



Produced by Robert J. Hall




THE ANCIENT LIFE-HISTORY OF THE EARTH

A COMPREHENSIVE OUTLINE OF THE PRINCIPLES AND LEADING FACTS OF
PALAEONTOLOGICAL SCIENCE


BY H. ALLEYNE NICHOLSON

M.D., D.SC., M.A., PH. D. (GOeTT), F.R.S.E, F.L.S.

PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS




PREFACE.

The study of Palaeontology, or the science which is concerned
with the living beings which flourished upon the globe during
past periods of its history, may be pursued by two parallel but
essentially distinct paths. By the one method of inquiry, we may
study the anatomical characters and structure of the innumerable
extinct forms of life which lie buried in the rocks simply as
so many organisms, with but a slight and secondary reference
to the _time_ at which they lived. By the other method, fossil
animals are regarded principally as so many landmarks in the
ancient records of the world, and are studied _historically_
and as regards their relations to the chronological succession
of the strata in which they are entombed. In so doing, it is of
course impossible to wholly ignore their structural characters,
and their relationships with animals now living upon the earth;
but these points are held to occupy a subordinate place, and to
require nothing more than a comparatively general attention.

In a former work, the Author has endeavoured to furnish a summary
of the more important facts of Palaeontology regarded in its strictly
scientific aspect, as a mere department of the great science of
Biology. The present work, on the other hand, is an attempt to
