at Freyberg, did much to advance the science of geology, and indirectly that of fossils. He first indicated the relations of the main formations to each other, and, according to his pupil, Professor Jameson, first made the highly important observation that "different formations can be discriminated by the petrifactions they contain." Moreover, that "the petrifactions contained in the oldest rocks are very different from any of the species of the present time; that the newer the formation, the more do the remains approach in form to the organic beings of the present creation." Unfortunately, Werner published little, and his doctrines were mainly disseminated by his enthusiastic pupils.
The great contest between the Vulcanists and the Neptunists started at this time, mainly through Werner, whose doctrines led to the controversy. The comparative merits of fire and water, as agencies in the formation of certain rocks, were discussed with a heat and acrimony characteristic of the subject and the time. Werner believed in the aqueous theory, while the igneous theory was especially advocated by Hutton, of Edinburgh, and his illustrator, Playfair. This discussion resulted in the advancement of descriptive geology, but the study of fossils gained little thereby.
The "Protogæa" of Leibnitz, the great mathematician, published in 1749, about thirty years after his death, was a work of much merit. This author supposed that the earth had gradually cooled from a state of igneous fusion, and was subsequently covered with water. The subsidence of the lower part of the earth, the deposits of sedimentary strata from inundations, and their induration, as well as other changes, followed. All this he supposed to have been accomplished in a period of six natural days. In the same work Leibnitz shows that he had examined fossils with considerable care.
Linnæus (1707-1778), the famous Swedish botanist, and the founder of the modern system of nomenclature in natural history, confined his attention almost entirely to the living forms. Although he was familiar with the literature of fossil remains, and had collected them himself, he did not include them in his system of plants and animals, but kept them separate, with the minerals; hence he did little directly to advance this branch of science.
During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the belief that fossil remains were deposited by the deluge sensibly declined, and the dawn of a new era gradually appeared. Let us pause for a moment here, and see what real progress had been made—what foundation had been laid on which to establish a science of fossil remains.
The true nature of these objects had now been clearly determined. They were the remains of animals and plants. Most of them certainly were not the relics of the Mosaic deluge, but had been deposited long before, part in fresh water and part in the sea. Some indicated a mild
