dobbin on the hay and  
,jack upon  ,dobbin4 ,i doubt not the   
sea was once here1 ,master1 just as it  
was once  where you see the low-lying   
field yonder1 which ,i won from it ten  
years  ago4 ,i have carted tangle and   
kelp-weed where ,i now cut clover and   
rye-grass1 and have gathered periwinkles
 where ,i now see snails4 ,but it  is   
clean against experience1 as my poor old
 neighbor the weaver used  to           
say1--against my experience1            
,master1--that it was the kelp-weed that

  became the rye-grass1 or that the     
periwinkles freshened into snails4  ,the
 kelp-weed and periwinkles belong to    
those plants and animals of the  sea    
that we find growing in only the sea2   
the rye-grass and snails1  to those     
plants and animals of the land that we  
find growing on only  the land4 ,it is  
contrary to all experience1 and all     
testimony too1 that  the one passed into
 the other1 and so ,i cannot believe it2
 but ,i do  and must believe1           
instead1--for it is not contrary to     
experience1 and  much according to      
testimony1--that the ,author of all     
created both land  productions and sea  
productions at the #8times before       
appointed1' and  #8determined the bounds
 of their habitation4' #8,by faith we   
understand  that the worlds were framed 
by the word of ,god2' and ,i find ,i can
 be  a believer on ,god's terms at a    
much less expense of credulity than an  
infidel on yours40    ,but in this form 
at least it can be scarce necessary that

 the argument  should be prolonged4     
,the geological phenomena1 ,i repeat1   
even had the author of the 8,vestiges0  
been consulted in their arrangement1 and
 permitted to determine their  sequence1
 would fail to furnish a single         
presumption in favor of the  development
 hypothesis4 ,does the ditch-side of my 
illustration furnish it  with a single  
favoring presumption8 ,the arrangement  
and sequence of the  various organisms  
are complete in both the zoological and 
phytological  branch4 ,the flag and reed
 succeed the fucoid2 the fir and juniper
 succeed  the flag and reed2 and the    
hazel1 birch1 and oak succeed the fir   
and  juniper4 ,in like manner1 and with 
equal regularity1 zoophytes1 the        
radiata1 the articulata1 mollusca1      
fishes1 reptiles1 birds1 and mammals1   
are ranged1 the superior in succession  
over the inferior classes1 in  the true 
ascending order2 and yet we at once see 
that the evidence of  the ditch-side1   
amounting in the aggregate to no more   

than this1 that  the remains of the     
higher lie over those of the lower      
organisms1 gives  not a shadow of       
support to the hypothesis that the lower
 produced the  higher4 ,for1 according  
to the honest farmer1 the fact that any 
one thing  is found lying on the top of 
any other thing1 furnishes no           
presumption  whatever that the thing    
below stands in the relation of parent  
to  the thing above4 ,and the evidence  
which the well-ranged organisms of  the 
ditch-side do not furnish1 the organisms
 of the entire geologic  scale1 even    
were they equally well ranged1 would    
fail to supply4 ,the  fossiliferous     
portion of the ditch-side of my         
illustration may be1 let us  suppose1   
some five or six feet in thickness2 the 
fossiliferous portion  of the earth's   
crust must be some five or six miles in 
thickness4  ,but the mere circumstance  
of space introduces no new element into 
the question4 ,equally in both cases the
 fact of superposition is not  identical

 with the fact of parental relation1 nor
 even in any degree an  analogous fact4 
,as1 however1 the succession of remains 
in the fossiliferous series of  rocks is
 infinitely less favorable to the       
development hypothesis than  that of the
 organisms of the ditch-side1 it is not 
very surprising  that the disciples of  
the development school should be now    
evincing a  disposition to escape from  
the ascertained facts of ,geology1 and  
the  legitimate conclusions based upon  
these1 unto unknown and unexplored      
provinces of the science2 or that they  
should be found virtually urging1  that 
though some of the ascertained facts may
 seem to bear against them1  the facts  
not yet ascertained may be found telling
 in their favor4  ,such1 in effect1 is  
the course taken by the author of the   
8,vestiges10  in his 8,explanations10   
when1 availing himself of a difference  
of  opinion which exists among some of  
our most accomplished geologists        
regarding the first epochs of organized 

existence1 he takes part with  the      
section who hold that we have not yet   
penetrated to the deposits              
representative of the dawn of being1 and
 that fossil-charged formations  may yet
 be detected beneath the oldest rocks of
 what is now regarded  as the lowest    
fossiliferous system4 ,sir ,charles     
,lyell and ,mr4 ,leonard  ,hornet       
represent the abler and better-known    
assertors of this last view2  while ,sir
 ,roderick ,murchison and ,professor    
,sedgwick rank among the more           
distinguished assertors of the          
antagonist one4 ,it would be of course  
utterly presumptuous in the writer of   
these pages to attempt deciding  a      
question regarding which such men       
differ2 but in forming a judgment  for  
myself1 various considerations incline  
me to hold1 that the point  is now very 
nearly determined at which1 to employ   
the language of ,sir  ,roderick1 8life  
was first breathed into the waters40    
,the pyramid of  organized existence1 as

 it ascends in the by-past eternity1    
inclines  sensibly towards its          
apex1--that apex of 8beginning0 in      
which1 on  far other than geological    
grounds1 it is our privilege to believe4
  ,the broad base of the superstructure1
 planted on the existing now1  stretches
 across the entire scale of life1 animal
 and vegetable2 but it  contracts as it 
rises into the past2--man--the          
quadrumana--the quadrupedal  mammal--the
 bird--and the reptile--are each in     
succession struck from off  its breadth1
 till we at length see it with the      
vertebrata1 represented  by only the    
fish1 narrowing1 as it were1 to a point2
 and though the  clouds of the upper    
region may hide its extreme apex1 we    
infer from the  declination of its      
sides1 that it cannot penetrate much    
farther into the  profound4 ,when       
,steele and ,addison were engaged in    
breaking up1 piecemeal1  their          
,spectator ,club1--killing off good ,sir
 ,roger de ,coverly with a  defluction1 

marrying ,will ,honeycomb to his        
tenant's daughter1 and sending  away    
,captain ,sentry and ,sir ,andrew       
,freeport to their estates to the       
country1--it was shrewdly inferred that 
the 8,spectator0 himself was very  soon 
to quit the field2 and the sudden       
discontinuance of his lucubrations      
justified the inference4 ,and a         
corresponding style of reasoning1 based 
on the corresponding fact of the        
breaking up and piecemeal disappearance 
of the group of organized being1 seems  
equally admissible4 ,it is  somewhat    
difficult to conceive how at least many 
more volumes of the  geologic record    
than the known ones could be got up     
without the club4  ,further1--so far as 
yet appears1 the fish must have lived in
 advance of  the reptile during the     
three protracted periods of the ,old    
,red ,sandstone1  the two still more    
protracted periods of the ,upper and    
,lower ,silurians1  and the perhaps more
 protracted period still of the         

,cambrian deposits2--in  all1           
apparently1 a greatly more extended     
space than that in which the  reptile   
lived in advance of the quadrupedal     
mammal1 or the quadrupedal  mammal lived
 in advance of man4 ,on principles      
somewhat similar to those  on which1    
with reference to the average term of   
life1 the genealogist  fixes the        
probable period of some birth in his    
chain of succession of  which he cannot 
determine the exact date1 it seems      
natural to infer that  the birth of the 
fish should have taken place at least   
not earlier than  the times of the      
,cambrian system4    ,there is another  
consideration1 of at least equal1 if not
 greater  weight4 ,a general            
correspondence is found to obtain in    
widely-separated  localities1 in the    
organic contents of that lowest band of 
the ,lower  ,silurian or ,cambrian      
system in which fossils have been       
detected4 ,in  ,russia1 in ,sweden1 in  
,norway1 in the ,lake district of       

,england1 and in  the ,united ,states1  
there are certain rocks which occupy    
relatively  the same place1 and enclose 
what may be described generally as the  
same remains4 ,they occur in            
,scandinavia as that 8fucoidal band0 of 
,sir  ,roderick ,murchison which forms  
the base of the vast ,palozoic basin of 
the ,baltic2 they exist in ,cumberland  
and ,westmoreland as the ,skiddaw       
slates of ,professor ,sedgwick1 and bear
 also their fucoidal impressions1  blent
 with graptolites2 they are present in  
,north ,america as those  ,potsdam      
sandstones of the ,states' geologists in
 which fucoids so abound1  mixed with a 
minute lingula1 that they impart to some
 portions of the  strata a carboniferous
 character4 ,but with these deep-lying  
beds in  all the several localities1    
thousands of miles apart1 in which their
  passage into the inferior deposits has
 been traced1 fossils cease4 ,and  why  
cease with them8 ,in one locality the   
ancient ocean may have been of  such a  

depth in the period immediately         
previous1 and represented1 in           
consequence1 by the strata immediately  
beneath1 that no animal could  have     
lived at its bottom1--though ,i do not  
well see why the remains  of those      
animals who1 like the shark and         
pilot-fish1 are frequently  seen        
swimming over the profoundest depths1   
might not1 did such exist  at the time1 
be notwithstanding found at its bottom2 
or in another  locality every trace of  
organization in the nether rocks may    
have been  obliterated1 at some         
posterior period1 by fire4 ,but it is   
difficult to  imagine that that uniform 
cessation of organized life at one      
point1 which  seems to have conducted   
,sir ,roderick ,murchison and ,professor
 ,sedgwick  to their conclusion1 should 
have been thus a mere effect of         
accident4  ,accident has its laws1 but  
uniformity is not one of them2 and      
should the  experience be invariable1 as
 it already seems extensive1 that       

immediately  beneath the fucoidal beds  
organic remains cease1 ,i do not see how
 the  conclusion is to be avoided1 that 
they represent the period in which at   
least existences capable of preservation
 were first introduced4 ,every  case of 
coincident cessation which has occurred 
since the determination  of the second  
case1 must be reckoned1 not simply as an
 additional  unit in evidence1 but1 on  
the principles which determine          
mathematical  probability1 as a unit    
multiplied first by the chances against 
its  occurrence1 regarded as a mere     
contingency in that exact formation1 and
  second1 by the sum of all the previous
 occurrences at the same point4    ,in  
this curious question1 however1 which it
 must be the part of future  explorers  
in the geological field definitely to   
settle1 the ,lamarckian  can have no    
legitimate stake4 ,it is but natural    
that1 in his anxiety to  secure an      
ultimate retreat for his hypothesis1 he 
should desire to see  that darkness in  

which ghosts love to walk settling down 
on the extreme  verge of the geological 
horizon1 and enveloping in its folds the
 first  beginnings of life4 ,but even   
did the cloud exist1 it is1 if ,i may so
  express myself1 on its nearer side1   
where there is light1--not within nor   
beyond it1 where there is none1--that   
the battle must be fought4 ,it is to    
,geology as it is known to be1 that the 
,lamarckian has appealed1--not  to      
,geology as it is not known to be4 ,he  
has summoned into court  existing       
witnesses2 and1 finding their testimony 
unfavorable1 he seeks  to neutralize    
their evidence by calling from the      
8vasty deep10 of the  unexamined and the
 obscure1 witnesses that 8won't         
come10--that by the  legitimate         
authorities are not known even to       
exist1--and with which he  himself is1  
on his own confession1 wholly           
unacquainted1 save in the old           
scholastic character of mere            
possibilities4 ,the possible fossil can 

have no more standing in this           
controversy than the 8possible angel40  
,he tells us that we have not yet got   
down to that base-line of all the       
fossiliferous systems at which life     
first began2 and very possibly we  have 
not4 ,but what of that8 ,he has carried 
his appeal to ,geology as it  is2--he   
has referred his case to the testimony  
of the known witnesses1  for in no case 
can the unknown ones be summoned or     
produced4 ,it is on  the evidence of the
 known1 and the known only1 that the    
exact value of  his claims must be      
determined2 and his appeal to the       
unknown serves but  to show how         
thoroughly he himself feels that the    
actually ascertained  evidence bears    
against him4 ,the severe censure of     
,johnson on reasoners of  this class is 
in no degree over-severe4 8,he who will 
determine10 said the  moralist1 8against
 that which he knows1 because there may 
be something  which he knows not1--he   
that can set hypothetical possibility   

against  acknowledged certainty1--is not
 to be admitted among reasonable        
beings40    ,but the honest farmer's    
reminiscences of his deceased neighbor  
the  weaver1 and his use at second-hand 
of ,hume's experience-argument1         
naturally lead me to another branch of  
the subject4          ,,lamarckian      
,,hypothesis ,,of ,,the ,,origin ,,of   
,,plants4 ,,its ,,consequences4      ,i 
have said that the curiously-mixed1     
semi-marine1 semi-lacustrine flora  of  
the ,lake of ,stennis became associated 
in my mind1 like the ancient            
,asterolepis of ,stromness1 with the    
development hypothesis4 ,the fossil1  as
 has been shown1 represents not         
inadequately the geologic evidence in   
the question1--the mixed vegetation of  
the lake may be regarded as forming  a  
portion of the phytological evidence4   
8,all life10 says ,oken1 8is from the   
sea4 ,where the sea organism1 by        
self-elevation1 succeeds in attaining   
into form1 there issues forth  from it a

 higher organism4 ,love arose out of the
 sea-foam4 ,the primary  mucus 7that in 
which electricity originates life7 was1 
and is still1  generated in those very  
parts of the sea where the water is in  
contact  with earth and air1 and thus   
upon the shores4 ,the first creation of 
the  organic took place where the first 
mountain summits projected out of the   
water1--indeed1 without doubt1 in       
,india1 if the ,himalaya be the highest 
mountain4 ,the first organic forms1     
whether plants or animals1 emerged  from
 the shallow parts of the sea40 ,maillet
 wrote to exactly the same  effect a    
full century ago4 8,in a word10 we find 
him saying1 in his  8,telliamed10 8do   
not herbs1 plants1 roots1 grains1 and   
all of this kind  that the earth        
produces and nourishes1 come from the   
sea8 ,is it not at  least natural to    
think so1 since we are certain that all 
our habitable  lands came originally    
from the sea8 ,besides1 in small islands
 far from  the continent1 which have    

appeared but a few ages ago at most1 and
 where  it is manifest that never any   
man had been1 we find shrubs1 herbs1    
roots1  and sometimes animals4 ,now1 you
 must be forced to own either that these
  productions owed their origin to the  
sea1 or to a new creation1 which is     
absurd40    ,it is a curious fact1 to   
which1 in the passing1 ,i must be       
permitted to  call the attention of the 
reader1 that all the leading assertors  
of the  development hypothesis have been
 bad geologists4 ,maillet had for his   
errors and deficiencies the excellent   
apology that he wrote more than  a      
hundred years ago1 when the theory of a 
universal ocean1 promulgated  by        
,leibnitz nearly a century earlier1 was 
quite as good as any of the  other      
theories of the time1 and when ,geology1
 as a science1 had no  existence4 ,and  
so we do not wonder at an ignorance     
which was simply that  of his age1 when 
we find him telling his readers that    
plants must  have originated in the sea1

 seeing that 8all our habitable lands   
came  originally from the sea20 meaning1
 of course1 by the statement1 not at    
all what the modern geologist would mean
 were he to employ even the same  words1
 but simply that there was a time when  
the universal ocean covered  the whole  
globe1 and that1 as the waters gradually
 diminished1 the  loftier mountain      
summits and higher table-lands1 in      
appearing in their  new character as    
islands and continents1 derived their   
flora from what1  in a universal ocean  
could be the only possible existing     
flora1--that  of the sea4 ,but what     
shall we say of the equally profound    
ignorance  manifested by ,professor     
,oken1 a living authority1 whom we find 
prefacing  for the ,ray ,society1 in    
#ahdg1 the ,english translation of his  
8,elements  of ,physio-philosophy80     
8,the first creation of the organic took
 place10  we find him saying1 8where the
 first mountain summits projected out   
of the sea1--indeed1 without doubt1 in  

,india1 if the ,himalaya be the  highest
 mountain40 ,here1 evidently1 in this   
late age of the world1 in  which        
,geology does exist as a science1 do we 
find the ghost of the  universal ocean  
of ,leibnitz walking once more1 as if it
 had never been  laid4 ,is there now in 
all ,britain even a tyro geologist so   
unacquainted  with geological fact as   
not to know that the richest flora which
 the  globe ever saw had existed for    
myriads of ages1 and then1 becoming     
extinct1 had slept in the fossil state  
for myriads of ages more1 ere  the      
highest summits of the ,himalayan range 
rose over the surface of the  deep8 ,the
 ,himalayas disturbed1 and bore up along
 with them in their  upheaval1 vast beds
 of the ,oolitic system4 ,belemnites and
 ammonites have  been dug out of their  
sides along the line of perpetual snow1 
seventeen  thousand feet over the level 
of the sea4 ,what in the recent period  
form  the loftiest mountains of the     
globe1 existed as portions of a deep-sea

  bottom1 swum over by the fishes and   
reptiles of the great ,secondary        
period1 when what is now ,scotland had  
its dark forests of stately             
pine1--represented in the present age of
 the world by the lignites of           
,helmsdale1 ,eathie1 and ,eigg1--and    
when the plants of a former creation    
lay dead and buried deep beneath1 in    
shales and fire-clay1--existing as  vast
 beds of coal1 or entombed in solid     
rock1 as the brown massy trunks  of     
,granton and ,craigleith4 ,and even ere 
these last existed as living  trees1 the
 coniferous lignite of the ,lower ,old  
,red ,sandstone found at  ,cromarty had 
passed into the fossil state1 and lay as
 a semi-calcareous1  semi-bituminous    
mass1 amid perished ,dipterians and     
extinct ,coccostei4  ,so much for the   
,geology of the ,german ,professor4 ,and
 be it remarked1  that the actualities  
in this question can be determined by   
only the  geologist4 ,the mere          
naturalist may indicate from the        

analogies of his  science1 what possibly
 might have taken place1 but what really
 did  take place1 and the true order in 
which the events occurred1 it is the    
part of the geologist to determine4 ,it 
cannot be out of place to remark1       
further1 that geological discovery is in
 no degree responsible for the          
infidelity of the development           
hypothesis2 seeing that1 in the first   
place1 the hypothesis is greatly more   
ancient than the discoveries1  and1 in  
the second1 that its more prominent     
assertors are exactly the  men who know 
least of geological fact4 ,but to this  
special point ,i shall  again refer4    
,the author of the 8,vestiges0 is at    
one1 regarding the supposed marine      
origin of terrestrial plants1 with      
,maillet and ,oken2 and he regards the  
theory1 we find him stating in his      
8,explanations10 as the true key to  the
 well-established fact1 that the        
vegetation of groupes of islands        
generally corresponds with that of the  

larger masses of land in their          
neighborhood4 ,marine plants of the same
 kinds crept out of the sea1 it  would  
seem1 upon the islands on the one hand1 
and upon the larger masses  of land on  
the other1 and thus produced the same   
flora in each2 just as  tadpoles1 after 
passing their transition state1 creep   
out of their canal  or river on the     
opposite banks1 and thus give to the    
fields or meadows on  the right-hand    
side a supply of frogs1 of the same     
appearance and size  as those poured out
 upon the fields and meadows of the     
left4 8,thus1 for  example10 we find him
 saying1 8the ,galapagos exhibit general
 characters  in common with ,south      
,america2 and the ,cape de ,verd        
islands1 with ,africa4  ,they are1 in   
,mr4 ,darwin's happy phrase1 satellites 
to those continents1  in respect of     
natural history4 ,again10 he continues1 
8when masses of  land are only divided  
from each other by narrow seas1 there is
 usually a  community of forms4 ,the    

,european and ,african shores of the    
,mediterranean  present an example4 ,our
 own islands afford another of far      
higher value4  ,it appears that the     
flora of ,ireland and ,great ,britain is
 various1 or  rather that we have five  
floras or distinct sets of plants1 and  
that  each of these is partaken of by a 
portion of the opposite continent4      
,there are1 first1 a flora confined to  
the west of ,ireland1 and imparted      
likewise to the north-west of ,spain2   
second1 a flora in the south-west       
promontory of ,england and of ,ireland1 
extending across the ,channel to  the   
north-west coast of ,france2 third1 one 
common to the south-east  of ,england   
and north of ,france2 fourth1 an ,alpine
 flora developed in  the ,scottish and  
,welsh ,highlands1 and intimately       
related to that of  the ,norwegian      
,alps2 fifth1 a flora which prevails    
over a large part of  ,england and      
,ireland1 #8mingled with other floras1  
and diminishing slightly  as we proceed 

westward3' this bears intimate relation 
with the flora  of ,germany4 ,facts so  
remarkable would force the meanest      
fact-collector  or species-demonstrator 
into generalization4 ,the really        
ingenious man  who lately brought them  
under notice 7,professor ,edward        
,forbes7 could  only surmise1 as their  
explanation1 that the spaces now        
occupied by the  intermediate seas must 
have been dry land at the time when     
these floras  were created4 ,in that    
case1 either the original arrangement of
 the  floras1 or the selection of land  
for submergence1 must have been apposite
  to the case in a degree far from      
usual4 ,the necessity for a simpler     
cause  is obvious1 and it is found in   
the hypothesis of a spread of           
terrestrial  vegetation from the sea    
into the lands adjacent4 ,the community 
of forms  in the various regions opposed
 to each other merely indicates a       
distinct  marine creation in each of the
 oceanic areas respectively interposed1 

and  which would naturally advance into 
the lands nearest to it1 as far as      
circumstances of soil and climate were  
found agreeable40    ,such1 regarding   
the origin of terrestrial vegetation1   
are the views  of ,maillet1 ,oken1 and  
the author of the 8,vestiges40 ,they all
 agree in  holding that the plants of   
the land existed in their first         
condition as  weeds of the sea4    ,let 
me request the reader at this stage1 ere
 we pass on to the  consideration of the
 experience-argument1 to remark a few   
incidental1  but by no means            
unimportant1 consequences of the belief4
 ,and1 first1 let  him weigh for a      
moment the comparative demands on his   
credulity of the  theory by which       
,professor ,forbes accounts for the     
various floras of the  ,british         
,islands1 and that hypothesis of        
transmutation which the author of  the  
8,vestiges0 would so fain put in its    
place1 as greatly more simple1  and1 of 
course1 more in accordance with the     

principles of human belief4  ,in order  
to the reception of the ,professor's    
theory1 it is necessary to  hold1 in the
 first place1 that the creation of each 
species of plant  took place1 not by    
repetition of production in various     
widely-separated  centres1 but in some  
single centre1 from which the species   
propagated  itself by seed1 bud1 or     
scion1 across the special area which it 
is now  found to occupy4 ,and this1 in  
the first instance1 is of course as much
 an  assumption as any of those assumed 
numbers or assumed lines with which1  in
 algebra and the mathematics1 it is     
necessary in so many calculations  to   
set out1 in quest of some required      
number or line1 which1 without the      
assistance of the assumed ones1 we might
 despair of ever finding4 ,but  the     
assumption is in itself neither         
unnatural nor violent2 there are        
various very remarkable analogies which 
lend it support2 the facts which  seem  
least to harmonize with it are not      

wholly irreconcilable1 and are1         
besides1 of a merely exceptional        
character2 and1 further1 it has been    
adopted by botanists of the highest     
standing4#cd ,it is necessary to  hold1 
in the second place1 in order to the    
reception of the theory1 that  the area 
of the earth's surface occupied by the  
,british ,islands and the  neighboring  
coasts of the ,continent once stood     
fifty fathoms higher1 in  relation to   
the existing sea-level1 than it does    
now1--a belief which1  whatever its     
specific grounds or standing in this    
particular case1 is  at least in strict 
accordance with the general geological  
phenomena of  subsidence and elevation1 
and which1 so far from outraging any    
experience  founded on observation or   
testimony1 runs in the same track with  
what  is known of wide areas now in the 
course of sinking1 like that on the     
,italian coast1 in which the ,bay of    
,bai and the ruins of the temple of     
,serapis occur1 or that in ,asia1 which 

includes the ,run of ,cutch2 or of  what
 is known of areas in the course of     
rising1 like part of the coast  of      
,sweden1 or part of the coast of ,south 
,america1 or in ,asia along the  western
 shores of ,aracan4 ,whereas1 in order  
to close with the simpler  antagonistic 
belief of the author of the 8,vestiges10
 it is necessary  to hold1 contrary to  
all experience1 that dulce and          
henware#ce  became1 through a very      
wonderful metamorphosis1 cabbage and    
spinnage2  that kelp-weed and tangle    
bourgeoned into oaks and willows2 and   
that  slack1 rope-weed1 and             
green-raw1#cf shot up into              
mangel-wurzel1  rye-grass1 and clover4  
,simple1 certainly6 ,an infidel on terms
 such  as these could with no propriety 
be regarded as an unbeliever4 ,it is    
well that the ,new ,testament makes no  
such extraordinary demands on human     
credulity4    ,let us remark further1 at
 this stage1 that1 judging from the     
generally  received geological evidence 

in the case1 very little time seems to  
be  allowed by the author of the        
8,vestiges0 for that miraculous process 
of  transmutation through which the low 
alg of our sea-shores are held to  have 
passed into high orders of plants which 
constitute the prevailing  ,british     
flora4 ,the boulder clay1 which rises so
 high along our hills1  and which1 as   
shown by its inferior position on the   
lower grounds1 is  decidedly the most   
ancient of the country's superficial    
deposits1 is yet  so modern1            
geologically1 that it contains only     
recent shells4 ,it belongs  to that     
cold1 glacial1 post-,tertiary period1 in
 which what is now ,britain  existed as 
a few groupes of insulated hill-tops1   
bearing the semi-arctic  vegetation of  
our fourth flora1--that true ,celtic    
flora of the country  which we now find1
 like the country's ,celtic races of our
 own species1  cooped up among the      
mountains4 ,the fifth or ,germanic flora
 must have  been introduced1 it is held1

 at a later period1 when the climate had
  greatly meliorated4 ,and if we are to 
hold that the plants of this last  flora
 were developed from sea-weed1 not      
propagated across a continuity  of land 
from the original centre in ,germany1 or
 borne by currents from  the mouths of  
the ,germanic rivers1--the theory of    
,mon4 ,c4 ,martins1--then  must we also 
hold that that development took place   
since the times of  the boulder clay1   
and that fucoids and conferv became     
dicotyledonous  and monocotyledonous    
plants during a brief period1 in which  
the ,purpura  lapillus and ,turritella  
terebra did not alter a single whorl1   
and  the ,cyprina islandica and ,astarte
 borealis retained unchanged each       
minute projection of their hinges1 and  
each nicer peculiarity of their         
muscular impressions4 ,creation would be
 greatly less wonderful than a  sudden  
transmutative process such as this1     
restricted in its operation  to groupes 
of ,english1 ,irish1 and ,manx plants1  

identical with groupes  in ,germany1    
when all the various organisms around   
them1 such as our  sea-shells1 continued
 to be exactly what they had been for   
ages before4  ,a process of development 
from the lowest to the highest forms1   
rigidly  restricted to the flora of a   
country1 would be simply the miracle of 
,jonah's gourd several thousand times   
repeated4    ,i must here indulge in a  
few remarks more1 which1 though they may
 seem of  an incidental character1 have 
a direct bearing on the general subject4
  ,the geologist infers1 in all his     
reasonings founded on fossils1 that a   
race or species has existed from some   
one certain point in the scale  to some 
other certain point1 if he find it      
occurring at both points  together4 ,he 
infers on this principle1 for instance1 
that the boulder  clay1 which contains  
only recent shells1 belongs to the      
recent or  post-,tertiary period2 and   
that the ,oolite and ,lias1 which       
contain no  recent shells1 represent a  

period whose existences have all become 
extinct4 ,and all experience serves to  
show that his principle is a sound  one4
 ,in creation there are many species    
linked together1 from their  degree of  
similarity1 by the generic tie2 but no  
perfect verisimilitude  obtains among   
them1 unless hereditarily derived from  
the one1 two1 or  more individuals1 of  
contemporary origin1 with which the race
 began4  ,true1 there are some races    
that have spread over very wide         
circles1--the  circle of the human      
family has become identical with that of
 the globe2  and there are certain      
plants and animals that1 from peculiar  
powers of  adaptation to the varieties  
of soil and climate1--mayhap also from  
the  tenacious vitality of their seeds1 
and their facilities of transport by    
natural means1--are likewise diffused   
very widely4 ,there are plants1  too1   
such as the common nettle and some of   
the ordinary grasses1 which  accompany  
civilized man all over the globe1 he    

scarce knows how1 and  spring up        
unbidden where-ever he fixes his        
habitation4 ,he1 besides1  carries with 
him the common agricultural weeds3 there
 are localities  in the ,united ,states1
 says ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 where these 
exotics  outnumber the native plants2   
but these are exceptions to the         
prevailing  economy of distribution2 and
 the circles of species generally are   
comparatively limited and well defined4 
,the mountains of the southern          
hemisphere have1 like those of          
,switzerland and the ,scotch ,highlands1
  their forests of coniferous trees2 but
 they furnish no ,swiss pines or        
,scotch firs2 nor do the coasts of ,new 
,zealand or ,van ,dieman's ,land  supply
 the ,european shells or fish4 ,true1   
there may be much to puzzle  in the     
identity of what may be termed the      
exceptional plants1 equally  indigenous1
 apparently1 in circles widely separated
 by space4 ,it has  been estimated that 
there exist about a hundred thousand    

vegetable  species1 and of these1 thirty
 ,antarctic forms have been recognized  
by  ,dr4 ,hooker as identical with      
,european ones4 ,had ,robinson ,crusoe  
failed  to remember that he had shaken  
the old corn-bag where he found the     
wheat  and barley ears springing up on  
his island1 he might have held that he  
had discovered a new centre of the      
,european cerealia4 ,and the process    
analogous to the shaking of the bag is  
frequently a process not to be          
remembered4 ,there are several minute   
lochans in the ,hebrides and the west   
of ,ireland in which there occurs a     
small plant of the cord-rush family1    
7,eriocaulon septangulare17 which1      
though common in ,america1 is nowhere   
to be found on the ,european ,continent4
 ,it is the only ,british plant  which  
belongs to no other part of ,europe4    
,how was it transported across  the     
,atlantic8 ,entangled1 mayhap1 in the   
form of a single seed1--for its  seeds  
are exceedingly light and small1--in the

 plumage of some water-fowl1  free of   
both sea and lake1 it had been carried  
in the germ from the  weed-skirted edge 
of some ,american swamp or mere1 to some
 mossy lochan of  ,connaught or of      
,skye2 and one such seed transported by 
one such accident1  unique in its       
occurrence in thousands of years1 would 
be quite sufficient  to puzzle all the  
botanists forever after4 ,i have seen   
the seed of one  of our ,scotch grasses1
 that had been originally caught in the 
matted  fleece of a sheep reared among  
the hills of ,sutherland1 and then      
wrought  into a coarse1 ill-dressed     
woollen cloth1 carried about for months 
in a  piece of underclothing4 ,it might 
have gone over half the globe in that   
time1 and1 when cast away with the worn 
vestment1 might have originated  a new  
circle for its species in ,south        
,america or ,new ,holland4 ,there are   
seeds specially contrived by the ,great 
,designer to be carried far from  their 
original habitats in the coats of       

animals1--a mode which admits  of       
transport to much greater distances than
 the mode1 also extensively  operative1 
of consigning them for conveyance to    
their stomachs2 and when  we see the    
work in its effects1 we are puzzled by  
the want of a record  of an emigratory  
process1 of which1 in the circumstances1
 no record  could possibly exist4       
,unable to make out a case for the      
8shaking of the  bag10 we bethink us1 in
 the emergency1 of repetition of        
creation4 ,but  in circles separated by 
time1 not space1--by time1 across whose 
dim  gulfs no voyager sails1 and no bird
 flies1 and over which there are  no    
means of transport from the point where 
a race once fails1 to any  other point  
in the future1--we find no repetition of
 species4 ,if the  production of perfect
 duplicates or triplicates in           
independent centres  were a law of      
nature1 our works of physical science   
could scarce fail  to tell us of        
identical species found occurring in    

widely-separated  systems1--,scotch firs
 and larches1 for instance1 among the   
lignites of  the ,lias1 or ,cyprina     
islandica and ,ostrea edulis among the  
shells  of the ,mountain ,limestone4    
,but never yet has the geologist found  
in his  systems or formations any such  
evidence as facts such as these might be
  legitimately held to furnish1 of the  
independent de novo production of       
individual members of any single        
species4 ,on the contrary1 the evidence 
lies so entirely the other way1 that he 
reasons on the existence of a  family   
relation obtaining between all the      
members of each species1 as  one of his 
best established principles4 ,if members
 of the same species  may exist through 
de novo production1 without hereditary  
relationship1  so thoroughly1 in        
consequence1 does the fabric of         
geological reasoning  fall to the       
ground1 that we find ourselves          
incapacitated from regarding  even the  
bed of common cockle or mussel shells1  

which we find lying a few  feet from the
 surface on our raised beaches1 as of   
the existing creation  at all4 ,nay1    
even the human remains of our moors may 
have belonged1 if  our principle of     
relationship in each species be not a   
true one1 to  some former creation1 cut 
off from that to which we ourselves     
belong1  by a wide period of death4 ,all
 palontological reasoning is at an end  
forever1 if identical species can       
originate in independent centres1       
widely separated from each other by     
periods of time2 and if they fail to    
originate in periods separated by time1 
how or why in centres separated  by     
space8    ,let the reader remark        
further1 the bearing of those facts from
 which this  principle of geological    
reasoning has been derived1 on the      
development  hypothesis4 ,we find       
species restricted to circles and       
periods2 and though  stragglers are     
occasionally found outside the circle in
 the existing  state of things1 never   

are they found beyond their period among
 the  remains of the past4 ,it was      
profoundly argued by ,cuvier1 that life 
could not possibly have had a chemical  
origin4 8,in fact10 we find him         
remarking1 8life exercising upon the    
elements which at every instant  form   
part of the living body1 and upon those 
which it attracts to it1 an  action     
contrary to that which would be produced
 without it by the usual  chemical      
affinities1 it is inconsistent to       
suppose that it can itself  be produced 
by these affinities40 ,and the phenomena
 of restriction to  circle and period   
testify to the same effect4 ,nothing1 on
 the one hand1  can be more various in  
character and aspect than the organized 
existences  of the various circles and  
periods2 nothing more invariable1 on the
  other1 than the results of chemical or
 electrical experiment4 ,and yet1  to   
use almost the words of ,cuvier1 8we    
know of no other power in nature        
capable of reuniting previously         

separated molecules10 than the electric 
and the chemical4 ,to these agents1     
accordingly1 all the assertors of the   
development hypothesis have had recourse
 for at least the origination  of life4 
,air1 water1 earth existing as a saline 
mucus1 and an active  persistent        
electricity1 are the creative           
ingredients of ,oken4 ,the  author of   
the 8,vestiges0 is rather less explicit 
on the subject3 he  simply refers to the
 fact1 that the 8basis of all vegetable 
and animal  substances consists of      
nucleated cells1--that is1 of cells     
having granules  within them20 and      
states that globules of a resembling    
character 8can  be produced in albumen  
by electricity20 and that though albumen
 itself  has not yet been produced by   
artificial means1--the only step in the 
process of creation which is            
wanting1--it is yet known to be a       
chemical  composition1 the mode of whose
 production may 8be any day discovered  
in  the laboratory40 ,further1 he       

adopts1 as part of the foundation of his
  hypothesis1 the pseudo-experiment of  
,mr4 ,weekes1 who holds that out of     
certain saline preparations1 acted upon 
by electricity1 he can produce  certain 
living animalcula of the mite           
family2--the vital and the organized    
out of the inorganic and the dead4 ,in  
all such cases1 electricity1 or  rather1
 according to ,oken1 galvanism1 is      
regarded as the vitalizing  principle4  
8,organism10 says the ,german1 8is      
galvanism residing in  a thoroughly     
homogeneous mass4444 ,a galvanic pile   
pounded into atoms  must become alive4  
,in this manner nature brings forth     
organic bodies40  ,i have even heard it 
seriously asked whether electricity be  
not ,god6  ,alas6 could such a god1     
limited in its capacity of action1 like 
those  8gods of the plains0 in which the
 old ,syrian trusted1 have wrought1 in  
the character of ,creator1 with a       
variety of result so endless1 that in   
no geologic period has repetition taken 

place8 ,in all that purports to  be     
experiment on the development side of   
the question1 we see nothing  else save 
repetition4 ,the ,acarus ,crossi of ,mr4
 ,weekes is not a new  species1 but the 
repetition of an old one1 which has been
 long known  as the ,acarus horridus1 a 
little bristle-covered creature of the  
mite  family1 that harbors in damp      
corners among the debris of outhouses1  
and  the dust and dirt of neglected     
workshops and laboratories4 ,nay1 even a
  change in the chemical portion of the 
experiment by which he believed the     
creature to be produced1 failed to      
secure variety4 ,a powerful electric    
current had been sent1 in the first     
instance1 through a solution of         
silicate of potash1 and1 after a time1  
the ,acarus horridus crawled out  of the
 fluid4 ,the current was then sent      
through a solution of nitrate of        
copper1 and after a due space1 the      
,acarus horridus again creeped out4  ,a 
solution of ferro-cyanate of potash was 

next subjected to the current1  and yet 
again1 and in greater numbers than on   
the two former occasions1  there        
appeared1 as in virtue1 it would seem1  
of its extraordinary  appetency1 to be  
the same ever-recurring ,acarus         
horridus4 ,how1 or  in what form1 the   
little creature should have been        
introduced into the  several            
experiments1 it is not the part of those
 who question their  legitimacy to      
explain2 it is enough for us to know1   
that individuals of  the family to which
 the ,acarus belongs are so remarkable  
for their  powers of life1 even in their
 fully developed state1 as to resist1   
for  a time1 the application of boiling 
water1 and to live long in alcohol4  ,we
 know1 further1 that the germs of the   
lower animals are greatly  more         
tenacious of vitality than the animals  
themselves2 and that they  may exist in 
their state of embryonism in the most   
unthought of and  elusive forms2        
nay1--as the recent discoveries         

regarding alterations of  generation    
have conclusively shown1--that the germ 
which produced the  parent may be wholly
 unlike the germ that produces its      
offspring1 and  yet identical with that 
which produced the parent's parent4     
,save on  the theory of a quiescent     
vitality1 maintained by seeds for       
centuries  within a few inches of the   
earth's surface1 we know not how a layer
 of  shell1 sand1 or marl1 spread over  
the bleak moors of ,harris1 should      
produce crops of white clover1 where    
only heath had grown before2 nor  how   
brakes of doddered furze burnt down on  
the slopes of the ,cromarty  ,sutors    
should be so frequently succeeded by    
thickets of raspberry4 ,we  are not1    
however to give up the unknown1--that   
illimitable province in  which science  
discovers1--to be a wild region of      
dream1 in which fantasy  may invent4    
,there are many dark places in the field
 of human knowledge  which even the     
researches of ages may fail wholly to   

enlighten2 but no  one derives a right  
from that circumstance to people them   
with chimeras  and phantoms4 ,they      
belong to the philosophers of the       
future1--not to the  visionaries of the 
present4 ,but while it is not our part  
to explain  how1 in the experiments of  
,mr4 ,weekes1 the chain of life from    
life has  been maintained unbroken1 we  
can most conclusively show1 that that   
world  of organized existence of which  
we ourselves form part1 is1 and ever has
  been1 a world1 not of tame repetition1
 but of endless variety4 ,it is         
palpably not a world of ,acarid of one  
species1 nor yet of creatures  developed
 from these1 under those electric or    
chemical laws of which  the grand       
characteristic is invariability of      
result4 ,the vast variety  of its       
existences speak not of the operation of
 unvarying laws1 that  represent1 in    
their uniformity of result1 the         
unchangeableness of the  ,divinity1 but 
of creative acts1 that exemplify the    

infinity of ,his  resources4    ,let the
 reader yet further remark1 if he has   
followed me through these  preliminary  
observations1 what is really involved in
 the hypothesis of  the author of the   
8,vestiges10 regarding the various      
floras common to  the ,british islands  
and the ,continent4 ,if it was upon his 
scheme that  ,england1 ,ireland1 and the
 mainland of ,europe came to possess an 
identical  flora1 production de novo and
 by repetition of the same species must 
have taken place in thousands of        
instances along the shores of each      
island and of the mainland4 ,his        
hypothesis demands that the sea-weed on 
the coast of ,ireland should have been  
developed1 first through lower1 and     
then higher forms1 into thousands of    
terrestrial plants1--that exactly  the  
same process of development from        
sea-weed into terrestrial plants of  the
 same species should have taken place on
 the coast of ,england1 and  again on   
the coasts of the ,continent            

generally1--and that identically  the   
same vegetation should have been        
originated in this way in at least      
three great centres4 ,and if plants of  
the same species could have had  three  
distinct centres of organization and    
development1 why not three  hundred1 or 
three thousand1 or three hundred        
thousand8 ,nor will it do  to attempt   
escaping from the difficulty1 by        
alleging that there is the  groundwork  
in the case of at least a common marine 
vegetation to start  from2 and that     
thus1 if we have not properly the       
existence of the direct  hereditary tie 
among the various individuals of each   
species1 we may yet  recognize at least 
a sort of collateral relationship among 
them1 derived  from the relationship of 
their marine ancestry4 ,for             
relationship1 in even  the primary      
stage1 the author of the 8,vestiges0    
virtually repudiates1 by  adopting1 as  
one of the foundations of his           
hypothesis1 with1 of course1  all the   

legitimate consequences1 the experiments
 of ,mr4 ,weekes4 ,the  animalcul-making
 process is instanced as representative 
of the first  stage of being1--that in  
which dead inorganic matter assumes     
vitality2  and it corresponds1 in the   
zoological branch1 to the production of 
a  low marine vegetation in the         
phytological one4 ,a certain            
semi-chemical1  semi-electrical process1
 originates1 time after time1 certain   
numerous  low forms of life1 identical  
in species1 but connected by no tie of  
relationship3 such is the presumed      
result of the ,weekes experiment4  ,a   
certain further process of development  
matures low forms of life1  thus        
originated1 into higher species1 also   
identical1 and also wholly  unconnected 
by the family tie3 such are the         
consequences legitimately  involved in  
that island-vegetation theory           
promulgated by the author of  the       
8,vestiges40 ,and be it remembered that 
,mr4 ,weekes' process1 so far as  it is 

simply electrical and chemical1 is a    
process which is as capable  of having  
been gone through in all times and all  
places1 as that other  process of       
strewing marl upon a moor1 through which
 certain rustic  experimenters have held
 that they produced white clover4 ,it   
could have  been gone through during the
 ,carboniferous or the ,silurian period2
 for  all truly chemical and electrical 
experiments would have resulted in      
manifestations of the same phenomena    
then as now3--an acid would have        
effervesced as freely with an alkali2   
and each fibre of an electrified        
feather--had feathers then              
existed--would have stood out as        
decidedly apart  from all its neighbors4
 ,we must therefore hold1 if we believe 
with the  author of the 8,vestiges10    
first1 from the ,weekes experiment1 that
 in all  times1 and in all places1 every
 centre of a certain chemical and       
electric  action would have become a new
 centre of creation to certain recent   

species of low1 but not very low1       
organization2 and1 second1 from his     
doctrine regarding the identity of the  
,british and ,continental floras1  that 
in the course of subsequent development 
from these low forms1 the  process in   
each of many widely-separated           
centres1--widely separated both  by     
space and time1--would be so nicely     
correspondent with the process in  all  
the others1 that the same higher recent 
forms would be matured in  all4 ,and to 
doctrines such as these1 the experience 
of all ,geologists1  all ,phytologists1 
all ,zoologists1 is diametrically       
opposed4 ,if these  doctrines be true1  
their sciences are false in their facts1
 and idle  and unfounded in their       
principles4          ,,the ,,two        
,,floras1 ,,marine ,,and ,,terrestrial4 
,,bearing ,,of ,,the ,,experience       
,,argument4      ,is the reader         
acquainted with the graphic verse1 and  
scarce less  graphic prose1 in which    
,crabbe describes the appearances       

presented by  a terrestrial vegetation  
affected by the waters of the sea8 ,in  
both  passages1 as in all his purely    
descriptive writings1 there is a        
solidity  of truthful observation       
exhibited1 which triumphs over their    
general  homeliness of vein4            
8,on either side      ,is level fen1 a  
prospect wild and wide1      ,with dykes
 on either hand1 by ocean self-supplied4
      ,far on the right the distant sea 
is seen1      ,and salt the springs that
 feed the marsh between2      ,beneath  
an ancient bridge the straitened flood  
,rolls through its sloping banks of     
slimy mud2      ,near it a sunken boat  
resists the tide1      ,that frets and  
hurries to the opposing side2      ,the 
rushes sharp1 that on the borders grow1 
,bend their brown florets to the stream 
below1      ,impure in all its course1  
in all its progress slow4      ,here a  
grave ,flora scarcely deigns to bloom1  
,nor wears a rosy blush1 nor sheds      
perfume4      ,the few dull flowers that

 o'er the place are spread1             
,partake the nature of their fenny bed2 
,here on its wiry stem1 in rigid bloom1 
,grows the salt lavender1 that lacks    
perfume2      ,here the dwarf sallows   
creep1 the septfoil harsh1      ,and the
 soft slimy mallow of the marsh4        
,low on the ear the distant billows     
sound1      ,and just in view appears   
their stony bound40    8,the ditches of 
a fen so near the ocean10 says the poet1
 in the note  which accompanies this    
passage1 8are lined with irregular      
patches of a  coarse-stained laver2 a   
muddy sediment rests on the horse-tail  
and other  perennial herbs which in part
 conceal the shallowness of the stream2 
a  fat-leaved1 pale-flowering           
scurvy-grass appears early in the year1 
and  the razor-edged bullrush in the    
summer and autumn4 ,the fen itself has a
  dark and saline herbage3 there are    
rushes and arrow-head2 and in a few     
patches the flakes of the cotton-grass  
are seen1 but more commonly the         

sea-aster1 the dullest of that numerous 
and hardy genus2 a thrift1  blue in     
flower1 but withering1 and remaining    
withered till the winter  scatters it2  
the salt-wort1 both simple and shrubby2 
a few kinds of  grass changed by the    
soil and atmosphere2 and low plants of  
two or three  denominations1            
undistinguished in the general view of  
scenery2--such is  the vegetation of the
 fen where it is at a small distance    
from the ocean40    ,and such are the   
descriptions of ,crabbe1 at once a poet 
and a botanist4  ,in referring to the   
blue tint exhibited in salt-fens by the 
pink-colored  flower of the thrift1     
7,statice ,armeria17 he might have      
added1 that  the general green of the   
terrestrial vegetation likewise assumes1
 when  subjected to those modified      
marine influences under which plants of 
the land can continue to live1 a decided
 tinge of blue4 ,it is further          
noticeable1 that the general brown of at
 least the larger alg presents1  as they

 creep upwards upon the beach to meet   
with these1 a marked tinge  of yellow4  
,the prevailing brown of the one flora  
approximates towards  yellow1--the      
prevailing green of the other towards   
blue2 and thus1  instead of mutually    
merging into some neutral tint1 they    
assume at their  line of meeting        
directly antagonistic hues4    ,but what
 does experience say regarding the      
transmutative conversion of  a marine   
into a terrestrial vegetation1--that    
experience on which the  sceptic founds 
so much8 ,as ,i walked along the green  
edge of the ,lake  of ,stennis1 selvaged
 by the line of detached weeds with     
which a recent  gale had strewed its    
shores1 and marked that for the first   
few miles the  accumulation consisted of
 marine alg1 here and there mixed with  
tufts  of stunted reeds or rushes1 and  
that as ,i receded from the sea it was  
the alg that became stunted and         
dwarfish1 and that the reeds1 aquatic   
grasses1 and rushes1 grown greatly more 

bulky in the mass1 were also  more fully
 developed individually1 till at length 
the marine vegetation  altogether       
disappeared1 and the vegetable debris of
 the shore became  purely               
lacustrine1--,i asked myself whether    
here1 if anywhere1 a transition  flora  
between lake and sea ought not to be    
found8 ,for many thousand years  ere the
 tall gray obelisks of ,stennis1 whose  
forms ,i saw this morning  reflected in 
the water1 had been torn from the       
quarry1 or laid down in  mystic circle  
on their flat promontories1 had this    
lake admitted the  waters of the sea1   
and been salt in its lower reaches and  
fresh in its  higher4 ,and during this  
protracted period had its quiet1        
well-shattered  bottom been exposed to  
no disturbing influences through which  
the  delicate process of transmutation  
could have been marred or arrested4     
,here1 then1 if in any circumstances1   
ought we to have had in the broad1      
permanently brackish reaches1 at least  

indications of a vegetation             
intermediate in its nature between the  
monocotyledons of the lake and the  alg 
of the sea2 and yet not a vestige of    
such an intermediate vegetation  could  
,i find among the up-piled debris of the
 mixed floras1 marine  and lacustrine4  
,the lake possesses no such intermediate
 vegetation4 ,as  the water freshens in 
its middle reaches1 the alg become      
dwarfish and  ill-developed2 one species
 after another ceases to appear1 as the 
habitat  becomes wholly unfavorable to  
it1 until at length we find1 instead of 
the brown1 rootless1 flowerless fucoids 
and conferv of the ocean1 the  green1   
rooted1 flower-bearing flags1 rushes1   
and aquatic grasses of  the fresh water4
 ,many thousands of years have failed to
 originate a  single intermediate plant4
 ,and such1 tested by a singularly      
extensive  experience1 is the general   
evidence4    ,there is scarce a         
chain-length of the shores of ,britain  
and ,ireland that  has not been a       

hundred and a hundred times explored by 
the botanist1--keen  to collect and     
prompt to register every rarity of the  
vegetable kingdom2  but has he ever yet 
succeeded in transferring to his        
herbarium a single  plant caught in the 
transition state8 ,nay1 are there any of
 the laws  under which the vegetable    
kingdom exists better known than those  
laws  which fix certain species of the  
alg to certain zones of coast1 in which 
each1 according to the overlying depth  
of water and the nature of the  bottom1 
finds the only habitat in which it can  
exist8 ,the rough-stemmed  tangle       
7,laminaria digitata7 can exist no      
higher on the shore than  the low line  
of ebb during stream-tides2 the         
smooth-stemmed tangle  7,laminaria      
saccharina7 flourishes along an inner   
belt1 partially  uncovered during the   
ebbs of the larger neaps2 the forked and
 cracker  kelp-weeds 7,fucus serratus   
and ,fucus nodosus7 thrive in a zone    
still  less deeply covered by water1 and

 which even the lower neaps expose4 ,and
  at least one other species of         
kelp-weed1 the ,fucus vesiculosus1      
occurs  in a zone higher still1 though1 
as it creeps upwards on the rocky beach1
  it loses its characteristic bladders1 
and becomes short and narrow of  frond4 
,the thick brown tufts of ,fucus        
canaliculatus1 which in the lower  and  
middle reaches of the ,lake of ,stennis 
,i found heaped up in great  abundance  
along the shores1 also rises high on    
rocky beaches1--so high in  some        
instances1 that during neap-tides it    
remains uncovered by the water  for days
 together4 ,if1 as is not uncommon1     
there be an escape of land  springs     
along the beach1 there may be found1    
where the fresh water oozes  out through
 the sand and gravel1 an upper terminal 
zone of the conferv1  chiefly of a green
 color1 mixed with the ribbon-like green
 layer1 7,ulva  latissima17 the         
purplish-brown layer1 7,porphyra        
laciniata17 and still  more largely with

 the green silky ,enteromorpha1 7,e4    
compressa47#cg  ,and then1 decidedly    
within the line of the storm-beaches of 
winter1--not  unfrequently in low       
sheltered bays1 such as the ,bay of     
,udale or of  ,nigg1 where the ripple of
 every higher flood washes1--we may find
 the  vegetation of the                 
land--represented by the sentinels and  
picquets of  its outposts--coming down1 
as if to meet with the higher-growing   
plants  of the sea4 ,in salt marshes the
 two vegetations may be seen1 if ,i may 
so express myself1 dovetailed together  
at their edges1--at least one  species  
of club-rush 7,scirpus maritimus7 and   
the common saltwort and  glasswort      
7,salsola kali and ,salicornia          
procumbens7 encroaching so far  upon the
 sea as to mingle with a                
thinly-scattered and sorely-diminished  
fucus1--that bladderless variety of the 
,fucus vesiculosus to which ,i  have    
already referred1 and which may be      
detected in such localities1  shooting  

forth its minute brown fronds from the  
pebbles4 ,on rocky  coasts1 where       
springs of fresh water come trickling   
down along the  fissures of the         
precipices1 the observer may see a      
variety of ,rhodomenia  palmata--the    
fresh-water dulse of the ,moray         
,frith--creeping upwards from  the lower
 limits of production1 till just where  
the common gray balanus  ceases to grow4
 ,and there1 short and thick1 and of a  
bleached yellow  hue1 it ceases also2   
but one of the commoner marine          
conferv1--the  ,conferva arcta1 blent   
with a dwarfed                          
,enteromorpha1--commencing a  very      
little below where the dulse ends1 and  
taking its place1 clothes  over the     
runnels with its covering of green for  
several feet higher3  in some cases1    
where it is frequently washed by the    
upward dash of the  waves1 it rises     
above even the flood-line2 and in some  
crevice of the  rock beside it1 often as
 low as its upper edge1 we may detect   

stunted  tufts of the sea-pink or of the
 scurvy-grass4 ,but while there is thus 
a vegetation intermediate in place      
between the land and the sea1 we  find1 
as if it had been selected purposely to 
confound the transmutation  theory1 that
 it is in no degree intermediate in     
character4 ,for1 while  it is chiefly   
marine weeds of the lower division of   
the conferv that  creep upwards from the
 sea to meet the vegetation of the land1
 it is  chiefly terrestrial plants of   
the higher division of the dicotyledons 
that creep downwards from the land to   
meet the vegetation of the sea4  ,the   
salt-worts1 the glass-worts1 the        
arenaria1 the thrift1 and the           
scurvy-grass1 are all dicotyledonous    
plants4 ,nature draws a deeply-marked   
line of division where the requirements 
of the transmutative hypothesis  would  
demand the nicely graduated softness of 
a shaded one2 and1  addressing the      
strongly marked floras on either hand1  
even more sternly  than the waves       

themselves1 demands that to a certain   
definite bourne  should they come1 and  
no farther4    ,but in what form1 it may
 be asked1 or with what limitations1    
ought the  ,christian controversialist  
to avail himself1 in this question1 of  
the  experience argument8 ,much ought to
 depend1 ,i reply1 on the position      
taken up by the opposite side4 ,we find 
no direct reference made by the  author 
of the 8,vestiges0 to the anti-miracle  
argument1 first broached  by ,hume1 in a
 purely metaphysical shape1 in his      
well-known 8,inquiry10  and afterwards  
thrown into the algebraic form by ,la   
,place1 in his  ,essai philosophique sur
 les ,probabilits4 ,but we do not detect
 its  influences operative throughout   
the entire work4 ,it is because of  some
 felt impracticability on the part of   
its author1 of attaining  to the        
prevailing belief in the miracle of     
creation1 that he has  recourse1        
instead1 to the so-called law of        
development4 ,the law and  the miracle  

are the alternatives placed before him2 
and1 rejecting  the miracle1 he closes  
with the law4 ,now1 in such             
circumstances1  he can have no more     
cause of complaint1 if1 presenting him  
with the  experience argument of ,hume  
and ,la ,place1 we demand that he square
  the evidence regarding the existence  
of his law strictly according  to its   
requirements1 than the soldier of an    
army that charged its  field-pieces with
 rusty nails would have cause of        
complaint if he found  himself wounded  
by a missile of a similar kind1 sent    
against him by  the artillery of the    
enemy4 ,you cannot1 it might be fairly  
said1 in  addressing him1 acquiesce in  
the miracle here1 because1 as a         
violation of  the laws of nature1 there 
are certain objections1 founded on      
invariable  experience1 which bear      
direct against your belief in it4 ,well1
 here  are the objections1 in the       
strongest form in which they have yet   
been  stated2 and here is your          

hypothesis respecting the development of
 marine  alg into terrestrial plants4   
,we hold that against that hypothesis   
the objections bear at least as directly
 as against any miracle  whatever1--nay1
 that not only is it contrary to an     
invariable experience1  but opposed also
 to all testimony4 ,we regard it as a   
mere idle dream4  ,maillet dreamed      
it1--and ,lamarck dreamed it1--and ,oken
 dreamed it2 but none  of them did more 
than merely dream it3 its existence     
rests on exactly the  same basis of     
evidence as that of ,whang the miller's 
8monstrous pot of  gold and diamonds10  
of which he dreamed three nights in     
succession1 but  which he never         
succeeded in finding4 ,if we are in     
error in our estimate1  here is the     
argument1 and here the hypothesis2 give 
us1 in support of the  hypothesis1 the  
amount of evidence1 founded on a solid  
experience1 which  the argument demands4
    ,but to leave the experience        
argument in exactly the state in which  

it  was left by ,hume and ,la ,place1   
would be doing no real justice to our   
subject4 ,it is in that state quite     
sufficient to establish the fact1  that 
there can be no real escape from belief 
in acts of creation never  witnessed by 
man1 to processes of development never  
witnessed by man2  seeing that a        
presumed law beyond the cognizance of   
experience must be  as certainly        
rejected1 on the principle of the       
argument1 as a presumed  miracle beyond 
that cognizance4 ,it places the presumed
 law and the  presumed miracle on       
exactly the same level4 ,but there is a 
palpable  flaw in the anti-miracle      
argument4 ,it does not prove that       
miracles may  not have taken place1 but 
that miracles1 whether they have taken  
place  or no1 are not to be credited1   
and this simply because they are        
miracles1 i4 e4 violations of the       
established laws of nature4 ,and if it  
be possible for events to take place    
which man1 on certain principles1  is   

imperatively required not to credit1    
these principles must of course  serve  
merely to establish a discrepancy       
between the actual state of  things1 and
 what is to be believed regarding it4   
,and thus1 instead of  serving purposes 
of truth1 they are made to subserve     
purposes of error2  for the existence of
 truth in the mind is neither more nor  
less than the  existence of certain     
conceptions and beliefs1 adequately     
representative  of what actually is1 or 
what really has taken place4    ,i      
cannot better illustrate this direct    
tendency of the anti-miracle  argument  
to destroy truth in the mind1 by        
bringing the mental beliefs  into a     
state of nonconformity with the possible
 and actual1 than by a  quotation from  
,la ,place himself3 8,we would not10 he 
says1 8give credit  to a man who would  
affirm that he saw a hundred dice thrown
 into the  air1 and that they all fell  
on the same faces4 ,if we had ourselves 
been  spectators of such an event1 we   

would not believe our own eyes till we  
had scrupulously examined all the       
circumstances1 and assured ourselves    
that there was no trick or deception4   
,after such an examination1 we would    
not hesitate to admit it1               
notwithstanding its great improbability2
 and no  one would have recourse to an  
inversion of the laws of vision in order
 to  account for it40 ,now1 here is the 
principle broadly laid down1 that it  is
 impossible to communicate by the       
evidence of testimony1 belief in an     
event which might happen1 and which1 if 
it happened1 ought on certain           
conditions to be credited4 ,no one knew 
better than ,la ,place himself1 that    
the possibility of the event which he   
instanced could be represented  with the
 utmost exactitude by figures4 ,the     
probability1 in throwing a  single die1 
that the ace will be presented on its   
upper face1 is as one  in six1--six     
being the entire number of sides which  
the cube can possibly  present1 and the 

side with the ace being one of          
these2--the probability  that in        
throwing a pair of dice the aces of both
 will be at once  presented on their    
upper faces1 is as one in thirty-six1 as
 against the  one sixth chance of the   
ace being presented by the one1 there   
are also  six chances that the ace of   
the other should not concur with        
it2--and in  throwing three dice1 the   
probability that their three aces should
 be at  once presented is1 of course1 on
 the same principle1 as one in six times
  thirty-six1 or1 in other words1 as one
 in two hundred and sixteen4 ,and  thus1
 in ascertaining the exact degree of    
probability of the hundred aces  at once
 turning up1 we have to go on           
multiplying by six1 for each die we  add
 to the number1 the product of the      
immediately previous calculation4       
,unquestionably1 the number of chances  
against1 thus balanced with  the single 
chance for1 would be very great2 but its
 existence as a  definite number would  

establish1 with all the force of        
arithmetical  demonstration1 the        
possibility of the event2 and if an     
eternity were  to be devoted to the     
throwing into the air of the hundred    
dice1 it would  occur an infinite number
 of times4 ,and yet the principle of    
,hume and ,la  ,place forms1 when       
adopted1 an impassable gulf between this
 possibility  and human belief4 ,the    
possibility might be embodied1 as we    
see1 in an  actual occurrence1--an      
occurrence witnessed by hundreds2 and   
yet the  anti-miracle argument1 as      
illustrated by ,la ,place1 would cut off
 all  communication regarding it between
 these hundreds of witnesses1 however   
unexceptionable their character as such1
 and the rest of mankind4 ,the          
principle1 instead of giving us a right 
rule through which the beliefs  in the  
mind are to be rendered correspondent   
with the reality of things1  goes merely
 to establish a certain imperfection of 
transmission from one  mind to another1 

in consequence of which1 realities in   
fact1 if very  extraordinary ones1 could
 not possibly be received as objects of 
belief1  nor the mental appreciation of 
things be rendered adequately concurrent
  with the state in which the things    
really existed4    ,nor is the case     
different when1 for a possibility which 
the  arithmetician can represent by     
figures1 we substitute the miracle      
proper4 ,neither ,hume nor ,la ,place   
ever attempted to show that miracles    
could not take place2 they merely       
directed their argument against a       
belief in them4 ,the wildest sceptic    
must admit1 if in any degree a          
reasonable man1 that there may exist a  
,god1 and that that ,god may  have given
 laws to nature4 ,no demonstration of   
the non-existence of a  ,great ,first   
,cause has been ever yet attempted1 nor1
 until the knowledge  of some sceptic   
extends over all space1 ever can be     
rationally  attempted4 ,merely to doubt 
the fact of ,god's existence1 and to    

give  reasons for the doubt1 must till  
then form the highest achievements of   
scepticism4 ,and the ,god who may thus  
exist1 and who may have given  laws to  
nature1 may also have revealed himself  
to man1 and1 in order to  secure man's  
reasonable belief in the reality of the 
revelation1 may  have temporarily       
suspended in its operation some great   
natural law1  and have thus shown       
himself to be its ,author and ,master4  
,such seems to  be the philosophy of    
miracles2 which are thus evidently not  
only not  impossibilities1 but even not 
improbabilities4 ,even were we to permit
  the sceptic himself to fix the numbers
 representative of those several  mays  
in the case1 which ,i have just         
repeated1 the chances against  them1 so 
to speak1 would be less by many thousand
 times than the chances  against the    
hundred dice of ,la ,place's            
illustration all turning up  aces4 ,the 
existence of a ,great ,first ,cause is  
at least as probable--the  sceptic      

himself being judge in the matter--as   
the non-existence of a  ,great ,first   
,cause2 and so the probability in this  
first stage of the  argument1 instead of
 being1 as in the case of the single    
die1 only one  to six1 is as one to one4
 ,again1--in accordance with an         
expectation so  general among the human 
family as to form one of the great      
instincts of  our nature1--an instinct  
to which every form of religion1 true or
 false1  bears evidence1--it is in no   
degree less probable that this ,god     
should  have revealed himself to man1   
than that he should not have revealed   
himself to man2 and here the chances are
 again as one to one1--not1 as in  the  
second stage of the calculation on the  
dice1 as one to thirty-six4  ,nor1 in   
the third and last stage1 is it less    
probable that ,god1 in  revealing       
himself to man should have given        
miraculous evidence of the  truth of the
 revelation1 so that man 8might believe 
in ,him for ,his work's  sake10 than    

that ,he should not have done so2 and   
here yet again the  chances are as one  
to one1--not as one to two hundred and  
sixteen4 ,no  rational sceptic could fix
 the chances lower2 nay1 no rational    
sceptic1  so far as the existence of a  
,great ,first ,cause is concerned1 would
 be  inclined to fix them so low3 and   
yet it is in order to annihilate all    
belief in a possibility against which   
the chances are so few as to be         
represented--scepticism itself being the
 actuary in the case--by three  units1  
that ,hume and ,la ,place have framed   
their argument4 ,miracles may  have     
taken place1--the probabilities against 
them1 stated in their most  extreme and 
exaggerated form1 are by no means many  
or strong2 but we are  nevertheless not 
to believe that they did take place1    
simply because  miracles they were4     
,now1 the effect of the establishment of
 a principle  such as this would be     
simply1 ,i repeat1 the destruction of   
the ability  of transmitting certain    

beliefs1 however well founded           
originally1 from  one set or generation 
of men to another4 ,these beliefs the   
first set  or generation might1 on ,la  
,place's own principles1 be compelled to
  entertain4 ,the evidence of the       
senses1 however wonderful the event     
which they certified1 is not1 he himself
 tells us1 to be resisted4 ,but  the    
conviction which1 on one set of         
principles1 these men were on no        
account to resist1 the men that came    
immediately after them were1 on  quite  
another set of principles1 on no account
 to entertain4 ,and thus  the           
anti-miracle argument1 instead of       
leading1 as all true philosophy  ought1 
to an exact correspondence between the  
realities of things and  the convictions
 received by the mind regarding them1   
palpably forms a  bar to the reception  
of beliefs1 adequate to the             
possibilities of actual  occurrence or  
event1 and so constitutes an            
imperfection or flaw in the  mental     

economy1 instead of working an          
improvement4 ,and1 in accordance  with  
this view1 we find that in the economy  
of minds of the very highest  order this
 imperfection or flaw has had no place4 
,locke studied and wrote  upon the      
subject of miracles proper1 and         
exhibited in his 8,discourse0  all the  
profundity of his extraordinary mind2   
and yet ,locke was a  believer4 ,newton 
studied and wrote on the subject of     
miracles of another  kind1--those of    
prophecy2 and he also1 as shown by his  
8,observations on  the ,prophecies of   
,daniel and the ,apocalypse10 was a     
believer4 ,butler  studied and wrote on 
the subject of miracles1 chiefly in     
connection with  8,miraculous           
,revelation20 and he also was a         
believer4 ,chalmers studied  and wrote  
on the subject of miracles in his       
8,evidences10 after ,hume1 ,la  ,place1 
and ,playfair had all promulgated their 
peculiar views regarding  it2 and he    
also was a believer4 ,and in none of the

 truly distinguished  men of the present
 day1 though all intimately acquainted  
with the  anti-miracle argument1 is this
 flaw or imperfection found to exist3 on
  the contrary1 they all hold1 as       
becomes the philosophic intellect and   
character1 that whatever is possible may
 occur1 and that whatever occurs  ought1
 on the proper evidence1 to be believed4
    ,but though the experience argument 
is of no real force1 and1 as shown by   
the beliefs of the higher order of      
minds1 of no real effect1 when brought  
to bear against miracles supported by   
the proper testimony1 it is of  great   
force and effect when brought to bear1  
not against miracles1  but against some 
presumed law4 ,it is experience1 and    
experience only1  that determines what  
is or is not law1 and it is law1 and law
 only1  that constitutes the            
subject-matter of ordinary experience4  
,experience1  in determining what is    
really miracle1 does so simply through  
its  positive knowledge of law3 by      

knowing law1 it knows also what would be
 a  violation of it4 ,and so miracle    
cannot possibly form the subject-matter 
of experience in the sense of ,hume4    
,for did miracle constitute the         
subject-matter of experience1 the law of
 which the miracle was a  violation     
could not3 most emphatically1 in this   
case1 were there 8no  law0 there could  
be 8no transgression20 and so experience
 would be unable  to recognize1 not only
 the existence of the law transgressed1 
but also  of the miracle1 in its        
character as such1 which was a          
transgression of  the law4 ,we determine
 from experience that there exists a    
certain fixed  law1 known among men as  
the law of gravitation2 and that1 in    
consequence  of this law1 if a human    
creature attempt standing upon the sea1 
he will  sink into it2 or if he attempt 
rising from the earth into the heavens1 
he will remain fixed to the spot on     
which the attempt is made4 ,such1 in    
these cases1 would be the direct effects

 of this gravitation law2 and  any      
presumed law antagonistic in its        
character could not be other than a  law
 contrary to that invariable experience 
by which the existence of the  real law 
in the case is determined4 ,but certain 
it is--for the evidence  regarding the  
facts cannot be resisted1 and by the    
greatest minds has  not been            
resisted--that a man did once walk upon 
the sea without  sinking into it1 and   
did once ascend from the earth into the 
sky2 and  these miracles ought not to be
 tested--and by earnest inquirers after 
truth really never have been tested--by 
any experience of the uniformity  of the
 law of which they were professed       
transgressions1 seeing it was           
essentially and obviously necessary     
that1 in order to serve the great  moral
 purpose which ,god intended by them1   
the law which they violated  should have
 been a uniform law1 and that they      
should have been palpable  violations of
 it4 ,but while the experience argument 

is thus of no  value when directed      
against well-attested miracle1 it is1 as
 ,i have  said1 all-potent when directed
 against presumed law4 ,of law we know  
nothing1 ,i repeat1 except what         
experience tells us4 ,a miracle contrary
  to experience in the sense of ,hume is
 simply a miracle2 a presumed law       
contrary to experience is no law at all4
 ,for it is from experience1 and        
experience only1 that we know any thing 
of natural law4 ,the argument  of ,hume 
and ,la ,place is perfect1 as such1 when
 directed against the  development      
visions of the ,lamarckian4             
,,the ,,development ,,hypothesis ,,in   
,,its ,,embryonic ,,state4 ,,older      
,,than ,,its ,,alleged  ,,foundations4  
,when ,maillet first promulgated his    
hypothesis1 many of the departments  of 
natural history existed as mere regions 
of fable and romance2 and1  in          
addressing himself to the ,muscadins of 
,paris1 in a popular work as  wild and  
amusing as a fairy tale1 he could safely

 take the liberty1 and  he did take it  
very freely1 of exaggerating the        
marvellous1 and adding  fresh fictions  
to the untrue4 ,and in preparing them   
for his theory of  the metamorphoses of 
a marine into a terrestrial vegetation1 
he set  himself1 in accordance with his 
general character1 to show that really  
the transmutation did not amount to     
much4 8,i know you have resided a  long 
time10 his ,indian ,philosopher is made 
to say1 8at ,marseilles4 ,now1  you can 
bear me witness1 that the fishermen     
there daily find in their  nets1 and    
among their fish1 plants of a hundred   
kinds1 with their fruits  still upon    
them2 and though these fruits are not so
 large and so well  nourished as those  
of our earth1 yet the species of these  
plants is in  no other respect dubious4 
,they there find clusters of white and  
black  grapes1 peach-trees1 pear-trees1 
prune-trees1 apple-trees1 and all sorts 
of flowers4 ,when in that city1 ,i saw1 
in the cabinet of a curious  gentleman1 

a prodigious number of those            
sea-productions of different  qualities1
 especially of rose-trees1 which had    
their roses very red when  they came out
 of the sea4 ,i was there presented with
 a cluster of black  sea-grapes4 ,it was
 at the time of the vintage1 and there  
were two grapes  perfectly ripe40       
,now1 all this1 and much more of the    
same nature1 addressed to the           
,parisians of the reign of ,louis the   
,fifteenth1 passed1 ,i doubt not1       
wonderfully well2 but it will not do    
now1 when almost every young girl1      
whether in town or country1 is a        
botanist1 and works on the alg have     
become popular4 ,since ,maillet wrote1  
,hume promulgated his argument on       
,miracles1 and ,la ,place his doctrine  
of ,probabilities4 ,there can be no     
doubt that these have exerted a         
wholesome influence on the laws of      
evidence2 and by these laws1 as         
restricted and amended1--laws to which1 
both in science and religion1 we        

ourselves conform1--we insist on trying 
the ,lamarckian hypothesis1 and in      
condemning it1--should it be found to   
have neither standing in experience nor 
support from testimony1--as a  mere     
feverish dream1 incoherent in its parts 
and baseless in its fabric4  ,give1 we  
ask1 but one well-attested instance of  
transmutation from the  alg to even the 
lower forms of terrestrial vegetation   
common on our  sea-coasts1 and we will  
keep the question open1 in expectation  
of more4  ,it will not do to tell us--as
 ,cuvier was told1 when he appealed to  
the  fact1 determined by the mummy birds
 and reptiles of ,egypt1 of the fixity  
of species in all1 even the slightest   
particulars1 for at least three         
thousand years--that immensely extended 
periods of time are necessary to  effect
 specific changes1 and that human       
observation has not been spread  over a 
period sufficiently ample to furnish the
 required data regarding  them4 ,the    
apology is simply a confession that1 in 

these ages of the  severe inductive     
philosophy1 you have been dreaming your 
dream1 cut off1  as if by the state of  
sleep1 from all the tangibilities of the
 real  waking-day world1 and that you   
have not a vestige of testimony with    
which  to support your ingenious        
vagaries4    ,but on another account do 
we refuse to sustain the excuse4 ,it is 
not true that human observation has not 
been spread over a period  sufficiently 
extended to furnish the necessary data  
for testing the  development hypothesis4
 ,in one special walk1--that which bears
 on the  supposed transmutation of alg  
into terrestrial plants1--human         
observation  has been spread over what  
is strictly analogous to millions of    
years4  ,for extent of space in this    
matter is exactly correspondent with    
duration  of time4 ,no man1 in this late
 period of the world's history1 attains 
to  the age of five hundred years2 and  
as some of our larger ,english oaks     
have been known to increase in bulk of  

trunk and extent of bough for five      
centuries together1 no man can possibly 
have seen the same huge oak pass1       
according to ,cowper1 through its       
various stages of 8treeship10--         
8,first a seedling hid in grass2        
,then twig2 then sapling2 and1 as       
century rolls      ,slow after century1 
a giant bulk1      ,of girth enormous1  
with moss-cushioned root      ,upheaved 
above the soil1 and sides embossed      
,with prominent wens globose40    ,but  
though no man lives throughout five     
hundred years of time1 he can  trace1 by
 passing in some of the ,english forests
 through five hundred  yards of space1  
the history of the oak in all its stages
 of growth1 as  correctly as if he did  
live throughout the five hundred years4 
,oaks1 in  the space of a few hundred   
yards1 may be seen in every stage of    
growth1  from the newly burst acorn1    
that presents to the light its two      
fleshy  lobes1 with the first tender    
rudiments of a leaflet between1 up to   

the  giant of the forest1 in the hollow 
of whose trunk the red deer may         
shelter1 and find ample room for the    
broad spread of his antlers4 ,the  fact 
of the development of the oak1 from the 
minute two-lobed seedling of  a week's  
growth up to the gigantic tree of five  
centuries1 is as capable  of being      
demonstrated by observation spread over 
five hundred yards of  space1 as by     
observation spread over five hundred    
years of time4 ,and  be it remembered1  
that the sea-coasts of the world are    
several hundred  thousand miles in      
extent4 ,europe is by far the smallest  
of the earth's  four large divisions1   
and it is bounded1 in proportion to its 
size1 by a  greater extent of land than 
any of the others4 ,and yet the         
sea-coasts of  ,europe alone1 including 
those of its islands1 exceed twenty-five
 thousand  miles4 ,we have results      
before us1 in this extent of space1     
identical  with those of many hundred   
thousand years of time2 and if          

terrestrial  plants were as certainly   
developments of the low plants of the   
sea as  the huge oak is a development of
 the immature seedling1 just sprung from
  the acorn1 so vast a stretch of       
sea-coast could not fail to present us  
with the intermediate vegetation in all 
its stages4 ,but the sea-coasts  fail to
 exhibit even a vestige of the          
intermediate vegetation4 ,experience    
spread over an extent of space analogous
 to millions of years of time1  does not
 furnish1 in this department1 a single  
fact corroborative of the  development  
theory1 but1 on the contrary1 many      
hundreds of facts that  bear directly   
against it4    ,the author of the       
8,vestiges0 is evidently a practised and
 tasteful  writer1 and his work abounds 
in ingenious combinations of thought2   
but  those powers of abstract reflection
 on whose vigorous exercise the         
origination of argument depends1 nature 
seems to have denied him4 ,there  are   
two things in especial which his work   

wants1--original observation  and       
abstract thought1--the power of seeing  
for himself and of  reasoning for       
himself2 and what we find instead is    
simply a vivid  appreciation of the     
images of things1 as these images exist 
in other  minds1 and a vigorous         
perception of the various shades of     
resemblance  which obtain among them4   
,there is a large amount of analogical  
power  exhibited2 but that basis of     
truth which correct observation can     
alone  furnish1 and that ability of     
nicely distinguishing differences by    
which the faculty of discerning         
similarity must be forever regulated    
and governed1 are wanting1 in what1 in a
 mind of fine general texture  and      
quality1 must be regarded as an         
extraordinary degree4 ,and hence an     
ingenious but very unsolid work1--full  
of images transferred1 not from the     
scientific field1 but from the field of 
scientific mind1 and charged  with      
glittering but vague resemblances1      

stamped in the mint of fancy2  which1   
were they to be used as mere counters in
 some light literary game  of           
story-telling or character-sketching1   
would be in no respect out of  place1   
but which1 when passed current as the   
proper coin of philosophic  argument1   
are really frauds on the popular        
understanding4 ,there are1  however1 not
 a few instances in the 8,vestiges0 and 
its 8,sequel10 in which  that defect of 
reflective power to which ,i refer      
rather enhances than  diminishes the    
difficulty of reply1 by presenting to   
the controversialist  mere intangible   
clouds with which to grapple2 that yet1 
through the  existence of a certain     
superstition in the popular mind1 as    
predisposed  to accept as true whatever 
takes the form of science1 as its       
predecessor  the old superstition was   
inclined a century ago to reject science
 itself1  are at least suited to blind  
and bewilder4 ,of this kind of          
difficulty1  the following passage1 in  

which the author of the work cashiers   
the  ,creator as such1 and substitutes1 
instead1 a mere animal-manufacturing    
piece of clock-work1 which bears the    
name of natural law1#ch furnishes  us   
with a remarkable instance4             
8,admitting10 he remarks1 8that we see  
not now any such fact as the  production
 of new species1 we at least know1 that 
while such facts were  occurring upon   
earth1 there were associated phenomena  
in progress of  a character perfectly   
ordinary4 ,for example1 when the earth  
received  its first fishes1 sandstone   
and limestone were forming in the manner
  exemplified a few years ago in the    
ingenious experiments of ,sir ,james    
,hall2 basaltic columns rose for the    
future wonder of man1 according to  the 
principle which ,dr4 ,gregory ,watt     
showed in operation before the  eyes of 
our fathers2 and hollows in the igneous 
rocks were filled with  crystals1       
precisely as they could now be by virtue
 of electric action1  as shown within   

the last few years by ,crosse and       
,becquerel4 ,the seas  obeyed the       
impulse of gentle breezes1 and rippled  
their sandy bottoms1  as seas of the    
present day are doing2 the trees grew as
 now1 by favor  of sun and wind1        
thriving in good seasons and pining in  
bad3 this  while the animals above      
fishes were yet to be created4 ,the     
movements  of the sea1 the              
meteorological agencies1 the disposition
 which we see  in the generality of     
plants to thrive when heat and moisture 
were most  abundant1 were kept up in    
silent serenity1 as matters of simply   
natural  order1 throughout the whole of 
the ages which saw reptiles enter in    
their various forms upon the sea and    
land4 ,it was about the time of the     
first mammals that the forest of the    
,dirt-,bed was sinking in natural  ruin 
amidst the sea sludge1 as forests of the
 ,plantagenets have been  doing for     
several centuries upon the coast of     
,england4 ,in short all the  common     

operations of the physical world were   
going on in their usual  simplicity1    
obeying that order which we still see   
governing them2 while  the supposed     
extraordinary causes were in requisition
 for the development  of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms4 ,there surely hence 
arises a strong  presumption against any
 such causes4 ,it becomes much more     
likely that  the latter phenomena were  
evolved in the manner of law also1 and  
that we  only dream of extraordinary    
causes here1 as men once dreamt of a    
special  action of ,deity in every      
change of wind and the results of each  
season1  merely because they did not    
know the laws by which the events in    
question  were evolved40    ,how1 let us
 suppose1 would ,david ,hume--the       
greatest thinker of which  infidelity   
can boast--have greeted the auxiliary   
who could have brought  him such an     
argument as a contribution to the cause8
 8,your objection1  so far as you have  
stated it10 the philosopher might have  

said1 8amounts  simply to               
this3--,creation by direct act is a     
miracle2 whereas all that  exists is    
propagated and maintained by natural    
law4 ,natural laws--to  vary the        
illustration--were in full operation at 
the period when the  ,author of the     
,christian religion was1 it is said1    
engaged in working  his miracles4 ,when1
 according to our opponents1 he walked  
upon the  surface of the sea1 ,peter1   
through the operation of the natural law
 of  gravitation1 was sinking into it2  
when he withered1 by a word1 the barren 
fig-tree1 there were other trees on the 
,mount thriving in conformity  with the 
vegetative laws1 under the influence of 
sun and shower2 when  he raised the dead
 ,lazarus1 there were corpses in the    
neighboring tombs  passing1 through the 
natural putrefactive fermentation1 into 
a state  of utter decomposition4 ,in    
fine1 at the time when he was engaged1  
as  ,reid and ,campbell believe1 in     
working miracles in violation of law1   

the  laws of which these were a         
violation actually existed1 and were    
every  where actively operative2 or1 to 
employ your own words1 when the ,new    
,testament miracles were1 it is alleged1
 in the act of being wrought1  #8all the
 common operations of the physical world
 were going on in their  usual          
simplicity1 obeying that order which we 
still see governing them4'  ,such is the
 portion of your statement already made2
 what next80 8,it is  surely very       
unlikely10 replies the auxiliary1 8that 
in such a complex  mass of phenomena    
there should have been two totally      
distinct modes  of the exercise of the  
,divine power1--the mode by miracle and 
the mode  by law40 8,unlikely60 rejoins 
the philosopher2 8on what grounds80 8,o1
  just unlikely10 says the              
auxiliary2--8unlikely that ,god should  
be at  once operating on matter through 
the agency of natural laws1 of which    
man knows much1 and through the agency  
of miraculous acts1 of the  nature of   

which man knows nothing4 ,but ,i have   
not thought out the  subject any        
further3 you have1 in the statement     
already made1 my entire  argument40     
8,ay1 ,i see10 the author of the 8,essay
 on ,miracles0 would  probably have     
remarked2 8you deem it unlikely that    
,deity should not only  work in part1 as
 he has always done1 by means of which  
men1--clever  fellows like you and      
me--think they know a great deal but    
that he should  also work in part1 as he
 has always done1 by means of which they
 know  nothing at all4 ,admirably       
reasoned out6 ,you are1 ,i make no      
doubt1 a  sound1 zealous unbeliever in  
your private capacity1 and your argument
  may have great weight with your own   
mind1 and be1 in consequence1 worthy  of
 encouragement in a small way2 but allow
 me to suggest that1 for  the sake of   
the general cause1 it should be kept out
 of reach of the  enemy4 ,there are in  
the ,churches ,militant on both sides of
 the ,tweed  shrewd combatants1 who have

 nearly as much wit as ourselves40 ,i   
think ,i  understand the reference of   
the author of the 8,vestiges0 to the    
dream  8of a special action of ,deity in
 every change of wind and the results of
  each season40 ,taken with what        
immediately goes before1 it means       
something  considerably different from  
those fancies of the 8untutored         
,indian10 who1  according to the poet1  
8,sees ,god in clouds1 or hears him in  
the wind40    ,there is a school of     
infidelity1 tolerably well known in the 
capital  of ,scotland as by far the most
 superficial which our country has yet  
seen1 that measures mind with a         
tape-line and the callipers1 and1 albeit
  not ,christian1 laudably exemplifies1 
in a loudly expressed regard for        
science1 the ,christian grace of loving 
its enemy4 ,and the belief in a  special
 ,providence1 who watches over and      
orders all things1 and without  whose   
permission there falleth not even a     
8sparrow to the ground10 the  apostles  

of this school set wholly aside1        
substituting1 instead1 a belief  in the 
indiscriminating operation of natural   
laws2 as if1 with the broad  fact before
 them that even man can work out his    
will merely by knowing  and directing   
these laws1 the ,god by whom they were  
instituted should  lack either the power
 or the wisdom to make them the pliant  
ministers  of his4 ,it is1 ,i fear1 to  
the distinctive tenet in the creed of   
this  hapless school that the author of 
the 8,vestiges0 refers4 ,nor is it in   
the  least surprising1 that a writer who
 labors through two carefully written   
volumes1#ci to destroy the existing     
belief in 8,god's works of ,creation10  
should affect to hold that the belief in
 his 8works of ,providence0 had  been   
destroyed already4 ,but faith in a      
special superintendence of ,deity  is   
not yet dead3 nay1 more1 ,he who created
 the human mind took especial  care1 in 
its construction1 that1 save in a few   
defective specimens of the  race1 the   

belief should never die4    ,the author 
of the 8,vestiges0 complains of the     
illiberality with which  he has been    
treated4 8,it has appeared to various   
critics10 we find  him saying1 8that    
very sacred principles are threatened by
 a doctrine  of universal law4 ,a       
natural origin of life1 and a natural   
basis in  organization for the          
operations of the human mind1 speak to  
them of  fatalism and materialism4 ,and1
 strange to say1 those who every day    
give  views of physical cosmogony       
altogether discrepant in appearance with
  that of ,moses1 apply hard names to my
 book for suggesting an organic         
cosmogony in the same way1 liable to    
inconsiderate odium4 ,i must firmly     
protest against this mode of meeting    
speculations regarding nature4  ,the    
object of my book1 whatever may be said 
of the manner in which  it is treated1  
is purely scientific4 ,the views which  
,i give of the  history of organization 
stand exactly on the same ground upon   

which the  geological doctrines stood   
fifty years ago4 ,i am merely           
endeavoring to  read aright another     
chapter of the mystic book which ,god   
has placed  under the attention of his  
creatures4444 ,the absence of all       
liberality  in my reviewers is striking1
 and especially so in those whose       
geological  doctrines have exposed them 
to similar misconstruction4 ,if the men 
newly  emerged from the odium which was 
thrown upon ,newton's theory of the     
planetary motions had rushed forward to 
turn that odium upon the patrons  of the
 dawning science of ,geology1 they would
 have been prefiguring the  conduct of  
several of my critics1 themselves hardly
 escaped from the  rude hands of the    
narrow-minded1 yet eager to join that   
rabble against  a new and equally       
unfriended stranger1 as if such were the
 best means  of purchasing impunity for 
themselves4 ,i trust that a little time 
will  enable the public to penetrate    
this policy40    ,now1 there is one very

 important point to which the author of 
this  complaint does not seem to have   
adverted4 ,the astronomer founded his   
belief in the mobility of the earth and 
the immobility of the sun1 not on  a    
mere dream-like hypothesis1 founded on  
nothing1 but on a wide and solid  base  
of pure induction4 ,galileo was no mere 
dreamer2--he was a discoverer  of great 
truths1 and a profound reasoner         
regarding them3 and on his  discoveries 
and his reasonings1 compelled by the    
inexorable laws of his  mental          
constitution1 did he build up certain   
deductive beliefs1 which had  no        
previous existence in his mind4 ,his    
convictions were consequents1 not       
antecedents4 ,such1 also1 is the        
character of geological discovery and   
inference1 and of the existing          
belief1--their joint                    
production1--regarding  the great       
antiquity of the globe4 ,no geologist   
worthy of the name began  with the      
belief1 and then set himself to square  

geological phenomena  with its          
requirements4 ,it is a deduction1--a    
result2--not the starting  assumption1  
or given sum1 in a process of           
calculation1 but its ultimate  finding  
or answer4 ,clergymen of the orthodox   
,churches1 such as the  ,sumners1       
,sedgwicks1 ,bucklands1 ,conybeares1 and
 ,pye ,smiths of ,england1  or the      
,chalmerses1 ,duncans1 and ,flemings of 
our own country1 must have  come to the 
study of this question of the world's   
age with at least no  bias in favor of  
the geological estimate4 ,the old1 and1 
as it has proven1  erroneous reading of 
the ,mosaic account1 was by much too    
general a one  early in the present     
century1 not to have exerted upon them1 
in their  character as ministers of     
religion1 a sensible influence of a     
directly  opposite nature4 ,and the fact
 of the complete reversal of their      
original  bias1 and of the broad        
unhesitating finding on the subject     
which they  ultimately substituted      

instead1 serves to intimate to the      
uninitiated the  strength of the        
evidence to which they submitted4 ,there
 can be nothing  more certain than that 
it is minds of the same calibre and     
class1 engaged  in the same inductive   
track1 that yielded in the first        
instance to the  astronomical evidence  
regarding the earth's motion1 and1 in   
the second1  to the geological evidence 
regarding the earth's age4#dj    ,but   
how very different the nature and       
history of the development  hypothesis1 
and the character of the intellects with
 whom it originated1  or by whom it has 
been since adopted6 ,in the first place1
 it existed  as a wild dream ere        
,geology had any being as a science4 ,it
 was an  antecedent1 not a              
consequent1--a starting assumption1 not 
a result4 ,no  one will contend that    
,maillet was a geologist4 ,geology has  
no place among  the sciences in the age 
in which he lived and even no name4 ,and
 yet  there is a translation of his     

,telliamed now lying before me1 bearing 
date #agej1 in which ,i find very nearly
 the same account given of the  origin  
of animals and plants as that in the    
8,vestiges10 and in which  the sea is   
described as that great and fruitful    
womb of nature in which  organization   
and life first began4 ,lamarck1 at the  
time when ,maillet  wrote1 was a boy in 
his sixth year4 ,he became1             
comparatively early in  life1 a skilful 
botanist and conchologist2 but not until
 turned of fifty  did he set himself to 
study general zoology2 and his greater  
work on  the invertebrate animals1 on   
which his fame as a naturalist chiefly  
rests1 did not begin to appear--for it  
was published serially--until  the year 
#ahae4 ,but his development hypothesis1 
identical with that  of the 8,vestiges10
 was given to the world long before1--in
 #ahjb2 at  a time when it had not been 
ascertained that there existed placoids 
during the ,silurian period1 or ganoids 
during the ,old ,red ,sandstone  period1

 or enaliosaurs during the ,oolitic     
period2 and when1 though  ,smith had    
constructed his 8,tabular ,view of the  
,british ,strata10 his map  had not yet 
appeared1 and there was little more     
known regarding the  laws of            
superposition among the stratified rocks
 than was to be found  in the writings  
of ,werner4 ,and if the presumption be  
strong1 in the  circumstances1 that     
,lamarck originated his development     
hypothesis ere  he became in any very   
great degree skilful as a zoologist1 it 
is no  mere presumption1 but a          
demonstrable truth1 that he originated  
it ere  he became a geologist2 for a    
geologist he never became4 ,in common   
with  ,maillet and ,buffon1 he held by  
,leibnitz's theory of a universal ocean2
  and such1 as we have already seen1 was
 his ignorance of fossils1 that  he     
erected dermal fragments of the ,russian
 ,asterolepis into a new  genus of      
,polyparia1--an error into which the    
merest tyro in palontology  could not   

now fall4 ,such1 in relation to these   
sciences1 was the man  who perfected the
 dream of development4 ,nor has the most
 distinguished  of its continental      
assertors now living1--,professor       
,oken1--any higher  claim to be regarded
 as a disciple of the inductive school  
of ,geology  than ,lamarck4 ,in the     
preface to the recently published       
translation of  his                     
8,physio-,philosophy10 we find the      
following curious confession3--8,i      
wrote the first edition of #ahaj in a   
kind of inspiration1 and on that        
account it was not so well arranged as a
 systematic work ought to be4  ,now1    
though this may appear to have been     
amended in the second and third         
edition1 yet still it was not possible  
for me to completely attain the  object 
held in view4 ,the book has therefore   
remained essentially the  same as       
regards its fundamental principles4 ,it 
is only the empirical  arrangement into 
series of plants and animals that has   

been modified  from time to time1 in    
accordance with the scientific elevation
 of their  several departments1 or just 
as discoveries and anatomical           
investigations  have increased1 and     
rendered some other position of the     
objects a matter  of necessity40 ,an    
interesting piece of evidence this2 but 
certainly  rather simple as a           
confession4 ,it will be found that while
 whatever gives  value to the           
8,physio-,philosophy0 of the ,german    
,professor 7a work which1  if divested  
of all the inspired bits1 would be      
really a good one7 was  acquired either 
before or since its first appearance in 
the ordinary way1  its development      
hypothesis came direct from the god4    
,further1 as ,i have  already had       
occasion to state1 ,oken holds1 like    
,lamarck and ,maillet1 by  the universal
 ocean of ,leibnitz2 he holds1 also1    
that the globe is a vast  crystal1 just 
a little flawed in the facets3 and that 
the three granitic  components--quartz1 

feldspar1 and mica--are simply the      
hail-drops of heavy  stone showers that 
shot athwart the original ocean1 and    
accumulated into  rock at the bottom1 as
 snow or hail shoots athwart the upper  
atmosphere1  and accumulates1 in the    
form of ice1 on the summits of high     
hills1 or  in the arctic or antarctic   
regions4 ,such1 in the present day1 are 
the  geological notions of ,oken6 ,they 
were doubtless all promulgated in what  
is modestly enough termed 8a kind of    
inspiration20 and there are few  now so 
ignorant of ,geology as not to know that
 the possessing agent in  the case--for 
inspiration is not quite the proper     
word--must have been  at least of kin to
 that ingenious personage who           
volunteered of old to  be a lying spirit
 in the mouths of the four hundred      
prophets4 ,and the  well-known fact1    
that the most popular contemporary      
expounder of ,oken's  hypothesis--the   
author of the 8,vestiges0--has in every 
edition of his work  been correcting1   

modifying1 or altogether withdrawing his
 statements  regarding both geological  
and zoological phenomena1 and that his  
gradual  development as a geologist and 
zoologist1 from the sufficiently low    
type  of acquirement to which his first 
edition bore witness1 may be traced1 in 
consequence1 with a distinctness and    
certainty which we in vain seek in  the 
cases of presumed development which he  
would so fain establish1--has  in its   
bearing exactly the same effect4 ,his   
development hypothesis was  complete at 
a time when his geology and zoology were
 rudimental and  imperfect4 ,give me    
your facts1 said the ,frenchman1 that ,i
 may accommodate  them to my theory4    
,and no one can look at the progress of 
the ,lamarckian  hypothesis1 with       
reference to the dates when1 and the men
 by whom1 it was  promulgated1 without  
recognizing in it one of perhaps the    
most striking  embodiments of the       
,frenchman's principle which the world  
ever saw4 ,it is  not the illiberal     

religionist that rejects and casts it   
off1--it is the  inductive philosopher4 
,science addresses its assertors in the 
language of  the possessed to the sons  
of ,sceva the ,jew2--8,the astronomer ,i
 know1 and  the geologist ,i know2 but  
who are ye80    ,one of the strangest   
passages in the 8,sequel to the         
,vestiges10 is that  in which its author
 carries his appeal from the tribunal of
 science to  8another tribunal10        
indicated but not named1 before which   
8this new  philosophy0 remarkable       
chiefly for being neither philosophy nor
 new 8is  to be truly and righteously   
judged40 ,the principle is obvious1 on  
which1  were his opponents mere         
theologians1 wholly unable1 though they 
saw  the mischievous character and      
tendency of his conclusions1 to disprove
  them scientifically1 he might appeal  
from theology to science3 8it is  with  
scientific truth10 he might urge1 8not  
with moral consequences1  that ,i have  
aught to do40 ,but on what allowable    

principle1 professing1  as he does1 to  
found his theory on scientific fact1 can
 he appeal from  science to the want of 
it8 8,after discussing10 he says1 8the  
whole  arguments on both sides in so    
ample a manner1 it may be hardly        
necessary  to advert to the objection   
arising from the mere fact1 that nearly 
all  the scientific men are opposed to  
the theory of the #8,vestiges4' ,as this
  objection1 however1 is likely to be of
 some avail with many minds1 it  ought  
not to be entirely passed over4 ,if ,i  
did not think there were  reasons1      
independent of judgment1 for the        
scientific class coming so  generally to
 this conclusion1 ,i might feel the more
 embarrassed in  presenting myself in   
direct opposition to so many men        
possessing talents  and information4 ,as
 the case really stands1 the ability of 
this class to  give at the present a    
true response upon such a subject       
appears extremely  challengeable4 ,it is
 no discredit to them that they are1    

almost without  exception1 engaged each 
in his own little department of science1
 and  able to give little or no         
attention to other parts of that vast   
field4  ,from year to year1 and from age
 to age1 we see them at work1 adding1 no
  doubt1 much to the known1 and         
advancing many important interests1 but 
at the same time doing little for the   
establishment of comprehensive  views of
 nature ,experiments in however narrow a
 walk1 facts of whatever  minuteness1   
make reputations in scientific          
societies2 all beyond  is regarded with 
suspicion and distrust4 ,the consequence
 is1 that  philosophy1 as it exists     
amongst us1 does nothing to raise its   
votaries  above the common ideas of     
their time4 ,there can therefore be     
nothing  more conclusive against our    
hypothesis in the disfavor of the       
scientific  class1 than in that of any  
other section of educated men40    ,this
 is surely a very strange statement4    
,waiving altogether the general  fact1  

that great original discoverers in any  
department of knowledge are  never men  
of one science or one faculty1 but      
possess1 on the contrary1  breadth of   
mind and multiplicity of                
acquirement2--waiving1 too1 the         
particular fact1 that the more          
distinguished original discoverers of   
the present day rank among at once its  
most philosophic1 most elegant1  and    
most extensively informed               
writers2--granting1 for the argument's  
sake1  that our scientific men are men  
of narrow acquirement1 and 8exclusively 
engaged1 each in his own little         
department of science20--it is surely   
rational to hold1 notwithstanding1 that 
in at least these little  departments   
they have a better right to be heard    
than any other class of  persons        
whatever4 ,we must surely not refuse to 
the man of science what we  at once     
grant to the common mechanic4 ,a        
cotton-weaver or calico-printer  may be 
a very narrow man1 8exclusively engaged 

in his own little  department20 and yet 
certain it is that1 in a question of    
cotton-weaving  or calico-printing1 his 
evidence is justly deemed more          
conclusive in  courts of law than that  
of any other man1 however much his      
superior in  general breadth and        
intelligence4 ,and had the author of the
 8,vestiges0  founded his hypothesis on 
certain facts pertaining to the arts of 
cotton-weaving and calico-printing1 the 
cotton-weaver and calico-printer  would 
have an indisputable right to be heard  
on the question of their  general       
correctness4 ,are we to regard the case 
as different because  it is on facts    
pertaining to science1 not to           
cotton-weaving or  calico-printing1 that
 he professes to found8 ,his hypothesis1
 unless  supported by scientific        
evidence1 is a mere dream1--a fiction as
 baseless  and wild as any in the       
8,fairy ,tales0 or the 8,arabian        
,nights40 ,and1 fully  sensible of the  
fact1 he calls in as witnesses the      

physical sciences1 and  professes to    
take down their evidence4 ,he calls into
 court ,astronomy1  ,geology1           
,phytology1 and ,zoology4 8,hold60      
exclaims the astronomer1 as the         
examination goes on2 8you are taking the
 evidence of my special science  most   
unfairly2 ,i challenge a right of       
cross-examining the witness40  8,hold60 
cries the geologist2 8you are putting my
 science to the question1  and extorting
 from it1 in its agony1 a whole series  
of fictions3 ,i  claim the right of     
examining it fairly and softly1 and     
getting from  it just the sober truth1  
and nothing more40 ,and the phytologist 
and  zoologist urge exactly similar     
claims4 8,no1 gentlemen10 replies the   
author of the 8,vestiges10 8you are     
narrow men1 confined each of you to  his
 own little department1 and so ,i will  
not permit you to cross-examine  the    
witnesses40 8,what60 rejoin the men of  
science1 8not permit us to  examine our 
own witnesses6--refuse to us what you   

would at once concede  to the           
cotton-weaver or the calico-printer1    
were the question one of  cotton-weaving
 or of calico-printing6 ,we are surely  
not much narrower  men than the man of  
cotton or the man of calico4 ,it is but 
in our own  little departments that we  
ask to be heard40 8,but you shall not be
 heard1  gentlemen10 says the author of 
the 8,vestiges20 8at all events1 ,i     
shall  not care one farthing for        
anything you say4 ,for observe1         
gentlemen1 my  hypothesis is nothing    
without the evidence of your sciences2  
and you all  unite1 ,i see1 in taking   
that evidence from me2 and so ,i        
confidently raise  my appeal in this    
matter to people who know nothing about 
either you or  your sciences4 ,it must  
be before another tribunal that the new 
philosophy  is to be truly and          
righteously judged40 ,alas6 what can    
this mean8 or  where are we to seek for 
that tribunal of last resort to which   
this  ingenious man refers with such    

confidence the consideration of his     
case8  ,can it mean1 that he appeals    
from the only class of persons qualified
 to  judge of his facts1 to a class     
ignorant of these1 but disposed by      
habits  of previous scepticism to       
acquiesce in his conclusions1 and take  
his  premises for granted2--that he     
appeals from astronomers and geologists 
to  low-minded materialists and shallow 
phrenologers1--from phytologists and    
zoologists to mesmerists and            
phreno-mesmerists8    ,i remember being 
much struck1 several years ago1 by a    
remark dropped in  conversation by the  
late ,rev4 ,mr4 ,stewart of ,cromarty1  
one of the most  original-minded men ,i 
ever knew4 8,in reading in my ,greek    
,new ,testament  this morning10 he said1
 8,i was curiously impressed by a       
thought which1  simple as it may seem1  
never occurred to me before4 ,the       
portion which  ,i perused was in the    
,first ,epistle of ,peter2 and as ,i    
passed from the  thinking of the passage

 to the language in which it is         
expressed1--#8,this  ,greek of the      
untaught ,galilean fisherman1'--,i said1
 #8so admired by  scholars and critics  
for its unaffected dignity and force1   
was not  acquired1 as that of ,paul may 
have been1 in the ordinary way1 but     
formed  a portion of the ,pentecostal   
gift6 ,here1 then1 immediately under my 
eye1  on these pages1 are there         
embodied1 not1 as in many other parts of
 the  ,scriptures1 the mere details of a
 miracle1 but the direct results of  a  
miracle4 ,how strange6 ,had the old     
tables of stone been placed before  me1 
with what an awe-struck feeling would ,i
 have looked on the characters  traced  
upon them by ,god's own finger6 ,how is 
it that ,i have failed to  remember     
that1 in the language of these          
,epistles1 miraculously impressed  by   
the ,divine power upon the mind1 ,i     
possessed as significant and  suggestive
 a relic as that which the inscription  
miraculously impressed  by the ,divine  

power upon the stone could possibly have
 furnished80 ,it  was a striking        
thought2 and in the course of our walk1 
which led us over  richly fossiliferous 
beds of the ,old ,red ,sandstone1 to a  
deposit of the  ,eathie ,lias1 largely  
charged with the characteristic remains 
of that  formation1 ,i ventured to      
connect it with another4 8,in either    
case10 ,i  remarked1 as we seated       
ourselves beside a sea-cliff1 sculptured
 over with  the impressions of extinct  
plants and shells1 8your relics1 whether
 of  the ,pentecostal ,greek or of the  
characters inscribed on the old tables  
of  stone1 could address themselves to  
but previously existing belief4 ,the    
sceptic would see in the ,sinaitic      
characters1 were they placed before     
him1 merely the work of an ordinary     
tool2 and in the ,greek of ,peter and   
,john1 a well-known language1 acquired1 
he would hold1 in the common way4  ,but 
what say you to the relics that stand   
out in such bold relief from  the rocks 

beside us1 in their character as the    
results of miracle8 ,the  perished      
tribes and races which they represent   
all began to exist4  ,there is no truth 
which science can more conclusively     
demonstrate than  that they had all a   
beginning4 ,the infidel who1 in this    
late age of  the world1 would attempt   
falling back on the fiction of an       
#8infinite  series1' would be laughed to
 scorn4 ,they all began to be4 ,but how8
 ,no  true geologist holds by the       
development hypothesis2--it has been    
resigned  to sciolists and              
smatterers2--and there is but one other 
alternative4  ,they began to be1 through
 the miracle of creation4 ,from the     
evidence  furnished by these rocks we   
are shut down either to the belief in   
miracle1 or to the belief in something  
else infinitely harder of  reception1   
and as thoroughly unsupported by        
testimony as it is contrary  to         
experience4 ,hume is at length answered 
by the severe truths of the  stony      

science4 ,he was not1 according to ,job1
 #8in league with the stones  of the    
field1' and they have risen in          
irresistible warfare against him in  the
 ,creator's behalf40          ,,final   
,,causes4--,,their ,,bearing ,,on       
,,geologic ,,history4 ,,conclusion4     
8,natural ,history has a principle on   
which to reason10 says ,cuvier1 8which  
is peculiar to it1 and which it employs 
advantageously on many occasions3  it is
 that of the conditions of existence1   
commonly termed final  causes40    ,in  
,geology1 which is ,natural ,history    
extended over all ages1  this principle 
has a still wider scope1--embracing not 
merely the  characteristics and         
conditions of the beings which now      
exist1 but of  all1 so far as we can    
learn regarding them1 which have ever   
existed1  and involving the             
consideration of not merely their       
peculiarities as  races placed before us
 without relation to time1 but also of  
the history  of their rise1 increase1   

decline1 and extinction4 ,in studying   
the  biography1 if ,i may so express    
myself1 of an individual animal1 we     
have to acquaint ourselves with the     
circumstances in which nature has       
placed it1--its adaptation to these1    
both in structure and instinct1--the    
points of resemblance which it presents 
to the individuals of other races  and  
families1 and the laws which determine  
its terms of development1  vigorous     
existence1 and decay4 ,and all ,natural 
,history1 when restricted  to the       
passing now of the world's annals1 is   
simply a congeries of  biographies4 ,it 
is when we extend our view into the     
geological field that  it passes from   
biography into history proper1 and that 
we have to  rise from the consideration 
of the birth and death of individuals1  
which1  in all mere biographies1 form   
the great terminal events that          
constitute  beginning and end1 to a     
survey of the birth and death of races1 
and the  elevation or degradation of    

dynasties and sub-kingdoms4    ,we learn
 from human history that nations are as 
certainly mortal as men4  ,they enjoy a 
greatly longer term of existence1 but   
they die at last3  ,rollin's ,history of
 ,ancient ,nations is a history of the  
dead4 ,and we  are taught by geological 
history1 in like manner1 that species   
are as  mortal as individuals and       
nations1 and that even genera and       
families  become extinct4 ,there is no  
man upon earth at the present moment    
whose  age greatly exceeds an hundred   
years2--there is no nation now upon     
earth 7if we perhaps except the         
long-lived ,chinese7 that also          
flourished  three thousand years        
ago2--there is no species now living    
upon earth  that dates beyond the times 
of the ,tertiary deposits4 ,all bear the
 stamp  of                              
death1--individuals1--nations1--species2
 and we may scarce less safely          
predicate1 looking upon the past1 that  
it is appointed for nations and  species

 to die1 than that it 8is appointed for 
man once to die40 ,even  our own        
species1 as now constituted1--with      
instincts that conform to the  original 
injunction1 8increase and multiply10 and
 that1 in consequence1  8marry and are  
given in marriage10--shall one day cease
 to exist3 a fact  not less in          
accordance with beliefs inseparable from
 the faith of the  ,christian1 than with
 the widely-founded experience of the   
geologist4 ,now1  it is scarce possible 
for the human mind to become acquainted 
with the  fact1 that at certain periods 
species began to exist and then1 after  
the  lapse of untold ages1 ceased to be1
 without inquiring whether1 from the    
8conditions of existence1 commonly      
termed final causes10 we cannot deduce  
a reason for their rise or decline1 or  
why their term of being should  have    
been included rather in one certain     
period of time than another4  ,the same 
faculty which finds employment in       
tracing to their causes the  rise and   

fall of nations1 and which it is the    
merit of the philosophic  historian     
judiciously to exercise1 will to a      
certainty seek employment  in this      
department of history also2 and that    
there will be an appetency  for such    
speculations in the public mind1 we may 
infer from the success1  as a literary  
undertaking1 of the 8,vestiges of       
,creation10--a work that  bears the same
 sort of relation1 in this special field
 to sober inquiry1  founded on the true 
conditions of things1 that the legends  
of the old  chroniclers bore to         
authentic history4 ,the progressive     
state of geologic  science has hitherto 
militated against the formation of      
theory of the  soberer character4 ,its  
facts--still merely in the forming--are 
necessarily  imperfect in their         
classification1 and limited in their    
amount2 and  thus the essential data    
continues incomplete4 ,besides1 the men 
best  acquainted with the basis of fact 
which already exists1 have quite enough 

to engage them in adding to it4 ,but    
there are limits to the field of        
palontological discovery1 in its        
relation to what may be termed the      
chronology of organized existence1      
which1 judging from the progress of  the
 science in the past1 may be well nigh  
reached in favored localities1  such as 
the ,british islands1 in about a quarter
 of a century from the  present time2   
and then1 ,i doubt not1 geological      
history1 in legitimate  conformity with 
the laws of mind1 and from the existence
 of the pregnant  principle peculiar1   
according to ,cuvier1 to that science of
 which ,geology  is simply an extension1
 will assume a very extraordinary form4 
,we cannot  yet aspire 8to the height of
 this great argument30 our foundations  
are  in parts still unconsolidated and  
incomplete1 and unfitted to sustain the 
perfect superstructure which shall one  
day assuredly rise upon them2 but  from 
the little which we can now see1 8as if 
in a glass darkly10 enough  appears from

 which to                8,assert       
eternal ,providence1      ,and justify  
the ways of ,god to men40    ,the       
history of the four great monarchies of 
the world was typified1 in  the         
prophetic dream of the ancient          
,babylonish king1 by a colossal image1  
8terrible in its form and brightness10  
of which the 8head was pure gold10  the 
8breast and arms of silver10 the 8belly 
and thighs of brass10 and the  legs and 
feet 8of iron1 and of iron mingled with 
clay40 ,the vision in  which it formed  
the central object was appropriately    
that of a puissant  monarch2 and the    
image itself typified the merely human  
monarchies of the  earth4 ,it would     
require a widely different figure to    
symbolize the great  monarchies of      
creation4 ,and yet ,revelation does     
furnish such a figure4  ,it is that     
which was witnessed by the captive      
prophet beside 8the river  ,chebar10    
when 8the heavens were opened1 and he   
saw visions of ,god40 ,in  that chariot 

of ,deity1 glowing in fire and amber1   
with its complex wheels  8so high that  
they were dreadful10 set round about    
with eyes1 there were  living creatures1
 of whose four faces three were brute   
and one human2 and  high over all sat   
the ,son of ,man4 ,it would almost seem 
as if1 in this  sublime vision1--in     
which1 with features distinct enough to 
impress the  imagination1 there mingle  
the elements of an awful                
incomprehensibility1  and which even the
 genius of ,raffaelle has failed        
adequately to  portray1--the history of 
all the past and of all the future had  
been  symbolized4 ,in the order of      
,providence intimated in the geologic   
record1  the brute faces1 as in the     
vision1 outnumber the human2--the human 
dynasty is one1 and the dynasties of the
 inferior animals are three2 and  yet   
who can doubt that they all equally     
compose parts of a well-ordered  and    
perfect whole1 as the four faces formed 
but one cherubim2 that  they have been  

moving onward to a definite goal1 in the
 unity of one  grand harmonious         
design1--now 8lifted up high0 over the  
comprehension of  earth1--now let down  
to its humble level2 and that the       
,creator of all has  been ever seated   
over them on the throne of his          
providence1--a 8likeness  in the        
appearance of a man10--embodying the    
perfection of his nature in  his        
workings1 and determining the end from  
the beginning8    ,there is geologic    
evidence1 as has been shown1 that in the
 course of  creation the higher orders  
succeeded the lower4 ,we have no good   
reason to  believe that the mollusc and 
crustacean preceded the fish1 seeing    
that  discovery1 in its slow course1 has
 already traced the vertebrata in the   
ichthyic form1 down to deposits which   
only a few years ago were regarded  as  
representatives of the first beginnings 
of organized existence on our  planet1  
and that it has at the same time failed 
to add a lower system  to that in which 

their remains occur4 ,but the fish seems
 most certainly  to have preceded the   
reptile and the bird2 the reptile and   
the bird to  have preceded the          
mammiferous quadruped2 and the          
mammiferous quadruped  to have preceded 
man1--rational1 accountable man1 whom   
,god created in  his own image1--the    
much-loved ,benjamin of the             
family1--last-born of all  creatures4   
,it is of itself an extraordinary fact1 
without reference to  other             
considerations1 that the order adopted  
by ,cuvier1 in his animal  kingdom1 as  
that in which the four great classes of 
vertebrate animals1  when marshalled    
according to their rank and standing1   
naturally range  should be also that in 
which they occur in order of time4 ,the 
brain  which bears an average proportion
 to the spinal cord of not more than    
two to one1 came first1--it is the brain
 of the fish2 that which bears to  the  
spinal cord an average proportion of two
 and a half to one succeeded  it1--it is

 the brain of the reptile2 then came the
 brain averaging as  three to one1--it  
is that of the bird2 next in succession 
came the brain  that averages as four to
 one1--it is that of the mammal2 and    
last of all  there appeared a brain that
 averages as twenty-three to            
one1--reasoning1  calculating man had   
come upon the scene4 ,all the facts of  
geological  science are hostile to the  
,lamarckian conclusion1 that the lower  
brains  were developed into the higher4 
,as if with the express intention of    
preventing so gross a mis-reading of the
 record1 we find1 in at least two       
classes of animals1--fishes and         
reptiles1--the higher races placed at   
the  beginning3 the slope of the        
inclined plane is laid1 if one may so   
speak1  in the reverse way1 and1 instead
 of rising towards the level of the     
succeeding class1 inclines downwards1   
with at least the effect1 if not  the   
design1 of making the break where they  
meet exceedingly well marked  and       

conspicuous4 ,and yet the record does   
seem to speak of development  and       
progression2--not1 however1 in the      
province of organized existence1  but in
 that of insensate matter1 subject to   
the purely chemical laws4  ,it is in the
 style and character of the             
dwelling-place that gradual  improvement
 seems to have taken place2--not in the 
functions or the rank  of any class of  
its inhabitants2 and it is with special 
reference to this  gradual improvement  
in our common mansion-house the earth1  
in its bearing  on the 8conditions of   
existence10 that not a few of our       
reasonings  regarding the introduction  
and extinction of species and genera    
must  proceed4    ,that definite period 
at which man was introduced upon the    
scene seems  to have been specially     
determined by the conditions of         
correspondence  which the phenomena of  
his habitation had at length come to    
assume with  the predestined            
constitution of his mind4 ,the large    

reasoning brain would  have been wholly 
out of place in the earlier ages4 ,it is
 indubitably the  nature of man to base 
the conclusions which regulate all his  
actions  on fixed phenomena1--he reasons
 from cause to effect1 or from effect to
  cause2 and when placed in             
circumstances in which1 from some lack  
of the  necessary basis1 he cannot so   
reason1 he becomes a wretched1 timid1   
superstitious creature1 greatly more    
helpless and abject than even the       
inferior animals4 ,this unhappy state is
 strikingly exemplified by that  deep   
and peculiar impression made on the mind
 by a severe earthquake1  which         
,humboldt1 from his own experience1 so  
powerfully describes4  8,this           
impression10 he says1 8is not1 in my    
opinion1 the result of a  recollection  
of those fearful pictures of devastation
 presented to our  imagination by the   
historical narratives of the past1 but  
is rather due  to the sudden revelation 
of the delusive nature of the inherent  

faith  by which we had clung to a belief
 in the immobility of the solid parts   
of the earth4 ,we are accustomed from   
early childhood to draw a contrast      
between the mobility of water and the   
immobility of the soil on which we      
tread2 and this feeling is confirmed by 
the evidence of our senses4 ,when1      
therefore1 we suddenly feel the ground  
move beneath us1 a mysterious  force1   
with which we were previously           
unacquainted1 is revealed to us as  an  
active disturber of stability4 ,a moment
 destroys the illusion of a  whole life2
 our deceptive faith in the repose of   
nature vanishes2 and  we feel           
transported into a realm of unknown     
destructive forces4 ,every  sound--the  
faintest motion of the air--arrests our 
attention1 and we no  longer trust the  
ground on which we stand4 ,there is an  
idea conveyed  to the mind1 of some     
universal and unlimited danger4 ,we may 
flee from  the crater of a volcano in   
active eruption1 or from the dwelling   

whose  destruction is threatened by the 
approach of the lava stream2 but in an  
earthquake1 direct our flight           
whithersoever we will1 we still feel as 
if we trod upon the very focus of       
destruction40 ,not less striking is  the
 testimony of ,dr4 ,tschudi1 in his     
8,travels in ,peru10 regarding this     
singular effect of earthquakes on the   
human mind4 8,no familiarity with  the  
phenomenon can10 he remarks1 8blunt the 
feeling4 ,the inhabitant of  ,lima1 who 
from childhood has frequently witnessed 
these convulsions  of nature1 is roused 
from his sleep by the shock1 and rushes 
from his  apartment with the cry of     
#8,misericordia6' ,the foreigner from   
the  north of ,europe1 who knows nothing
 of earthquakes but by description1     
waits with impatience to feel the       
movements of the earth1 and longs to    
hear with his own ear the subterranean  
sounds1 which he has hitherto           
considered fabulous4 ,with levity he    
treats the apprehension of a coming     

convulsion1 and laughs at the fears of  
the natives2 but as soon as his  wish is
 gratified1 he is terror-stricken1 and  
is involuntarily prompted  to seek      
safety in flight40    ,now1 a partially 
consolidated planet1 tempested by       
frequent earthquakes  of such terrible  
potency1 that those of the historic ages
 would be but  mere ripples of the      
earth's surface in comparison1 could be 
no proper  home for a creature so       
constituted4 ,the fish or               
reptile1--animals of a  limited range of
 instinct1 exceedingly tenacious of life
 in most of their  varieties1 oviparous1
 prolific1 and whose young immediately  
on their  escape from the egg can       
provide for themselves1 might enjoy     
existence in  such circumstances1 to the
 full extent of their narrow capacities2
 and  when sudden death fell upon       
them1--though their remains1 scattered  
over  wide areas1 continue to exhibit   
that distortion of posture incident to  
violent dissolution1 which seems to     

speak of terror and suffering1--we may  
safely conclude there was but little    
real suffering on the case3 they  were  
happy up to a certain point1 and        
unconscious forever after4 ,fishes  and 
reptiles were the proper inhabitants of 
our planet during the ages of  the      
earth-tempests2 and when1 under the     
operation of the chemical laws1  these  
had become less frequent and terrible1  
the higher mammals were  introduced4    
,that prolonged ages of these tempests  
did exist1 and that  they gradually     
settled down1 until the state of things 
became at length  comparatively fixed   
and stable1 few geologists will be      
disposed to deny4  ,the evidence which  
supports this special theory of the     
development  of our planet in its       
capabilities as a scene of organized and
 sentient  being1 seems palpable at     
every step4 ,look first at these        
,grauwacke rocks2  and1 after marking   
how in one place the strata have been   
upturned on  their edges for miles      

together1 and how in another the        
,plutonic rock has  risen molten from   
below1 pass on to the ,old ,red         
,sandstone1 and examine  its significant
 platforms of violent death1--its       
faults1 displacements1  and             
dislocations2 see1 next1 in the ,coal   
,measures1 those evidences of  sinking  
and ever-sinking strata1 for thousands  
of feet together2 mark in  the ,oolite  
those vast overlying masses of trap1    
stretching athwart the  landscape1 far  
as the eye can reach2 observe carefully 
how the signs of  convulsion and        
catastrophe gradually lessen as we      
descend to the times of  the ,tertiary1 
though even in these ages of the        
mammiferous quadruped the  earth must   
have had its oft-recurring ague fits of 
frightful intensity2  and then1 on      
closing the survey1 consider how        
exceedingly partial and  unfrequent     
these earth-tempests have become in the 
recent periods4 ,yes2  we find every    
where marks of at once progression and  

identity1--of  progress made1 and yet   
identity maintained2 but it is in the   
habitation  that we find them1--not in  
the inhabitants4 ,there is a tract of   
country in  ,hindustan that contains    
nearly as many square miles as all      
,great ,britain1  covered to the depth  
of hundreds of feet by one vast overflow
 of trap2  a track similarly overflown1 
which exceeds in area all ,england1     
occurs  in ,southern ,africa4 ,the      
earth's surface is roughened with       
such1--mottled  as thickly by the       
,plutonic masses as the skin of the     
leopard by its  spots4 ,the trap        
district which surrounds our ,scottish  
metropolis1 and  imparts so imposing a  
character to its scenery1 is too        
inconsiderable to  be marked on         
geological maps of the world1 that we   
yet see streaked and  speckled with     
similar memorials1 though on an         
immensely vaster scale1  of the eruption
 and overflow which took place in the   
earthquake ages4  ,what could man have  

done on the globe at a time when such   
outbursts  were comparatively common    
occurrences8 ,what could he have done   
where  ,edinburgh now stands during that
 overflow of trap porphyry of which the 
,pentland range forms but a fragment1 or
 that outburst of greenstone of  which  
but a portion remains in the dark       
ponderous coping of ,salisbury  ,craigs1
 or when the thick floor of rock on     
which the city stands was  broken up1   
like the ice of an arctic sea during a  
tempest in spring1 and  laid on edge    
from where it leans against the ,castle 
,hill to beyond the  quarries at ,joppa8
 ,the reasoning brain would have been   
wholly at fault  in a scene of things in
 which it could neither foresee the     
exterminating  calamity while yet       
distant1 nor control it when it had     
come2 and so the  reasoning brain was   
not produced until the scene had        
undergone a slow  but thorough process  
of change1 during which1 at each        
progressive stage1  it had furnished a  

platform for higher and still higher    
life4 ,when the  conifer could flourish 
on the land1 and fishes subsist in the  
seas1  fishes and cone-bearing plants   
were created2 when the earth became a   
fit habitat for reptiles and birds1     
reptiles and birds were produced2  with 
the dawn of a more stable and mature    
state of things the sagacious  quadruped
 was ushered in2 and1 last of all1 when 
man's house was fully  prepared for     
him1--when the data on which it is his  
nature to reason  and calculate had     
become fixed and certain1--the          
reasoning1 calculating  brain was       
moulded by the creative finger1 and man 
became a living soul4  ,such seems to be
 the true reading of the wondrous       
inscription chiselled  deep in the      
rocks4 ,it furnishes us with no clue by 
which to unravel the  unapproachable    
mysteries of creation2--these mysteries 
belong to the  wondrous ,creator1 and to
 ,him only4 ,we attempt to theorize upon
 them1  and to reduce them to law1 and  

all nature rises up against us in our   
presumptuous rebellion4 ,a stray        
splinter of cone-bearing wood1--a fish's
  skull or tooth1--the vertebra of a    
reptile1--the humerus of a bird1--the   
jaw  of a quadruped1--all1 any of these 
things1 weak and insignificant as they  
may seem1 become in such a quarrel too  
strong for us and our theory3 the  puny 
fragment1 in the grasp of truth1 forms  
as irresistible a weapon as  the dry    
bone did in that of ,samson of old2 and 
our slaughtered sophisms  lie piled up1 
8heaps upon heaps10 before it4    ,there
 is no geological fact nor revealed     
doctrine with which this special  scheme
 of development does not agree4 ,to     
every truth1 too1 really such1  from    
which the antagonist scheme derives its 
shadowy analogies1 it leaves  its full  
value4 ,it has no quarrel with the facts
 of even the 8,vestiges10  in their     
character as realities4 ,there is       
certainly something very  extraordinary 
in that ftal progress of the human brain

 on which the  assertors of the         
development hypothesis have founded so  
much4 ,nature1 in  constructing this    
curious organ1 first lays down a grooved
 cord1 as the  carpenter lays down the  
keel of his vessel2 and on this narrow  
base the  perfect brain1 as month after 
month passes by1 is gradually built up1 
like the vessel from the keel4 ,first it
 grows up into a brain closely          
resembling that of a fish2 a few        
additions more convert it into a brain  
undistinguishable from that of a        
reptile2 a few additions more impart  to
 it the perfect appearance of the brain 
of a bird2 it then developes  into a    
brain exceedingly like that of a        
mammiferous quadruped2 and1  finally1   
expanding atop1 and spreading out its   
deeply corrugated lobes1  till they     
project widely over the base1 it assumes
 its unique character  as a human brain4
 ,radically such from the first1 it     
passes towards its  full development1   
through all the inferior forms1 from    

that of the fish  upwards1--thus        
comprising1 during its ftal progress1 an
 epitome of  geologic history1 as if    
each man were in himself1 not the       
microcosm of  the old fanciful          
philosopher1 but something greatly more 
wonderful1--a  compendium of all        
animated nature1 and of kin to every    
creature that  lives4 ,hence the remark1
 that man is the sum total of all       
animals1--8the  animal equivalent10 says
 ,oken1 8to the whole animal kingdom40  
,we are  perhaps too much in the habit  
of setting aside real facts1 when they  
have been first seized upon by the      
infidel1 and appropriated to the        
purposes of unbelief1 as if they had    
suffered contamination in his  hands4   
,we forget1 like the brother 8weak in   
the faith10 instanced by  the ,apostle1 
that they are in themselves 8creatures  
of ,god20 and too  readily reject the   
lesson which they teach1 simply because 
they have been  offered in sacrifice to 
an idol4 ,and this strange fact of the  

progress  of the human brain is         
assuredly a fact none the less worth    
looking at  from the circumstance that  
infidelity has looked at it first4 ,on  
no  principle recognizable in right     
reason can it be urged in support of the
  development hypothesis2--it is a fact 
of ftal development1 and of that  only4 
,but it would be well should it lead our
 metaphysicians to inquire  whether they
 have not been rendering their science  
too insulated and  exclusive2 and       
whether the mind that works by a brain  
thus 8fearfully and  wonderfully made10 
ought not to be viewed rather in        
connection with all  animated nature1   
especially as we find nature exemplified
 in the various  vertebral forms1 than  
as a thing fundamentally abstract and   
distinct4  ,the brain built up of all   
the types of brain1 may be the organ of 
a  mind compounded1 if ,i may so express
 myself1 of all the varieties of  mind4 
,it would be perhaps over fanciful to   
urge that it is the creature  who has   

made himself free of all the elements1  
whose brain has been  thus in succession
 that of all their proper denizens2 and 
that there  is no animal instinct1 the  
function of which cannot be illustrated 
by  some art mastered by man3 but there 
can be nothing over fanciful in the     
suggestion1 founded on this fact of ftal
 development1 that possibly some  of the
 more obscure signs impressed upon the  
human character may be best  read       
through the spectacles of physical      
science4 ,the successive phases of  the 
ftal brain give at least fair warning   
that1 in tracing to its first           
principles the moral and intellectual   
nature of man1 what is properly  his    
8natural history0 should not be         
overlooked4 ,oken1 after describing  the
 human creature in one passage as       
8equivalent to the whole animal         
kingdom10 designates him in another as  
8,god wholly manifested10 and as  8,god 
become man20--a style of expression at  
which the ,english reader  may start1 as

 that of the 8big mouth speaking        
blasphemy10 but which  has become       
exceedingly common among the            
nationalists of the ,continent4  ,the   
irreverent naturalist ought surely to   
have remembered1 that the  sum total of 
all the animals cannot be different in  
its nature from the  various sums of    
which it is an aggregate1--seeing that  
no summation ever  differs in quality   
from the items summed up1 which compose 
it1--and  that1 though it may amount in 
this case to man the animal1--to man1   
as he may be weighed1 and measured1 and 
subjected to the dissecting  knife1--it 
cannot possibly amount to ,god4 ,is ,god
 merely a sum total of  birds and       
beasts1 reptiles and fishes2--a mere    
,egyptian deity1 composed  of fantastic 
hieroglyphics derived from the forms of 
the brute creation8  ,the impieties of  
the transcendentalist may1 however1     
serve to illustrate  that mode of       
seizing on terms which1 as the most     
sacred in the message  of revelation1   

have been long coupled in the popular   
mind with saving  truths1 and forcibly  
compelling them to bear some visionary  
and illusive  meaning1 wholly foreign to
 that with which they were originally   
invested1  which has become so          
remarkable a part of the policy of      
modern infidelity4  ,rationalism has    
learned to sacrifice to ,deity with a   
certain measure of  conformity to the   
required pattern2 but it is a conformity
 in appearance  only1 not in reality3   
the sacrifice always resembles that of  
,prometheus  of old1 who presented to   
,jupiter what1 though it seemed to be an
 ox  without blemish1 was merely an     
ox-skin stuffed full of bones and       
garbage4    ,there is another very      
remarkable class of facts in geological 
history1  which appear to fall as       
legitimately within the scope of        
argument founded  on final causes1 as   
those which bear on the appearance of   
man at his  proper era4 ,the period of  
the mammiferous quadrupeds seems1 like  

the  succeeding human period1 to have   
been determined1 as ,i have said1 by the
  earth's fitness at the time as a place
 of habitation for creatures so  formed4
 ,and the bulk to which1 in the more    
extreme cases1 they attained1  appears  
to have been regulated1 as in the higher
 mammals now1 with  reference to the    
force of gravity at the earth's surface4
 ,the ,megatherium  and the ,mastodon1  
the ,dinotherium and the extinct        
elephant1 increased  in bulk1 in        
obedience to the laws of the specific   
constitution imparted  to them at their 
creation2 and these laws bore reference1
 in turn1 to  another law1--that law of 
gravity which determines that no        
creature which  moves in air and treads 
the surface of the earth should exceed a
 certain  weight or size4 ,to very near 
the limits assigned by this law some of 
the  ancient quadrupeds arose4 ,it is   
even doubtful whether the ,dinotherium1 
the most gigantic of mammals1 may not   
have been1 like the existing  sea-lions 

and morses1 mainly an aquatic           
quadruped2--an inference grounded  on   
the circumstance that1 in at least      
portions of its framework1 it seems  to 
have risen beyond these limits4 ,now1 it
 does not seem wonderful that1  with    
apparent reference to the point at which
 the gravity of bodies  at the earth's  
surface bisects the conditions of       
texture and matter  necessary to        
existence among the sub-aerial          
vertebrata1 the reptiles  of the        
,secondary periods should have grown up 
in some of their species  and genera to 
the extreme size4 ,a world of frogs1    
newts1 and lizards  would have borne    
stamped upon it the impress of a tame   
and miserable  mediocrity1 that would   
have harmonized ill with the extent of  
the  earth's capabilities for supporting
 life on a large scale4 ,there would  be
 no principle of adaptation or rule of  
proportion maintained between  an animal
 kingdom composed of so contemptible a  
group of beings1 and  either the dynamic

 laws under which matter exists on our  
planet1 or the  luxuriant vegetation    
which it bore during the ,secondary     
ages4 ,and such  was not the character  
of the group which composed the reptile 
dynasty4  ,the ,iguanodon must have been
 quite as tall as the elephant1--greatly
  longer1 and1 it would seem1 at least  
as bulky4 ,the ,megalosaurus must have  
at least equalled the rhinoceros2 the   
,hylosaurus would have outweighed  the  
hippopotamus4 ,and when reptiles that   
rivalled in size our hugest  mammals    
inhabited the land1 other               
reptiles1--,ichthyosaurs1 ,plesiosaurs1 
and ,cetiosaurs1--scarce less bulky than
 the cetacea themselves1 possessed  the 
sea4 ,not only was the platform of being
 occupied in all its  breadth1 but also 
in all its height2 and it is according  
to our  simpler and more obvious ideas  
of adaptation--simple and obvious       
because  gleaned from the very surface  
of the universe of life--that such      
should  have been the case4 ,but it does

 appear strange1 because under the      
regulation1 it would seem1 of a         
principle of adaptation more occult1    
and1 if ,i may so speak1 more           
,providential1 that no sooner are the   
huge  mammals introduced as a group1    
than1 with but a few exceptions1 the    
reptiles appear in greatly diminished   
proportions4 ,they no longer occupy  the
 platform to its full extent of height4 
,even in tropical countries1  in which  
certain families of mammals still attain
 to the maximum size1  the reptiles1 if 
we except the crocodilean family1 a few 
harmless  turtles1 and the degraded boas
 and pythons1 are a small and           
comparatively  unimportant race4 ,nay1  
the existing giants of the class--the   
crocodiles  and boas--hardly equal in   
bulk the third-rate reptiles of the ages
 of  the ,oolite and the ,wealden4 ,so  
far as can be seen1 there is no reason  
deduceable from the nature of things1   
why the country that sustains a  mammal 
bulky as the elephant1 should not also  

support a reptile huge  as the          
,iguanodon2 or why the ,megalosaurus1   
,hylosaurus1 and ,dicynodon1  might not 
have been contemporary with the lion1   
tiger1 and rhinoceros4  ,the change     
which took place in the reptile group   
immediately on their  dethronement at   
the close of the ,secondary period1     
seems scarce less  strange than that    
sung by ,milton3--        8,behold a    
wonder6 ,they but now who seemed        
,in bigness to surpass earth's giant    
sons1      ,now less than smallest      
dwarfs1 in narrow room      ,thronged   
numberless2 like that pygmean race      
,beyond the ,indian mount2 or fairy     
elves1      ,whose midnight revels1 by a
 forest side      ,or fountain1 some    
belated peasant sees1      ,or dreams he
 sees1 while1 overhead1 the moon        
,sits arbitress1 and nearer to the earth
      ,wheels her pale course40    ,but 
though we cannot assign a cause for this
 general reduction of the  reptile      
class1 save simply the will of the      

all-wise ,creator1 the reason  why it   
should have taken place seems easily    
assignable4 ,it was a bold  saying of   
the old philosophic heathen1 that 8,god 
is the soul of brutes20  but writers on 
instinct in even our own times have said
 less warrantable  things4 ,god does    
seem to do for many of the inferior     
animals of the  lower divisions1 which1 
though devoid of brain and vertebral    
column1 are  yet skilful chemists and   
accomplished architects and             
mathematicians1  what he enables man1   
through the exercise of the reasoning   
faculty1  to do for himself2 and the    
ancient philosopher meant no more4 ,and 
in  clearing away the giants of the     
reptile dynasty1 when their kingdom had 
passed away1 and then re-introducing the
 class as much shrunken in their        
proportions as restricted in their      
domains1 the ,creator seems to have     
been doing for the mammals what man1 in 
the character of a 8mighty hunter       
before the ,lord10 does for himself4    

,there is in nature very little of  what
 can be called war4 ,the cities of this 
country cannot be said to be  in a state
 of war1 though their cattle-markets are
 thronged every week  with animals for  
slaughter and the butcher and fishmonger
 find their  places of business thronged
 with customers4 ,and such1 in the main1
 is the  condition of the animal        
world2--it consists of its two          
classes1--animals  of prey1 and the     
animals upon which they prey3 its wars  
are simply those  of the butcher and    
fisher1 lightened by a dash of the      
enjoyments of the  sportsman4           
8,the creatures see of flood and field1 
,and those that travel on the wind1     
,with them no strife can last2 they live
        ,in peace and peace of mind40   
,generally speaking1 the carnivorous    
mammalia respect one another3 lion  does
 not war with tiger1 nor the leopard    
contend with the hyena4 ,but  the       
carnivorous reptiles manifest no such   
respect for the carnivorous  mammals4   

,there are fierce contests in their     
native jungles1 on the banks  of the    
,ganges1 between the gavial and the     
tiger2 and in the steaming  forests of  
,south ,america1 the boa-constrictor    
casts his terrible coil  scarce less    
readily round the puma than the         
antelope4 ,a world which1  after it had 
become a home of the higher herbivorous 
and more powerful  carnivorous mammals1 
continued to retain the gigantic        
reptiles of  its earlier ages1 would be 
a world of horrid1 exterminating war1   
and  altogether rather a place of       
torment than a scene of intermediate    
character1 in which1 though it sometimes
 rechoes the groans of  suffering       
nature1 life is1 in the main1 enjoyment4
 ,and so1--save in a few  exceptional   
cases1 that1 while they establish the   
rule as a fact1 serve  also as a key to 
unlock that principle of the ,divine    
government on which  it appears to      
rest1--no sooner was the reptile removed
 from his place in  the fore-front of   

creation1 and creatures of a higher     
order introduced  into it the           
consolidating and fast-ripening planet  
of which he had been  so long the       
monarch1 than his bulk shrank and his   
strength lessened1  and he assumed a    
humility of form and aspect at once in  
keeping with  his reduced circumstances1
 and compatible with the general        
welfare4 ,but  though the reason of the 
reduction appears obvious1 ,i know not  
that it  can be referred to any other   
cause than simply the will of the       
,all-,wise  ,creator4    ,there hangs a 
mystery greatly more profound over the  
fact of the  degradation than over that 
of the reduction and diminution of      
classes4 ,we can assign what at least   
seems to be a sufficient reason  why1   
when reptiles formed as a class the     
highest representatives of the          
vertebrata1 they should be of imposing  
bulk and strength1 and altogether       
worthy of that post of precedence which 
they then occupied among the  animals4  

,we can also assign a reason for the    
strange reduction which  took place     
among them in strength and bulk         
immediately on their removal  from the  
first to the second place4 ,but why not 
only reduction1  but also degradation8  
,why1 as division started up in advance 
of  division1--first the reptiles in    
front of the fishes1 then the           
quadrupedal  mammals in front of the    
reptiles1 and1 last of all1 man in front
 of  the quadrupedal mammals1--should   
the supplanted classes1--two of them at 
least1--fishes and reptiles1--for there 
seem to have been no additions  made to 
the mammals since man entered upon the  
scene1--why should they  have become the
 receptacles of orders and families of a
 degraded  character1 which had no place
 among them in their monarchical state8 
,the  fishes removed beyond all analogy 
with the higher vertebrata1 by their    
homocercal tails1--the fishes           
7,acanthopterygii and ,sub-brachiati7   
with  their four limbs slung in a belt  

round their necks1--the flat fishes1    
7,pleuronectid17 that1 in addition to   
this deformity1 are so twisted  to a    
side1 that while the one eye occupies a 
single orbit in the  middle of the      
skull1 the other is thrust out to its   
edge1--the irregular  fishes generally  
7sun-fishes1 frog-fishes1 hippocampi1   
c47 were not  introduced into the       
ichthyic division until after the full  
development  of the reptile dynasty2 nor
 did the hand that makes no slips in its
  working 8form the crooked serpent10   
footless1 grovelling1 venom-bearing1    
the authorized type of a fallen and     
degraded creature1 until after the      
introduction of the mammals4 ,what can  
this fact of degradation mean8  ,species
 and genera seem to be greatly more     
numerous in the present age  of the     
world than in any of the geologic ages4 
,is it not possible that  the extension 
of the chain of being which has thus    
taken place--not only1  as we find1     
through the addition of the higher      

divisions of animals to  its upper end1 
but also through the interpolations of  
lower links  into the previously        
existing divisions--may have borne      
reference to some  predetermined scheme 
of well-proportioned gradation1 or1     
according to the  poet1        8,of     
general ,,order since the whole began80 
,may not1 in short1 what we term        
degradation be merely one of the modes  
resorted to for filling up the voids in 
creation1 and thereby perfecting  a     
scale which must have been originally   
not merely a scale of narrow  compass1  
but also of innumerable breaks and      
blanks1 hiatuses and chasms8  ,such1    
certainly1 would be the reading of the  
enigma which a ,soame ,jenyns  or a     
,bolingbroke would suggest2 but the     
geologist has learned from his  science1
 that the completion of a chain of at   
least contemporary being1  perfect in   
its gradations1 cannot possibly have    
formed the design of  ,providence4      
,almost ever since ,god united vitality 

to matter1 the links in  this chain of  
animated nature1 as if composed of a    
material too brittle  to bear their own 
weight when stretched across the        
geologic ages1 have  been dropping one  
after out1 from his hand1 and sinking1  
fractured and  broken1 into the rocks   
below4 ,it is urged by ,pope1 that were 
8we to press  on superior powers10 and  
rise from our own assigned place to the 
place  immediately above all1 we would1 
in consequence of the transposition1    
8,in the full creation leave a void1    
,where1 one step broken1 the great      
scale's destroyed4      ,from nature's  
chain whatever link we strike1          
,tenth or ten thousandth1 breaks the    
chain alike40    ,the poet could scarce 
have anticipated that there was a       
science then  sleeping in its cradle1   
and dreaming the dreams of ,whiston1    
,leibnitz1 and  ,burnet1 which was one  
day to rise and demonstrate that both   
the tenth and  the ten thousandth link  
in the chain had been already broken and

 laid  by1 with all the thousands of    
links between2 and that man might       
laudably  8press on superior powers10   
and attain to a 8new nature10 without in
 the  least affecting the symmetry of   
creation by the void which his elevation
  would necessarily create2 that1 in    
fine1 voids and blanks in the scale  are
 exceedingly common things2 and that1 if
 men could1 by rising into  angels1 make
 one blank more1 they might do so with  
perfect impunity4  ,further1 even were  
the graduated chain of ,bolingbroke a   
reality1 and not  what ,johnson well    
designates it1 an 8absurd hypothesis10  
and were what ,i  have termed the       
interpolation of links necessary to its 
completion1 the  mere filling up of the 
original blanks and chasms would not    
necessarily  involve the fact of        
degradation1 seeing that each blank     
could be  filled up1 if ,i may go       
express myself1 from its lower end4     
,each could  be as certainly occupied to
 the full by an elevation of lower      

forms1  as by a humiliation of the      
higher4 ,we might receive the hypothesis
 of  ,bolingbroke1 and yet find the     
mysterious fact of degradation remain an
  unsolved riddle in our hands4    ,but 
though ,i can assign neither reason nor 
cause for the fact1 ,i  cannot avoid the
 conclusion1 that it is associated with 
certain other  great facts in the moral 
government of the universe1 by those    
threads of  analogical connection which 
run through the entire tissue of        
,creation and  ,providence1 and impart  
to it that character of unity which     
speaks of the  single producing ,mind4  
,the first idea of every religion on    
earth which  has arisen out of what may 
be termed the spiritual instincts of    
man's  nature1 is that of a ,future     
,state2 the second idea is1 that in this
 state  men shall exist in two separate 
classes1--the one in advance of their   
present condition1 the other far in the 
rear of it4 ,it is on these two  great  
beliefs that conscience every where     

finds the fulcrum from which  it acts   
upon the conduct2 and it is1 we find1   
wholly inoperative as a  force without  
them4 ,and in that one religion among   
men that1 instead  of retiring1 like the
 pale ghosts of the others1 before the  
light of  civilization1 brightens and   
expands in its beams1 and in favor of   
whose  claim as a revelation from ,god  
the highest philosophy has declared1  we
 find these two master ideas occupying a
 still more prominent place  than in any
 of those merely indigenous religions   
that spring up in the  human mind of    
themselves4 ,the special lesson which   
the ,adorable ,saviour1  during his     
ministry on earth1 oftenest enforced1   
and to which all the  others bore       
reference1 was the lesson of a final    
separation of mankind  into two great   
divisions1--a division of ,god-like men1
 of whose high  ,standing and full-orbed
 happiness man1 in the present scene of 
things1  can form no adequate           
conception2 and a division of men       

finally lost1 and  doomed to unutterable
 misery and hopeless degradation4 ,there
 is not in  all ,revelation a single    
doctrine which we find oftener or more  
clearly  enforced than that there shall 
continue to exist1 throughout the       
endless  cycles of the future1 a race of
 degraded men and of degraded angels4   
,now1 it is truly wonderful how         
thoroughly1 in its general scope1 the   
revealed pieces on to the geologic      
record4 ,we know1 as geologists1 that   
the dynasty of the fish was succeeded by
 that of the reptile1--that  the dynasty
 of the reptile was succeeded by that of
 the mammiferous  quadruped1--and that  
the dynasty of the mammiferous quadruped
 was  succeeded by that of man as man   
now exists1--a creature of mixed        
character1 and subject1 in all          
conditions1 to wide alternations of     
enjoyment and suffering4 ,we know1      
further--so far at least as we have  yet
 succeeded in deciphering the           
record1--that the several dynasties     

were introduced1 not in their lower1 but
 in their higher forms2--that1  in      
short1 in the imposing programme of     
creation it was arranged1 as a  general 
rule1 that in each of the great         
divisions of the procession  the        
magnates should walk first4 ,we         
recognize yet further the fact of       
degradation specially exemplified in the
 fish and the reptile4 ,and then1       
passing on to the revealed record1 we   
learn that the dynasty of man in  the   
mixed state and character is not the    
final one1 but that there is  to be yet 
another creation1 or1 more properly1    
re-creation1 known  theologically as the
 ,resurrection1 which shall be connected
 in its  physical components1 by bonds  
of mysterious paternity1 with the       
dynasty  which now reigns1 and be bound 
to it mentally by the chain of identity1
  conscious and actual2 but which1 in   
all that constitutes superiority1  shall
 be as vastly its superior as the       
dynasty of responsible man is  superior 

to even the lowest of the preliminary   
dynasties4 ,we are further  taught1 that
 at the commencement of this last of the
 dynasties1 there  will be a re-creation
 of not only elevated1 but also of      
degraded  beings1--a re-creation of the 
lost4 ,we are taught yet further1 that  
though the present dynasty be that of a 
lapsed race1 which at their  first      
introduction were placed on higher      
ground than that on which they  now     
stand1 and sank by their own act1 it was
 yet part of the original  design1 from 
the beginning of all things1 that they  
should occupy  the existing platform2   
and that ,redemption is thus no         
after-thought1  rendered necessary by   
the fall1 but1 on the contrary1 part of 
a general  scheme1 for which provision  
had been made from the beginning2 so    
that  the ,divine ,man1 through whom the
 work of restoration has been effected1 
was in reality1 in reference to the     
purposes of the ,eternal1 what he is    
designated in the remarkable text1 8the 

,lamb slain from the foundations  of the
 world40 ,slain from the foundations of 
the world6 ,could the  assertors of the 
stony science ask for language more     
express8 ,by piecing  the two records   
together1--that revealed in ,scripture  
and that revealed  in the               
rocks1--records which1 however widely   
geologists may mistake the  one1 or     
commentators misunderstand the other1   
have emanated from the  same great      
,author--we learn that in slow and      
solemn majesty has period  succeeded    
period1 each in succession ushering in a
 higher end yet higher  scene of        
existence1--that fish1 reptiles1        
mammiferous quadrupeds1 have  reigned in
 turn1--that responsible man1 8made in  
the image of ,god10  and with dominion  
over all creatures1 ultimately entered  
into a world  ripened for his reception2
 but1 further1 that this passing scene1 
in  which he forms the prominent figure1
 is not the final one in the long       
series1 but merely the last of the      

preliminary scenes2 and that that       
period to which the bygone ages1        
incalculable in amount1 with all their  
well-proportioned gradations of being1  
form the imposing vestibule1 shall  have
 perfection for its occupant1 and       
eternity for its duration4 ,i know  not 
how it may appear to others2 but for my 
own part1 ,i cannot avoid  thinking that
 there would be a lack of proportion in 
the series of being1  were the period of
 perfect and glorified humanity abruptly
 connected1  without the introduction of
 an intermediate creation of responsible
  imperfection1 with that of the dying  
irresponsible brute4 ,that scene of     
things in which ,god became ,man1 and   
suffered1 seems1 as it no doubt  is1 a  
necessary link in the chain4    ,i am   
aware that ,i stand on the confines of a
 mystery which man1 since the  first    
introduction of sin into the world till 
now1 has 8vainly aspired to             
comprehend40 ,but ,i have no new reading
 of the enigma to offer4 ,i know not    

why it is that moral evil exists in the 
universe of the ,all-,wise and the      
,all-,powerful2 nor through what occult 
law of ,deity it is that 8perfection    
should come through suffering40 ,the    
question1 like that satellite1 ever     
attendant upon our planet1 which        
presents both its sides to the sun1 but 
invariably the same side to the earth1  
hides one of its faces from man1  and   
turns it to but the ,eye from which all 
light emanates4 ,and it is in  that     
,god-ward phase of the question that the
 mystery dwells4 ,we can map  and       
measure every protuberance and hollow   
which roughens the nether disk  of the  
moon1 as1 during the shades of night1 it
 looks down upon our path  to cheer and 
enlighten2 but what can we know of the  
other8 ,it would1  however1 seem1 that  
even in this field of mystery the extent
 of the  inexplicable and the unknown is
 capable of reduction1 and that the     
human  understanding is vested in an    
ability of progressing towards the      

central  point of that dark field       
throughout all time1 mayhap all         
eternity1 as  the asymptote progresses  
upon its curve4 ,even though the essence
 of the  question should forever remain 
a mystery1 it may yet in its reduced and
  defined state1 serve as a key for the 
laying of other mysteries open4  ,the   
philosophers are still as ignorant as   
ever respecting the intrinsic  nature of
 gravitation2 but regarded simply as a  
force1 how many enigmas  has it not     
served to unlock6 ,and that moral       
gravitation towards evil1  manifested by
 the only two classes of responsible    
beings of which there  is aught known to
 man1 and of which a degradation linked 
by mysterious  analogy with a class of  
facts singularly prominent in geologic  
history is  the result1 occupies        
apparently a similar place1 as a force1 
in the moral  dynamics of the universe1 
and seems suited to perform a similar   
part4  ,inexplicable itself1 it is yet a
 key to the solution of all the minor   

inexplicabilities in the scheme of      
,providence4    ,in a matter of such    
extreme niceness and difficulty1 shall  
,i dare venture  on an illustrative     
example8    ,so far as both the geologic
 and the ,scriptural evidence extends1  
no  species or family of existences     
seems to have been introduced by        
creation  into the present scene of     
being since the appearance of man4 ,in  
,scripture  the formation of the human  
race is described as the terminal act of
 a  series1 8good0 in all its previous  
stages1 but which became 8very good0    
then2 and geologists1 judging from the  
modicum of evidence which they  have    
hitherto succeeded in collecting on the 
subject1--evidence still  meagre1 but1  
so far as it goes1 independent and      
distinct1--pronounce  8post-,adamic     
creations0 at least 8improbable40 ,the  
naturalist finds  certain animal and    
vegetable species restricted to certain 
circles1  and that in certain foci in   
these circles they attain to their      

fullest  development and their maximum  
number4 ,and these foci he regards as   
the  original centres of creation1      
whence1 in each instance in the process 
of increase and multiplication1 the     
plant or creature propagated itself     
outwards in circular wavelets of life1  
that sank at each stage as they  widened
 till at length1 at the circumference of
 the area1 they wholly  ceased4 ,now we 
find it argued by ,professor ,edward    
,forbes that 8since  man's appearance1  
certain geological areas1 both of land  
and water1  have been formed1 presenting
 such physical conditions as to entitle 
us  to expect within their bounds one1  
or in some instances more than one1     
centre of creation1 or point of maximum 
of a zoological or botanical  province4 
,but a critical examination renders     
evident10 the ,professor  adds1 8that   
instead of showing distinct foci of     
creation1 they have  been in all        
instances peopled by colonization1 i4 e4
 by migration of  species from          

pre-existing1 and in every case         
pre-,adamic1 provinces4 ,among  the     
terrestrial areas the ,british isles may
 serve as an example2 among  marine1 the
 ,baltic1 ,mediterranean1 and ,black    
,seas4 ,the ,british islands  have been 
colonized from various centres of       
creation in 7now7 continental  ,europe2 
the ,baltic ,sea from the ,celtic       
region1 although it runs itself  into   
the conditions of the ,boreal one2 and  
the ,mediterranean1 as it  now appears1 
from the fauna and flora of the more    
ancient ,lusitanian  province40         
,professor ,forbes1 it is stated        
further1 in the report of his  paper to 
which ,i owe these details1--a paper    
read at the ,royal ,institution  in     
,march last1--8exhibited1 in support of 
the same view1 a map1 showing  the      
relation which the centres of creation  
of the air-breathing molluscs  in       
,europe bear to the geological history  
of the respective areas1 and  proving   
that the whole snail population of its  

northern and central  extent 7the       
portion of the ,continent of newest and 
probably post-,adamic  origin7 had been 
derived from foci of creation seated in 
pre-,adamic  lands4 ,and these          
remarkable facts have induced the       
,professor10 it was  added1 8to maintain
 the improbability of post-,adamic      
creations40    ,with the introduction of
 man into the scene of existence1       
creation1  ,i repeat1 seems to have     
ceased4 ,what is it that now takes its  
place1  and performs its work8 ,during  
the previous dynasties1 all elevation   
in the scale was an effect simply of    
creation4 ,nature lay dead in a  waste  
theatre of rock1 vapor1 and sea1 in     
which the insensate laws1  chemical2    
mechanical1 and electric1 carried on    
their blind1 unintelligent  processes3  
the creative fiat went forth2 and1 amid 
waters that  straightway teemed with    
life in its lower forms1 vegetable and  
animal1  the dynasty of the fish was    
introduced4 ,many ages passed1 during   

which  there took place no further      
elevation3 on the contrary1 in not a few
 of  the newly introduced species of the
 reigning class there occurred for  the 
first time examples of an asymmetrical  
misplacement of parts1 and1  in at least
 one family of fishes1 instances of     
defect of parts3 there  was the         
manifestation of a downward tendency    
towards the degradation of  monstrosity1
 when the elevatory fiat again went     
forth1 and1 through  an act of creation1
 the dynasty of the reptile began4      
,again many ages  passed by1 marked1    
apparently1 by the introduction of a    
warm-blooded  oviparous animal1 the     
bird1 and of a few marsupial quadrupeds1
 but in  which the prevailing class     
reigned undeposed1 though at least      
unelevated4  ,yet again1 however1 the   
elevatory fiat went forth1 and through  
an act  of creation the dynasty of the  
mammiferous quadruped began4 ,and after 
the further lapse of ages1 the elevatory
 fiat went forth yet once more  in an   

act of creation2 and with the human1    
heaven-aspiring dynasty1  the moral     
government of ,god1 in its connection   
with at least the world  which we       
inhabit1 8took beginning40 ,and then    
creation ceased4 ,why8  ,simply because 
,god's moral government had             
begun1--because in necessary  conformity
 with the institution of that           
government1 there was to be a  thorough 
identity maintained between the         
glorified and immortal beings  of the   
terminal dynasty1 and the dying magnates
 of the dynasty which now  is2 and      
because1 in consequence of the          
maintenance of this identity as  an     
essential condition of this moral       
government1 mere acts of creation  could
 no longer carry on the elevatory       
process4 ,the work analogous in its  end
 and object to those acts of creation   
which gave to our planet its  successive
 dynasties of higher and yet higher     
existences1 is the work of              
,,redemption4 ,it is the elevatory      

process of the present time1--the only  
possible provision for that final act of
 re-creation 8to everlasting  life10    
which shall usher in the terminal       
dynasty4    ,i cannot avoid thinking    
that many of our theologians attach a   
too narrow  meaning to the remarkable   
reason 8annexed to the ,fourth          
,commandment0 by  the ,divine ,lawgiver4
 8,god rested on the seventh day10 says 
the text1  8from all his work which ,he 
had created and made2 and ,god blessed  
the  seventh day1 and sanctified it40   
,and such is the reason given in the    
,decalogue why man should also rest on  
the seventh day4 ,god rested on the     
,sabbath1 and sanctified it2 and        
therefore man ought also to rest on the 
,sabbath1 and keep it holy4 ,but ,i know
 not where we shall find grounds  for   
the belief that that ,sabbath-day during
 which ,god rested was merely           
commensurate in its duration with one of
 the ,sabbaths of short-lived  man1--a  
brief period1 measured by a single      

revolution of the earth on  its axis4   
,we have not1 as has been shown1 a      
shadow of evidence that  ,he resumed his
 work of creation on the morrow3 the    
geologist finds no  trace of            
post-,adamic creation1--the theologian  
can tell us of none4 ,god's  ,sabbath of
 rest may still exist2--the work of     
,,redemption may be the work  of his    
,sabbath day4 ,that elevatory process   
through successive acts of  creation    
which engaged ,him during myriads of    
ages1 was of an ordinary  week-day      
character2 but in when the term of his  
moral government began1  the elevatory  
process proper to it assumed the ,divine
 character of the  ,sabbath4 ,this      
special view appears to lend peculiar   
emphasis to the  reason embodied in the 
commandment4 ,the collation of the      
passage with  the geologic record seems1
 as if by a species of re-translation1  
to make  it enunciate as its injunction1
 8,keep this day1 not merely as a day of
  memorial related to a past fact1 but  

also as a day of coperation with  ,god  
in the work of elevation in relation    
both to a present fact and  a future    
purpose4 ,god keeps his ,sabbath10 it   
says1 8in order that ,he  may save2 keep
 yours also1 in order that ye may be    
saved40 ,it serves1  besides1 to throw  
light on the prominence of the          
,sabbatical command1  in a digest of law
 of which no part or tittle can pass    
away until the  fulfilment of all       
things4 ,during the present dynasty of  
probation and  trial1 that special work 
of both ,god and man on which the       
character of  the future dynasty        
depends1 is the ,sabbath-day work of    
saving and being  saved4#da    ,it is in
 this dynasty of the future that man's  
moral and intellectual  faculties will  
receive their full development ,the     
expectation of any  very great advance  
in the present scene of things--great1  
at least1 when  measured by man's large 
capacity of conceiving of the good and  
fair--seems  to be1 like all human hope 

when restricted to time1 an expectation 
doomed to disappointment4 ,there are    
certain limits within which the race    
improves2--civilization is better than  
the want of it1 and the taught  superior
 to the untaught man4 ,there is a       
change1 too1 effected in the  moral     
nature1 through that ,spirit which1 by  
working belief in the heart1  brings its
 aspirations into harmony with the      
realities of the unseen  world1 that1 in
 at least its relation to the future    
state1 cannot be  estimated too highly4 
,but conception can travel very far     
beyond even its  best effects in their  
merely secular bearing2 nay1 it is      
peculiarly its  nature to show the men  
most truly the subjects of it1 how      
miserably they  fall short of the high  
standard of conduct and feeling which it
 erects1  and to teach them1 more       
emphatically than by words1 that their  
degree  of happiness must of necessity  
be as low as their moral attainments are
  humble4 ,further1--man1 though he has 

been increasing in knowledge ever  since
 his appearance on earth1 has not been  
improving in faculty2--a  shrewd fact1  
which they who expect most from the     
future of this world  would do well to  
consider4 ,the ancient masters of mind  
were in no respect  inferior in calibre 
to their predecessors4 ,we have not yet 
shot ahead  of the old ,greeks in either
 the perception of the beautiful1 or in 
the  ability of producing it2 there has 
been no improvement in the inventive    
faculty since the ,iliad was written1   
some three thousand years ago2 nor  has 
taste become more exquisite1 or the     
perception of the harmony of  numbers   
more nice1 since the age of the neid4   
,science is cumulative in  its          
character2 and so its votaries in modern
 times stand on a higher  pedestal than 
their predecessors4 ,but though nature  
produced a ,newton  some two centuries  
ago1 as she produced a ,goliath of ,gath
 at an earlier  period1 the modern      
philosophers1 as a class1 do not exceed 

in actual  stature the worse informed   
ancients1--the ,euclids1 ,archimedeses1 
and  ,aristotles4 ,we would be without  
excuse if1 with the ,bacon1 ,milton1 and
  ,shakspeare of these latter ages of   
the world full before us1 we recurred   
to the obsolete belief that the human   
race is deteriorating2 but then1 on  the
 other hand1 we have certain evidence1  
that since genius first began           
unconsciously to register in its works  
its own bulk and proportions1  there has
 been no increase in the mass or        
improvement in the quality of           
individual mind4 ,as for the dream that 
there is to be some extraordinary       
elevation of the general platform of the
 race achieved by means of  education1  
it is simply the hallucination of the   
age1--the world's present  alchemical   
expedient for converting farthings into 
guineas1 sheerly by  dint of scouring4  
,not but that education is good2 it     
exercises1 and1  in the ordinary mind1  
developes1 faculty4 ,but it will not    

anticipate  the terminal dynasty4 ,yet  
further1-- man's average capacity of    
happiness  seems to be as limited and as
 incapable of increase as his average   
reach  of intellect3 it is a mediocre   
capacity at best2 nor is it greater  by 
a shade now1 in these days of           
power-looms and portable manures1  than 
in the times of the old patriarchs4 ,so 
long1 too1 as the law of  increase      
continues1 man must be subject to the   
law of death1 with its  stern           
attendants1 suffering and sorrow2 for   
the two laws go necessarily  together2  
and so long as death reigns1 human      
creatures1 in even the best  of times1  
will continue to quit this scene of     
being without professing  much          
satisfaction at what they have found    
either in it or themselves4 ,it  will no
 doubt be a less miserable world than it
 is now1 when the good  come1 as there  
is reason to hope they one day shall1 to
 be a majority2  but it will be felt to 
be an inferior sort of world even then1 

and be  even fuller than now of wishes  
and longings for a better4 ,let it      
improve  as it may1 it will be a scene  
of probation and trial till the end4    
,and  so ,faith1 undeceived by the      
mirage of the midway desert1 whatever   
form  or name1 political or religious1  
the phantasmagoria may bear1 must       
continue to look beyond its unsolid and 
tremulous glitter1--its bare rocks      
exaggerated by the vapor into air-drawn 
castles1 and its stunted bushes         
magnified into goodly trees1--and1      
fixing her gaze upon the re-creation    
yet future1--the terminal dynasty yet   
unbegun1--she must be content to  enter 
upon her final rest--for she will not   
enter upon it earlier--8at  return0     
8,of ,him1 the ,woman's ,seed1          
,last in the clouds1 from heaven to be  
revealed      ,in glory of the ,father1 
to dissolve      ,satan with his        
perverted world1 then raise      ,from  
the conflagrant mass1 purged and        
refined1      ,new heavens1 new earth1  

ages of endless date1      ,founded in  
righteousness1 and peace1 and love1     
,to bring forth fruits1--joy and eternal
 bliss40    ,but it may be judged that  
,i am trespassing on a field into which 
,i have  no right to enter4 ,save1      
however1 for its close proximity with   
that in  which the geologist expatiates 
as properly his own1 this little volume 
would never have been written4 ,it is   
the fact that man must believingly      
coperate with ,god in the work of       
preparation for the final dynasty1  or  
exist throughout its never-ending cycles
 as a lost and degraded  creature1 that 
alone renders the development hypothesis
 formidable4  ,but inculcating that the 
elevatory process is one of the natural 
law1  not of moral endeavor1--by        
teaching1 inferentially at least1 that  
in the  better state of things which is 
coming there is to be an identity of    
race with that of the existing dynasty1 
but no identity of individual           
consciousness1--that1 on the contrary1  

the life after death which we  are to   
inherit is to be merely a horrid life of
 wriggling impurities1  originated in   
the putrefactive mucus1--and that thus  
the men who now  live possess no real   
stake in the kingdom of the future1--it 
is its  direct tendency1 so far as its  
influence extends1 to render the        
required  coperation with ,god an       
impossibility4 ,for that coperation     
cannot exist  without belief as its     
basis4 ,the hypothesis involves a       
misreading of the  geologic record1     
which not merely affects its meaning in 
relation to the  mind1 and thus1 in a   
question of science1 substitutes error  
for truth1  but which also threatens to 
affect the record itself1 in relation to
 the  destiny of every individual       
perverted and led astray4 ,it threatens 
to  write down among the degraded and   
the lost1 men who1 under the influence  
of an unshaken faith1 might have risen  
at the dawn of the terminal  period1 to 
enjoy the fulness of eternity among the 

glorified and the  good4                
,,footnotes      #a ,mr4 ,miller is the 
author also of ,scenes and ,legends of  
the ,north of  ,scotland1 one vol4      
#hvo42 ,a ,letter from one of the       
,scotch people to the  ,right ,honorable
 ,lord ,brougham and ,vaux1 on the      
opinions expressed by his  ,lordship in 
the ,auchterarder ,case2 and ,the       
,whiggism of the ,old ,school1  as      
exemplified in the ,past ,history and   
,present ,position of the ,church  of   
,scotland4 ,the second of these works is
 well characterized by ,mr4  ,gladstone 
as 8an able1 elegant1 and masculine     
production40    #b ,london1 #ahdg1 pp4  
#dji    #c ,since the above sentence was
 written and set in type1 ,i have       
learned  that my ingenious friend1 ,mr4 
,charles ,peach of the ,customs1 ,fowey1
  so well known for his palontological  
discoveries1 has just found in  the     
,devonian system of ,cornwall1 fragments
 of what seem to be dermal  plates of   
,asterolepis4 ,it is a somewhat curious 

circumstance1 that  the two farthest    
removed extremities of ,great           
,britain--,cornwall and                 
,caithness--should be tipped by         
fossiliferous deposits of the same      
ancient  system1 and that organisms     
which1 when they lived1 were            
contemporary1  should be found embedded 
in the rocks which rise over the        
,british ,channel  on the one extremity1
 and overhang the ,pentland ,frith on   
the other4    #d ,figured from a ,thurso
 specimen1 slightly different in its    
proportions  from the ,stromness        
specimen described4    #e ,dr4 ,george  
,garson1 ,stromness1 and ,mr4 ,william  
,watt1 jun4 ,skaill4    #f ,the         
,continental assertors of the           
development hypothesis are greatly  more
 frank than those of our own country    
regarding the 8life after  death10 and  
what man has to expect from it4 ,the    
individual1 they tell  us1 perishes     
forever2 but1 then1 out of his remains  
there spring up  other vitalities4 ,the 

immortality of the soul is1 it would    
seem1 an idle  figment1 for there really
 exists no such things as souls2 but is 
there no  comfort in being taught1      
instead1 that we are to resolve into    
monads and  maggots8 ,job solaced       
himself with the assurance that1 even   
after worms  had destroyed his body1 he 
was in the flesh to see ,god4 ,had      
,professor  ,oken been one of his       
comforters1 he would have sought to     
restrict his  hopes to the prospect of  
living in the worms4 8,if the organic   
fundamental  substance consist of       
infusoria10 says the ,professor1 8so    
must the  whole organic world originate 
from infusoria4 ,plants and animals can 
only be metamorphoses of infusoria4     
,this being granted1 so also must all   
organizations consist of infusoria1 and1
 during their destruction1  dissolve    
into the same4 ,every plant1 every      
animal1 is converted by  maceration into
 a mucous mass2 this putrefies1 and the 
moisture is  stocked with infusoria4    

,putrefaction is nothing else than a    
division  of organisms into             
infusoria1--a reduction of the higher to
 the primary  life4444 ,death is no     
annihilation1 but only a change4 ,one   
individual  emerges out of another4     
,death is only a transition to another  
life1--not  into death4 ,this transition
 from one life to another takes place   
through  the primary condition of the   
organic1 or the                         
mucus40--,physio-,philosophy1  pp4      
#ahg-ahi4    #g ,i trust that at least  
by and by there may be an exception     
claimed1  from the general1 but1 ,i am  
sure1 well-meant1 censure of this       
passage1  in favor of the ,free ,church 
of ,scotland4 ,it has got as its        
,professor of  ,physical                
,science--thanks to the sagacity of     
,chalmers--,dr4 ,john ,fleming1  a man  
of ,european reputation1 and all that   
seems further necessary1 in  order to   
secure the benefits contemplated in the 
appointment1 is1 that  attendance on his

 course should be rendered imperative on
 all ,free  ,church candidates for the  
ministry4    #h ,agassiz's description  
of the ,pterichthys1 as quoted by       
,humboldt1 in  his ,cosmos4    #i ,from 
,murchison's ,silurian ,system4    #aj  
,these scales1 which occur in a detached
 state1 in a stratified clay  of the    
,old ,red ,sandstone1 near ,cromarty1   
present for their size a larger  extent 
of cover than the scales of any other   
,ganoid4    #aa ,a peculiarity which    
also occurs in the anterior dorsal of   
the  ,dipterus4    #ab ,from the head of
 ,raja clavata4    #ac ,the darker1     
upper patch in this figure indicates a  
portion in which  the scales of the fins
 in the fossil still retain their       
enamel2--the  lighter1 a portion from   
which the enamel has disappeared4    #ad
 ,the ,acanths of the ,coal ,measures   
possess the cranial buckler4    #ae     
,professor ,owen1 in fixing the         
homologies of the ichthyic head1        
differs considerably from ,cuvier2 but  

his view seems to be demonstrably  the  
correct one4 ,it will1 however1 be seen1
 that in my attempted  comparison of the
 divisions of the ancient ganoid cranium
 with those of  the craniums of existing
 fishes1 the points at issue between the
 two  great naturalists are not         
involved1 otherwise than as mere        
questions of  words4 ,the matter to be  
determined1 for instance1 is not whether
 plate ,a  in the skulls of the cod and 
,coccosteus be the homologue of a part  
of  the occipital or that of a part of  
the parietal bones1 but whether plate   
,a in the ,coccosteus be the homologue  
of plate ,a in the cod4 ,the letters    
employed ,i have borrowed from          
,agassiz's restoration of the           
,coccosteus2  whereas the figures       
intimate divisions which the imperfect  
keeping of the  specimens on which the  
ichthyologist founded did not enable him
 to detect4    #af ,the jaws 7#aj1 #aj7 
which exhibit in the print their        
greatest breadth1  would have presented 

in the animal1 seen from beneath1 their 
narrow  under-edges1 and have nearly    
fallen into the line of the             
sub-opercular  plates1 7#ac1 #ac47      
#ag ,in all probability it is likewise  
the principle of the placoid  skull4    
,the numerous osseous points by which   
the latter is encrusted1  each capable  
of increase at the edges1 seem the      
minute bricks of an  ample dome4 ,it is 
possible1 however1 that new points may  
be formed in  the interstices between   
the first formed ones1 as what          
anatomists term  the triquetra or       
,wormiana form between the serrated     
edges of the  lambdoidal suture in the  
human skull2 and that the osseous       
surface of the  cerebral dome may thus  
extend1 as the dome itself increases in 
size1 not  through the growth of the    
previously existing pieces1--the minute 
bricks  of my illustration1--but through
 the addition of new ones4 ,equally1 in 
either case1 however1 that essential    
difference between the placoid skull    

and the placoid vertebra1 to which ,i   
have referred1 appears to hinge  on the 
circumstance1 that while the osseous    
nucleus of each vertebral  centrum could
 form1 in even its most complicated     
shape1 from a single  point1 the osseous
 walls of the cranium had to be formed  
from hundreds4  ,the accompanying       
diagram serves to show after what manner
 the vertebral  centrum in the ,ray     
enlarges with the growth of the animal1 
by addition of  bony matter external to 
the point in the middle1 at which       
ossification  first begins4 ,the        
horizontal lines indicate the lines of  
increment in the  two internal cones    
which each centrum comprises1 and the   
vertical ones  the lines of increment in
 the lateral pillars4    ,illustration3 
,fig4 #bc4    ,,section ,,of ,,vertebral
 ,,centrum ,,of ,,thornback4    #ah ,one
 of the ,thurso coprolites in my        
possession is about one fourth  longer  
than the larger of the two specimens    
figured here1 and nearly  thrice as     

broad4    #ai ,in two of these1 in a    
collection of several score1 ,i have    
failed to  detect the spiral markings1  
though their state of keeping is        
decidedly  good4 ,there are other       
appearances which lead me to suspect    
that the  ,asterolepis was not the only 
large fish of the ,lower ,old ,red      
,sandstone2  but my facts on the subject
 are too inconclusive to justify aught  
more  than sedulous inquiry4    #bj ,the
 shaded plate1 7a17 accidentally        
presented in this specimen1  belongs to 
the upper part of the head4 ,it is the  
posterior frontal  plate ,f1 which      
half-encircled the eye orbit1 7see fig4 
#bi27 and ,i have  introduced it into   
the print here1 as in none of the other 
prints1 or of  any other specimens1 is  
its upper surface shown4    #ba ,the    
late ,mr4 ,john ,thurston4    #bb 8,mr4 
,phillips proceeded to describe some    
remains of a small fish1  resembling the
 ,cheiracanthus of the ,old ,red        
,sandstone1 scales and  spines of which 

he had found in a quarry at ,hales ,end1
 on the western  side of the ,malverns4 
,the section presented beds of the ,old 
,red ,sandstone  inclined to the west2  
beneath these were arenaceous beds of a 
lighter  color1 forming the junction    
with ,silurian shales2 these1 again1    
passing  on to calcareous beds in the   
lower part of the quarry1 containing the
  corals and shells of the ,aymestry    
,limestone1 of their agreement with     
which stronger evidence might be        
obtained elsewhere4 ,he had found none  
of these scales in the junction beds or 
in the ,upper ,ludlow ,shales2 but      
about sixty or one hundred feet lower1  
just above the ,aymestry ,limestone1    
his attention had been attracted to     
discolored spots on the surface of  the 
beds1 which1 upon microscopic           
examination1 proved to be the minute    
scales and spines before mentioned4     
,these remains were only apparent  on   
the surface1 whilst the #8fish-bed' of  
the ,upper ,ludlow rock1 as it  usually 

occurred1 was an inch thick1 consisting 
of innumerable small  teeth and         
spines40--,report1 in 8,athenum0 for    
#ahdb1 of the ,proceedings of  the      
,twelfth ,meeting of ,british           
,association1 7,manchester47    #bc     
8,this is the lowest position0 7that of 
the ,onondago ,limestone7 8in  the      
,state of ,new ,york in which any       
remains have been found higher in  the  
scale of organized beings than          
,crustacea1 with the exception of  an   
imperfectly preserved fish-bone         
discovered by ,hall in the ,oriskany    
,sandstone4 ,that specimen1 together    
with the defensive fish-bone found in   
this part of the ,new ,york system1     
furnishes evidences of the existence of 
animals belonging to the class          
vertebrata during the deposition of the 
middle part of the protozoic            
strata40--,american ,journal of ,science
 and  ,arts for #ahdf1 p4 #fc4    #bd   
8,the shales alternating with the       
,wenlock ,limestone40 7,edinburgh       

,review47    #be ,the ,silurian         
,placoids are most adequately           
represented by the  ,cestracion of the  
southern hemisphere2 but ,i know not    
that of the  peculiar character and     
instincts of this interesting           
,placoid1--the last of  its race1--there
 is any thing known4 ,for its form and  
general appearance  see fig4 #di1 page  
#agg4    #bf ,such as the dog-fishes1   
picked and spotted4    #bg ,the twelfth 
in ,spinax ,acanthius1 and the          
fourteenth in ,scyllium  ,stellare4     
#bh ,it will scarce be urged against the
 degradation theory1 that those  races  
which1 tried by the tests of defect or  
misplacement of parts1 we  deem         
degraded1 are not less fitted for       
carrying on what in their own  little   
spheres is the proper business of life1 
than the non-degraded  orders and       
families4 ,the objection is1 however1 a 
possible one1 and one  which a single   
remark may serve to obviate4 ,it is     
certainly true that the  degraded       

families are thoroughly fitted for the  
performance of all the  work given them 
to do4 ,they greatly increase when      
placed in favorable  circumstances1 and1
 when vigorous and thriving1 enjoy      
existence4 ,but then  the same may be   
said of all animals1 without reference  
to their place in  the scale2--the      
mollusc is as thoroughly adapted to its 
circumstances and  as fitted to         
accomplish the end proper to its being1 
as the mammiferous  quadruped1 and the  
mammiferous quadruped as man himself2   
but the fact of  perfect adaptation in  
no degree invalidates the other not less
 certain  fact of difference of rank1   
nor proves that the mollusc is equal to 
the  quadruped1 or the quadruped to man4
 ,and1 of course1 the remark equally    
bears on the reduced as on the          
unelevated1--on lowness of place when  a
 result of degradation in races         
pertaining to a higher division of      
animals1 as on lowness of place when a  
result of the humble standing of  the   

division to which the races belong4     
#bi ,the vertebral column in the genus  
,diplopterus ran1 as in the  placoid    
genus ,scyllium1 nearly through the     
middle of the caudal fin4    #cj ,in the
 following diagram a few simple lines   
serve to exhibit the  progress of       
degradation4 ,fig4 a represents the     
symmetrical ,placoids of  the ,silurian 
period1 consisting of head1 neck1 body1 
tail1 fore limbs and  hinder limbs2 fig4
 b represents those heterocercal        
,ganoids of the ,old  ,red ,sandstone1  
,coal ,measures1 and ,permian ,system1  
in which the neck is  extinguished1 and 
the fore limbs stuck on to the occiput2 
fig4 c1 those  homocercal ,ganoids of   
the ,trias ,lias1 ,oolite1 and ,wealden1
 whose tails  spread out into broad     
terminal processes1 without homologue in
 the higher  animals2 fig4 d1 those     
,acanthopterygii of the ,chalk that1 in 
addition  to the non-homological        
processes1 have both fore limbs and     
hinder  limbs stuck round the head2     

while fig4 e represents the asymmetrical
  ,platessa1 of the same period1 with   
one of its eyes in the middle of its    
head1 and the other thrust out to the   
side4    ,illustration    #ca ,i would1 
however1 respectfully suggest1 that that
 theory of cerebral  vertebr1 on which1 
in this question1 the comparative       
anatomists proceed  as their principle1 
and which finds as little support in the
 geologic  record from the actual       
history of the fore limbs as from the   
actual  history of the bones of the     
cranium1 may be more ingenious than     
sound4 ,it  is a shrewd circumstance1   
that the rocks refuse to testify in its 
favor4  ,agassiz1 ,i find1 decides      
against it on other than geological     
grounds2  and his conclusion is         
certainly rendered not the less worthy  
of careful  consideration by the fact   
that1 yielding to the force of evidence1
 his  views on the subject underwent a  
thorough change4 ,he had first held1    
and then rejected it4 8,i have shared10 

he says1 8with a multitude of  other    
naturalists1 the opinion which regards  
the cranium as composed of  vertebr2 and
 ,i am consequently in some degree      
called upon to point out  the motives   
which have induced me to reject it40    
8,m4 ,oken10 he continues1 8was the     
first to assign this signification to   
the bones of the cranium4 ,the new      
doctrine he expounded was received  in  
,germany with great enthusiasm by the   
school of the philosophers of  nature4  
,the author conceived the cranium to    
consist of three vertebr1  and the basal
 occipital1 the sphenoid1 and the       
ethmoid1 were regarded  as the central  
parts of these cranial vertebr4 ,on     
these alleged bodies  of vertebr1 the   
arches enveloping the central parts of  
the nervous  system were raised1 while  
on the opposite side were attached the  
inferior  pieces1 which went to form the
 vegetative arch destined to embrace the
  intestinal canal and the large        
vessels4 ,it would be too tedious to    

enumerate in this place the changes     
which each author introduced1 in  order 
to modify this matter so as to make it  
suit his own views4 ,some  went the     
length of affirming that the vertebr of 
the head were as  complete as those of  
the trunk2 and1 by means of various     
dismemberments1  separations1 and       
combinations1 all the forms of the      
cranium were referred  to the vertebr1  
by admitting that the number of pieces  
was invariably  fixed in every head1 and
 that all the vertebrata1 whatever might
 be  their organization in other        
respects1 had in their heads the same   
number  of points of ossification4 ,at a
 later period1 what was erroneous in    
this manner of regarding the subject was
 detected2 but the idea of the          
vertebral composition of the head was   
still retained4 ,it was admitted as  a  
general law1 that the cranium was       
composed of three primitive vertebr1  as
 the embryo is of three blastodermic    
leaflets2 but that these vertebr1  like 

the leaflets1 existed only ideally1 and 
that their presence1  although easily   
demonstrated in certain cases1 could    
only be slightly  traced1 and with the  
greatest difficulty1 in other instances4
 ,the notion  thus laid down of the     
virtual existence of cranial vertebr did
 not  encounter very great opposition2  
it could not be denied that there was a 
certain general resemblance between the 
osseous case of the brain and the       
rachidian canal2 the occipital1 in      
particular1 had all the characteristic  
features of a vertebra4 ,but whenever an
 attempt was made to push the  analogy  
further1 and to determine rigorously the
 anterior vertebr of the  cranium1 the  
observer found himself arrested by      
insurmountable obstacles1  and he was   
obliged always to revert to the virtual 
existence4    8,in order to explain my  
idea clearly1 let me have recourse to an
  example4 ,it is certain that organized
 bodies are sometimes endowed with      
virtual qualities1 which1 at a certain  

period of the being's life1 elude       
dissection1 and all our means of        
investigation4 ,it is thus that at the  
moment of their origin1 the eggs of all 
animals have such a resemblance  to each
 other1 that it would be impossible to  
distinguish1 even by the  aid of the    
most powerful microscope1 the ovarial   
egg of a craw-fish1  for example1 from  
that of true fish4 ,and yet who would   
deny that beings  in every respect      
different from each other exist in these
 eggs8 ,it is  precisely because the    
difference manifests itself at a later  
period1  in proportion as the embryo    
develops itself1 that we are authorized 
to conclude1 that1 even from the        
earliest period1 the eggs were          
different1--that each had virtual       
qualities proper to itself1 although    
they could not be discovered by our     
senses4 ,if1 on the contrary1 any  one  
should find two eggs perfectly alike1   
and should observe two beings  perfectly
 identical issue from them1 he would    

greatly err if he ascribed  to these    
eggs different virtual qualities4 ,it is
 therefore necessary1 in  order to be in
 a condition to suppose that virtual    
properties peculiar  to it are concealed
 in an animal1 that these properties    
should manifest  themselves once1 in    
some phase or other of its development4 
,now1 applying  this principle to the   
theory of cranial vertebr1 we should    
say1 that  if these vertebr virtually   
exist in the adult1 they must needs show
  themselves in reality1 at a certain   
period of development4 ,if1 on the      
contrary1 they are found neither in the 
embryo nor the adult1 ,i am of  opinion 
that we are entitled likewise to dispute
 their virtual existence4    8,here1    
however1 an objection may be made to me1
 drawn from the  physiological value of 
the vertebr1 the function of which1 as  
is  well known1 is1 on the one hand1 to 
furnish a solid support to the  muscular
 contractions which determine the       
movements of the trunk1 and1  on the    

other1 to protect the centres of the    
nervous system1 by forming  a more or   
less solid case completely around them4 
,the bodies of the  vertebr are         
particularly destined to the first of   
these offices2 the  neurapophyses to the
 second4 ,what can be more natural than 
to admit1 from  the consideration of    
this1 that in the head1 the bodies of   
the vertebr  diminish in proportion as  
the moving function becomes lost1 while 
the  neurapophyses are considerably     
developed for protecting the brain1 the 
volume of which is very considerable1   
when compared with that of the  spinal  
marrow8 ,have we not an example of this 
fact in the vertebr of  the tail1 where 
the neurapophyses become completely     
obliterated1 and  a simple cylindrical  
body alone remains8 ,now1 may it not be 
the case1  that in the head1 the bodies 
of the vertebr have disappeared2 and    
that1  in consequence1 there is a       
prolongation of the cord only as far as 
the  moving functions of the vertebr    

extend8 ,there is some truth in this    
argument1 and it would be difficult to  
refute it a priori4 ,but it  loses all  
its force the moment that we enter upon 
a detailed examination  of the bones of 
the head4 ,thus1 what would we call1    
according to this  hypothesis1 the      
principal sphenoid1 the great wings of  
the sphenoid1 and  the ethmoid1 which   
form the floor of the cerebral cavity8  
,it may be said  they are apophyses4    
,but the apophyses protect the nervous  
centres only  on the side and above4 ,it
 may be said that they are the bodies of
 the  vertebr4 ,but they are formed     
without the concurrence of the dorsal   
cord2  they cannot1 therefore1 be the   
bodies of the vertebr4 ,it must         
therefore  be allowed1 that these bones 
at least do not enter into the vertebral
  type2 that they are in some measure   
peculiar4 ,and if this be the case  with
 them1 why may not the other protective 
plates be equally independent  of the   
vertebral type2 the more so1 because the

 relations of the frontals  and         
parietals vary so much1 that it would be
 almost impossible to assign  to them a 
constant place80    #cb ,it is stated by
 ,mr4 ,witham1 that1 8except in a few   
instances1 he  had ineffectually tried1 
with the aid of the microscope1 to      
obtain some  insight into the structure 
of coal4 ,owing10 he adds1 8to its great
  opacity1 which is probably due to     
mechanical pressure1 the action of      
chemical affinity1 and the percolation  
of acidulous waters1 all traces  of     
organization appear to have been        
obliterated40 ,i have heard the late    
,mr4 ,sanderson1 who prepared for ,mr4  
,witham most of the specimens figured   
in his well-known work on the 8,internal
 ,structure of ,fossil ,vegetables10    
and from whom the materials of his      
statement on this point seem to have    
been derived1 make a similar remark4 ,it
 was rare1 he said1 to find a  bit of   
coal that exhibited the organic         
structure4 ,the case1 however1 is  far  

otherwise2 and the ingenious mechanic   
and his employer were misled1  simply by
 the circumstance1 that it is rare to   
find pieces of coal which  exhibit the  
ligneous fibre1 existing in a state of  
keeping solid enough  to stand the      
grinding of the lapidary's wheel4 ,the  
lignite usually  occurs in thin layers  
of a substance resembling soft charcoal1
 at which1  from the loose adhesion of  
the fibres1 the coal splits at a stroke2
 and  as it cannot be prepared as a     
transparency1 it is best examined by a  
,stanhope lens4 ,it will be found1 tried
 in this manner1 that so far is         
vegetable fibre from being of rare      
occurrence in coal1--our ,scotch coal   
at least1--that almost every cubic inch 
contains its hundreds1 nay1 its         
thousands1 of cells4    #cc ,on a point 
of such importance ,i find it necessary 
to strengthen my  testimony by auxiliary
 evidence4 ,the following is the        
judgment1 on this  ancient petrifaction1
 of ,mr4 ,nicol of                      

,edinburgh1--confessedly one of our     
highest living authorities in that      
division of fossil botany which takes   
cognizance of the internal structure of 
lignites1 and decides1 from their       
anatomy1 their race and family3--       
8,edinburgh1 #aith ,july1 #ahde4        
8,,dear ,,sir1--,i have examined the    
structure of the fossil wood      which 
you found in the ,old ,red ,sandstone at
 ,cromarty1 and      have no hesitation 
in stating1 that the reticulated texture
      of the transverse sections1 though
 somewhat compressed1      clearly      
indicates a coniferous origin2 but as   
there is not      the slightest trace of
 a disc to be seen in the longitudinal  
sections parallel to the medullary rays1
 it is impossible to      say whether it
 belongs to the ,pine or ,araucarian    
division4 ,i      am1 c41               
8,,william ,,nicol40    ,it will be seen
 that ,mr4 ,nicol failed to detect what 
,i now deem the discs  of this          
conifer1--those stippled markings to    

which ,i have referred1 and  which the  
engraver has indicated in no exaggerated
 style1 in one of the  longitudinal     
sections 7b7 of the wood-cut given      
above4 ,but even were  this portion of  
the evidence wholly wanting1 we would be
 left in doubt1  in consequence1 not    
whether the ,old ,red lignite formed    
part of a true  gymnospermous tree1 but 
whether that tree is now represented by 
the pines  of ,europe and ,america1 or  
by the araucarians of ,chili and ,new   
,zealand4  ,were ,i to risk an opinion  
in a department not particularly my     
province it  would be in favor of an    
araucarian relationship4    #cd ,the    
following digest from ,professor        
,balfour's very admirable  8,manual of  
,botany10 of what is held on this       
curious subject1 may be  not            
unacceptable to the reader4 8,it is an  
interesting question to  determine the  
mode in which the various species and   
tribes of plants  were originally       
scattered over the globe4 ,various      

hypotheses have  been advanced on the   
subject4 ,linnus entertained the opinion
 that  there was at first only one      
primitive centre of vegetation1 from    
which  plants were distributed over the 
globe4 ,some1 avoiding all discussions  
and difficulties1 suppose that plants   
were produced at first in the           
localities where they are now seen      
vegetating4 ,others think that each     
species of plant originated in1 and was 
diffused from1 a single primitive       
centre2 and that there were numerous    
such centres situated in different      
parts of the world1 each centre being   
the seat of a particular number  of     
species4 ,they thus admit great         
vegetable migrations1 similar to  those 
of the human races4 ,those who adopt the
 latter view recognize in  the          
distribution of plants some of the last 
revolutions of our planet1  and the     
action of numerous and varied forces1   
which impede or favor  the dissemination
 of vegetables in the present day4 ,they

 endeavor to  ascertain the primitive   
flora of countries1 and to trace the    
vegetable  migrations which have taken  
place4 ,daubeny says1 that analogy      
favors  the supposition that each       
species of plant was originally formed  
in  some particular locality1 whence it 
spread itself gradually over a  certain 
area1 rather than that the earth was at 
once1 by the fiat of the  ,almighty1    
covered with vegetation in the manner we
 at present behold it4  ,the human race 
rose from a single pair2 and the        
distribution of plants  and animals over
 a certain definite area would seem to  
imply that the  same was the general    
law4 ,analogy would lead us to believe  
that the  extension of species over the 
earth originally took place on the same 
plan on which it is conducted at        
present1 when a new island starts up in 
the midst of the ocean1 produced either 
by a coral reef or a volcano4  ,in these
 cases the whole surface is not at once 
overspread with plants1  but a gradual  

progress of vegetation is traced from   
the accidental  introduction of a single
 seed1 perhaps1 of each species1 wafted 
by winds  or floated by currents4 ,the  
remarkable limitation of certain species
 to  single spots on the globe seems to 
favor the supposition of specific       
centres40    #ce ,rhodomenia palmata and
 ,alaria esculenta4    #cf ,porphyra    
laciniata1 ,chorda filum1 and           
,enteromorpha compressa4    #cg 8,dr4   
,neill mentions10 says the ,rev4 ,mr4   
,landsborough1 in his  complete and very
 interesting 8,history of ,british      
,sea-,weeds10 8that on  our shores alg  
generally occupy zones in the following 
order1 beginning  from deep water3--,f4 
,filum2 ,f4 esculentus and bulbosus1 ,f4
  digitatus1 saccharinus1 and loreus2   
,f4 serratus and crispus2 ,f4  nodosus  
and vesiculosus2 ,f4 canaliculatus2 and1
 last of all1 ,f4  pygmus2 which is     
satisfied if it be within reach of the  
spray40    #ch ,we are supplied with a  
curious example of that ever-returning  

cycle of speculation in which the human 
mind operates1 by not only the          
introduction of the principle of        
,epicurus into the 8,vestiges10 but also
  by the unconscious employment of even 
his very arguments1 slightly  modified  
by the floating semi-scientific notions 
of the time4 ,the  following passages1  
taken1 the one from the modern work1 the
 other from  ,fnlon's life of the old   
,greek philosopher1 are not unworthy of 
being  studied1 as curiously            
illustrative of the cycle of thought4   
,epicurus1 ,i  must1 however1 first     
remind the reader1 in the words of his  
biographer1  8supposed that men1 and all
 other animals1 were originally produced
 by  the ground4 ,according to him1 the 
primitive earth was fat and nitrous2    
and the sun1 gradually warming it1 soon 
covered it with herbage and  shrubs3    
there also began to arise on the surface
 of the ground a great  number of small 
tumors like mushrooms1 which having in a
 certain time  come to maturity1 the    

skin burst1 and there came forth little 
animals1  which1 gradually retiring from
 the place where they were produced1    
began  to respire40 ,and there can be   
little doubt1 that had the microscope   
been  a discovery of early ,greece1 the 
passage here would have told us1 not of 
mushroom-like tumors1 but of monads4    
,save that the element of microscopic   
fact is awanting in the one and present 
in the other1 the following are         
strictly parallel lines of argument3--  
8,to the natural objection that the     
earth does not now produce men1  lions1 
and dogs1 ,epicurus replies that the    
fecundity of the earth is  now          
exhausted4 ,in advanced age a woman     
ceases to bear children2 a piece  of    
land never before cultivated produces   
much more during the few first  years   
than it does afterwards2 and when a     
forest is once cut down1 the  soil never
 produces trees equal to those which    
have been rooted up4  ,those which are  
afterwards planted become dwarfish1 and 

are perpetually  degenerating4 ,we are1 
however1 he argues1 by no means certain 
but there  may be at present rabbits1   
hares1 foxes1 bears1 and other animals1 
produced by the earth in their perfect  
state4 ,the reason why we are  backward 
in admitting it is1 that it happens in  
retired places1 and  never falls under  
our view2 and1 never seeing rats but    
such as have  been produced by other    
rats1 we adopt the opinion that the     
earth never  produced any40 7,fnlon's   
,lives of the ,ancient ,philosophers47  
8,in the first place1 there is no reason
 to suppose that1 though life had  been 
imparted by natural means1 after the    
first cooling of the surface  to a      
suitable temperament1 it would continue 
thereafter to be capable of  being      
imparted in like manner4 ,the great work
 of the peopling of this  globe with    
living species is mainly a fact         
accomplished3 the highest  known species
 came as a crowning effort thousands of 
years ago4 ,the work  being thus to all 

appearance finished1 we are not         
necessarily to expect  that the         
origination of life and of species      
should be conspicuously  exemplified in 
the present day4 ,we are rather to      
expect that the vital  phenomena        
presented to our eyes should mainly1 if 
not entirely1 be  limited to a regular  
and unvarying succession of races by the
 ordinary  means of generation4 ,this1  
however1 is no more an argument against 
a  time when phenomena of the first kind
 prevailed1 than it would be a  proof   
against the fact of a mature man having 
once been a growing youth1  that he is  
now seen growing no longer44444         
,secondly1 it is far from  being certain
 that the primitive imparting of life   
and form to inorganic  elements is not a
 fact of our times40 7,vestiges of      
,creation47    #ci 8,vestiges of the    
,natural ,history of ,creation10 and    
8,explanations1  being a ,sequel to the 
,vestiges40    #dj ,the chapter in which
 this passage occurs originally         

appeared1  with several of the others1  
in the ,witness newspaper1 in a series  
of  articles1 entitled 8,rambles of a   
,geologist10 and drew forth the         
following  letter from a correspondent  
of the ,scottish ,press1 the organ of a 
powerful and thoroughly respectable     
section of the old ,dissenters of       
,scotland4 ,i present it to the reader  
merely to show1 that if1 according  to  
the author of the 8,vestiges10          
geologists assailed the development     
hypothesis in the fond hope of          
8purchasing impunity for themselves10   
they  would succeed in securing only    
disappointment for their pains3--       
8,,the ,,pre-,,adamite ,,earth4         
8,to the ,editor of the ,scottish       
,press4        8,,sir1--,i occasionally 
observe articles in your neighbor and   
contemporary the ,witness1              
characteristically headed #8,rambles    
of a ,geologist1' wherein the writer    
with great zeal once more      #8slays  
the slain' heresies of the #8,vestiges  

of ,creation4'      ,this writer 7of the
 #8,rambles1' ,i mean7 nevertheless1 and
 at      the same time1 announces his   
own tenets to be much of the      same  
sort1 as applied to mere dead matter1   
that those of the      #8,vestiges' are 
with regard to living organisms4 ,he    
maintains      that the world1 during   
the last million of years1 has been of  
itself rising or developing1 without the
 interposition of a      miracle1 from  
chaos into its present state2 and1 of   
course1      as it is still1 as a world1
 confessedly far below the acme of      
physical perfection1 that it must be    
just now on its passage1                
self-progressing1 towards that point1   
which terminus it may      reach in     
another million of years hence4666 ,the 
author of      the #8,vestiges1' as     
quoted by the author of the #8,rambles1'
 in      the last number of the         
,witness1 complains that the latter     
and his allies are not at all so liberal
 to him as1 from their      present     

circumstances and position1 he had a    
right to expect4      ,he 7the author of
 the #8,vestiges'7 reminds his opponents
 that      they have themselves only    
lately emerged from the antiquated      
scriptural notions that our world was   
the direct and almost      immediate    
construction of its ,creator1--as much  
so1 in fact1      as any of its         
organized tenants1--and that it was then
 created      in a state of physical    
excellence1 the highest possible1 to    
render it a suitable habitation for     
these tenants1 and all      this only   
about six or seven thousand years       
ago1--to the new      light of their    
present physico-,lamarckian views2 and  
he asks1      and certainly not without 
reason1 why should these men1 so        
circumstanced1 be so anxious to stop him
 in his attempt to move      one step   
further forward in the very direction   
they themselves      have made the last 
move8--that is1 in his endeavor to      
extend      their own principles of     

self-development from mere matter to    
living creatures4 ,now1 ,sir1 ,i confess
 myself to be one of those      7and    
possibly you may have more readers      
similarly constituted7      who not only
 cannot see any great difference between
 merely      physical and organic       
development166 but who would be         
inclined to allow the latter1 absurd as 
it is1 the advantage in      point of   
likelihood4666 ,the author of the       
#8,rambles1' however1      in the face  
of this1 assures us that his views of   
physical      self-development and long 
chronology belong to the inductive      
sciences4 ,now1 ,i could at this stage  
of his rambles have wished      very    
much that1 instead of merely saying so1 
he had given      his demonstration4 ,he
 refers1 indeed1 to several great men1  
who1 he says1 are of his opinion4 ,most 
that these men have      written on the 
question at issue ,i have seen1 but it  
appeared      far from demonstrative1   
and some of them1 ,i know1 had not fully

      made up their mind on the         
point4666 ,perhaps the author of        
the #8,rambles' could favor us with the 
inductive process that      converted   
himself2 and1 as the attainment of      
truth1 and not      victory1 is my      
object1 ,i promise either to acquiesce  
in or      rationally refute it48 ,till 
then ,i hold by my antiquated           
tenets1 that our world1 nay1 the whole  
material universe1 was      created     
about six or seven thousand years ago1  
and that in a      state of physical    
excellence of which we have in our      
present      fallen world only the      
#8vestiges of creation4' ,i conclude by 
mentioning that this view ,i have held  
now for nearly thirty      years1 and1  
amidst all the vicissitudes of the      
philosophical      world during that    
period1 ,i have never seen cause to     
change      it4 ,of course1 with this   
view ,i was1 during the interval        
referred to1 a constant opponent of the 
once famous1 though now      exploded1  

nebular hypothesis of ,la ,place2 and ,i
 yet expect to      see physical        
development and long chronology wither  
also on      this earth1 now that       
,,their ,,root 7the said hypothesis7 has
 been      eradicated from the          
,,sky4666--,i am1 ,sir1 your most       
obedient      servant1                  
8,,philalethes40    ,i am afraid there  
is little hope of converting a man who  
has held so  stoutly by his notions 8for
 nearly thirty years20 especially as1   
during  that period1 he has been        
acquainting himself with what writers   
such as  ,drs4 ,chalmers1 ,buckland1 and
 ,pye ,smith have written on the other  
side4  ,but for the demonstration which 
he asks1 as ,i have conducted it1 ,i    
beg leave to refer him to the           
seventeenth chapter of my little work1  
8,first ,impressions of ,england and its
 ,people40 ,i am1 however1 inclined  to 
suspect that he is one of a class whose 
objections are destined to be  removed  
rather by the operation of the laws of  

matter than of those of  mind4 ,for it  
is a comfortable consideration1 that in 
this controversy the  geologists have   
the laws of matter on their side2--8the 
stars in their  courses fight against   
,sisera40 ,their opponents now1 like the
 opponents  of the astronomer in the    
ages gone by1 are1 in most instances1   
men who  have been studying the matter  
8for nearly thirty years40 ,when they   
study  it for a few years longer they   
disappear2 and the men of the same cast 
and calibre who succeed them are exactly
 the men who throw themselves  most     
confidently into the arms of the enemy1 
and look down upon their  poor silent   
predecessors with the loftiest          
commiseration4 ,it is1 however1  not    
uninstructive to remark how thoroughly1 
in some instances1 the  weaker friends  
and the wilier enemies of ,revelation   
are at one in their  conclusions        
respecting natural phenomena4 ,the      
correspondent of the  ,scottish ,press  
merely regards the views of the author  

of the 8,vestiges0  as possessing 8the  
advantage1 in point of likelihood10 over
 those of  the geologists his           
antagonists3 his ally the ,dean of ,york
 goes greatly  further1 and stands up as
 stoutly for the transmutation of       
species as  ,lamarck himself4           
,descanting1 in his ,new ,system of     
,geology1 on the  various forms of      
trilobites1 ammonites1 belemnites1 c4   
,dean ,cockburn  says1--    8,these     
creatures appear to have possessed the  
power of secreting from  the stone      
beneath them a limy covering for their  
backs1 and perhaps1  fed partly on the  
same solid material4 ,supposing1 now    
that the first  trilobites were         
destroyed by the ,llandeilo ,slates1    
some spawn of these  creatures would    
arise above these flags1 and1 after a   
time1 would be  warmed into existence4  
,these molluscs166 then1 having a better
  material from which to extract their  
food and covering1 would probably       
expand in a slightly different form1 and

 with a more extensive mantle  than what
 belonged to the parent species4 ,the   
same would be still more  the case with 
a new generation1 fed upon a new deposit
 from some deeper  volcano1 such as the 
,caradoc or ,wenlock ,limestone1 in     
which lime more  and more predominates4 
,now1 if any one will examine the       
various prints  of trilobites in ,sir   
,r4 ,murchison's valuable work1 he will 
find but very  trifling differences in  
any of them166 and those differences    
only  in the stony covering of their    
backs4 ,i knew two brothers once much   
alike3 the one became a curate with a   
large family2 the other a ,london       
alderman4 ,if the skins of these two    
pachydermata had been preserved in a    
fossil state1 there would have been less
 resemblance between them than  between 
an ,asaphus tyrannus and an ,asaphus    
caudatus4444 ,a careful  and laborious  
investigation has discovered1 as in the 
trilobites1 a  difference in the        
ammonites of different strata2 but such 

differences1  as in the former case1    
exist only in the form of the external  
shell1  and may be explained in the same
 manner466 444 ,as to the scaphites1    
baculites1 belemnites1 and all the other
 ites which learned ingenuity  has so   
named1 you find them in various strata  
the same in all important  particulars1 
but also differing slightly in their    
outward coverings1 as  might be expected
 from the different circumstances in    
which each variety  was placed466 ,the  
sheep in the warm valleys of ,andalusia 
have a fine  covering like to hair2 but 
remove them to a northern climate1 and  
in a  few generations the back is       
covered with shaggy wool4 ,the animal is
 the  same1--the covering only is       
changed4444 ,the learned have classed   
those  shells under the names of        
terebratula1 orthis1 atrypa1 pecten1 c4 
,they  are all much alike4666 ,it       
requires an experienced eye to          
distinguish  them one from another3 what
 little differences have been pointed   

out may  readily be ascribed1 as before1
 to difference of situation40666    ,the
 author of the 8,vestiges10 with this1  
the fundamental portion of his  case1   
granted to him by the ,dean1 will have  
exceedingly little difficulty  in making
 out the rest for himself4 ,the passage 
is1 however1 not without  its value1 as 
illustrative of the darkness1 in matters
 of physical  science1 8even darkness   
which may be felt10 that is suffered to 
linger1  in this the most scientific of 
ages1 in the ,church of ,buckland1      
,sedgwick1  and ,conybeare4    #da ,the 
common objection to that special view   
which regards the days  of creation as  
immensely protracted periods of time1   
furnishes a  specimen1 if not of        
reasoning in a circle1 at least of      
reasoning from a  mere assumption4 ,it  
first takes for granted1 that the       
,sabbath day during  which ,god rested  
was a day of but twenty-four hours2 and 
then argues1  from the supposition1 that
 in order to keep up the proportion     

between  the six previous working days  
and the seventh day of rest1 which the  
reason annexed to the fourth commandment
 demands1 these previous days  must also
 have been days of twenty-four hours    
each4 ,it would1 ,i have  begun to      
suspect1 square better with the         
ascertained facts1 and be at  least     
equally in accordance with ,scripture1  
to reverse the process1  and argue that1
 because ,god's working days were       
immensely protracted  periods1 his      
,sabbath must also be an immensely      
protracted period4  ,the reason attached
 to the law of the ,sabbath seems to be 
simply a  reason of proportion2--the    
objection to which ,i refer is an       
objection  palpably founded on          
considerations of proportion4 ,and      
certainly1 were  the reason to be       
divested of proportion1 it would be     
divested also of its  distinctive       
character as a reason4 ,were it to run  
as follows1 it could  not be at all     
understood3--8,six days shalt thou      

labor1 c41 but on the  seventh day shalt
 thou do no labor1 c42 for in six       
immensely protracted  periods of many   
thousand years each did the ,lord make  
the heavens and  earth1 c41 and then    
rested during a brief day of twenty-four
 hours2  therefore the ,lord blessed the
 brief day of twenty-four hours1 and    
hallowed it40 ,this1 ,i repeat1 would   
not be reason4 ,all1 however1 that      
seems necessary to the integrity of the 
reason1 in its character as such1  is1  
that the proportion of six parts to     
seven should be maintained4 ,god's      
periods may be periods expressed        
algebraically by letters symbolical of  
unknown quantity1 and man's periods by  
letters symbolical of quantities  well  
known2 but if ,god's ,sabbath be equal  
to one of his six working days1  and    
man's ,sabbath equal to one of his six  
working days1 the integrity  of         
proportion is maintained4 ,when ,i see  
the palpable absurdity of such  a       
reading of the reason as the one given  

above1 ,i can see no absurdity  whatever
 in the reading which ,i subjoin3--8,six
 periods 7aaaaaa7  shalt thou labor1 c41
 but on the seventh period 7ba7 shalt   
thou do  no labor1 c42 for in six       
periods 7xxxxxx7 the ,lord made heaven  
and earth1 c41 and rested the seventh   
period1 7yx27 therefore the  ,lord      
blessed the seventh period1 and hallowed
 it0 ,the reason1 in its  character as a
 reason of proportion1 survives here in 
all its integrity4  ,man1 when in his   
unfallen estate1 bore the image of ,god1
 but it must have  been a miniature     
image at best2--the proportion of man's 
week to that of  his ,maker may1 for    
aught that appears1 be mathematically   
just in its  proportions1 and yet be a  
miniature image too1--the mere scale of 
a map1  on which inches represent       
geographical degrees4 ,all those week   
days and  ,sabbath days of man which    
have come and gone since man first      
entered  upon this scene of being1 with 
all which shall yet come and go1 until  

the resurrection of the dead terminates 
the work of ,redemption1 may be         
included1 and probably are included1 in 
the one ,sabbath day of ,god4           
,valuable ,works        ,,published ,,by
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,washington ,street1 ,boston4           
,,hamilton',s ,,lectures1 embracing the 
,,metaphysical and ,,logical ,,courses2 
with ,notes1 from ,original ,materials1 
and an ,appendix1 containing the        
,author's ,latest ,development of his   
,new ,logical ,theory4 ,edited by ,rev4 
,,henry ,,longueville ,,mansel1 ,b4 ,d41
 ,prof4 of ,moral and ,metaphysical     
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,oxford1 and ,,john ,,veitch1 ,m4 ,a41  
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distinguished author's matchless        
,,lectures ,,on ,,metaphysics ,,and     
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leading colleges4    ,,loomis'          
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,president of ,lewisburg  ,university1  
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,anderson1 ,,ll4 ,d41 ,president        
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,,paley',s ,,natural ,,theology3        
,illustrated by forty ,plates1 with     
,selections  from the ,notes of ,dr4    
,paxton1 and ,additional ,notes1        
,original and  ,selected1 with a        
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,improved edition1 with elegant         
illustrations4 #abmo1 cloth1 embossed1  
#a4ge4    ,,mansel',s ,,prolegomena     
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embossed1 #a4be4    ,,haven',s ,,mental 
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,chicago ,university4 ,royal #abmo1     
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the      whole subject4    ,,haven',s   
,,moral ,,philosophy2 ,including        
,theoretical and ,practical ,ethics4    
,by ,,joseph ,,haven1 ,d4 ,d41 late     
,professor of ,moral and ,intellectual  
,philosophy in ,chicago ,university4    
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,,hopkins' ,,lectures ,,on ,,moral      
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,d41 late  ,president of ,brown         
,university4 #abmo1 cloth1 #a4ge4       
,,wayland',s ,,moral ,,science          
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,the same1 ,,cheap ,,school ,,edition1  
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,,elements ,,of ,,political ,,economy4  
,by ,,francis ,,wayland1 ,d4 ,d4  #abmo1
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,,gould',s ,,principles ,,of ,,zo,,logy2
 ,touching the ,structure1              
,development1 ,distribution1 and        
,natural ,arrangement1 of the ,,races   

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with numerous ,illustrations4 ,for the  
use of  ,schools and ,colleges4 ,part   
,i4 ,,comparative ,,physiology4 ,by     
,,louis ,,agassiz  and ,,augustus ,a4   
,,gould4 ,revised edition4 #a4ej4       
,,part ,,ii4 ,systematic ,zology4 ,in   
preparation4        8,it is simple and  
elementary in its style1 full in its    
illustrations1 comprehensive in its     
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brought into the narrow compass         
requisite for the purpose               
intended40--,silliman's ,journal4       
,,ritter',s ,,geographical ,,studies4   
,translated from the ,german of ,carl   
,ritter1 by ,rev4 ,w4 ,l4 ,,gage4 ,with 
a ,sketch of the ,author's ,life1 and a 
,portrait4 #abmo1 cloth1 #a4ej4         
,this volume contains the grand         
generalizations of ,ritter's            
life-work1 the ,erdknde1 in eighteen    
volumes2 his lectures      on the       
,relations of ,geography and ,history1  
and a number of      important papers on

 ,physical ,geography4    ,,progressive 
,,penmanship1 ,plain and ornamental1 for
 the use of ,schools4  ,by ,n4 ,d4      
,,gould1 author of 8,beauties of        
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#bj cts4    ,,roget',s ,,thesaurus ,,of 
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classified and  arranged as to          
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assist in literary  composition4 ,new   
and improved edition4 ,by ,,peter ,,mark
 ,,roget1 late  ,secretary of the ,royal
 ,society1 ,london1 etc4 ,revised and   
edited1 with a  ,list of ,foreign ,words
 defined in ,english1 and other         
additions1 by ,,barnas  ,,sears1 ,d4    
,d41 ,president of ,brown ,university4  
,a ,,new ,,american ,edition1 with      
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 cloth1 #b4jj4        ,the first        
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were omitted4 ,these expurgated portions
 have1 in the present      edition1 been
 restored1 but by such an arrangement of
 the      matter as not to interfere    
with the educational purposes of the    
,american editor4 ,besides this it      
contains important additions      not in
 the ,english edition1 of words and     
phrases1 and also an      alphabetical  
list of 8,,foreign ,,words ,,and        
,,phrases0--,latin1 ,french1            
,italian1 ,spanish1 ,greek1 etc4--which 
most frequently occur in      works of  
general literature1 defined in ,english1
 making it in      all respects more    
full and perfect than the author's      
edition4    ,,guyot',s ,,earth ,,and    
,,man2 ,lectures on ,,comparative       
,,physical ,,geography1  in its relation
 to the ,history of ,mankind4 ,by       
,,arnold ,,guyot4 ,with  ,illustrations4
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,north and ,south ,america1             
,geographical ,elements1 c41 exhibiting 
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 when suspended in the recitation room  
they may be seen from any point1 and the
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are beautifully      printed in colors1 
and neatly mounted for use4             
,,barton',s ,,easy ,,lessons ,,in       
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,beginners4 ,by ,w4 ,s4  ,,barton1 ,a4  
,m4 #abmo1 half mor41 #ge cts4          

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,,english      ,,grammar1 which forms a 
gradual introduction to the first       
principles of composition4              
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mor41 #a4jj4    ,,barton',s ,,practical 
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,,composition2 or1 ,,the ,,young        
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,,barton1 ,a4 ,m4 #abmo1 half mor41     
#a4jj4    ,,barton',s ,,high ,,school   
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schools and academies1 are the result of
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among the  ,fossiliferous ,deposits of  
the ,hebrides4 ,with ,rambles of a      
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over the ,fossiliferous ,deposits of    
,scotland4 #abmo1 ,,pp4  #ebd1 cloth1   
#a4ge4    ,,miller',s ,,essays1         
,historical and ,biographical1          
,political and ,social1  ,literary and  
,scientific4 ,by ,,hugh ,,miller4 ,with 
,preface by ,peter ,bayne4  #abmo1      
cloth1 #a4ge4    ,,miller',s            
,,foot-,,prints ,,of ,,the ,,creator2   
or1 the ,asterolepis of ,stromness1     
with numerous ,illustrations4 ,with a   
,memoir of the ,author1 by ,,louis      
,,agassiz4 #abmo1 cloth1 #a4ge4         
,,miller',s ,,first ,,impressions ,,of  
,,england ,,and ,,its ,,people4 ,with a 
fine  ,engraving of the ,author4 #abmo1 
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,christian ,people1 a  ,collection of   
,personal ,portraitures1 ,historical and
 ,descriptive ,sketches  and ,essays1   
with the ,author's celebrated ,letter to

 ,lord ,brougham4 ,by ,,hugh  ,,miller4 
,edited1 with a ,preface1 by ,,peter    
,,bayne1 ,a4 ,m4 #abmo1 cloth1 #a4ge4   
,,miller',s ,,old ,,red ,,sandstone2 or1
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,,revised ,,and ,,much  ,,enlarged1 by  
the addition of new matter and new      
,illustrations c4 #abmo1  cloth1 #a4ge4 
,,miller',s ,,popular ,,geology2 ,with  
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during the last two years4 ,by ,,mrs4   
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,,miller',s ,,schools ,,and             
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 a full-length ,portrait of the ,author4
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,preface1 c41 by ,,mrs4  ,,miller4      
#abmo1 #a4ej4        ,among the subjects

 are3 ,recollections of                 
,ferguson--,burns--,the      ,salmon    
,fisher of ,udoll--,the ,widow of       
,dunskaith--,the      ,lykewake--,bill  
,whyte--,the ,young ,surgeon--,george   
,ross1 the ,scotch                      
,agent--,m',culloch1 the                
,mechanician--,a ,true ,story of the    
,life of a      ,scotch ,merchant of the
 ,eighteenth ,century4    ,,miller',s   
,,testimony ,,of ,,the ,,rocks2 or1     
,geology in its ,bearings on the  two   
,theologies1 ,natural and ,revealed4    
8,thou shalt be in league with the      
stones of the field40--,job4 ,with      
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sheep1 #bj2 half calf1 #cd2 antique1    
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cts4