This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1879 Excerpt: ...or terrestrial. In the three former cases the fossils will be for the most part remains of invertebrate aquatic animals, and an examination of the number and forms of these will greatly help him to form an opinion as to whether the rate of deposition was slow or rapid, whether the water was deep or shallow, near shore ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1879 Excerpt: ...or terrestrial. In the three former cases the fossils will be for the most part remains of invertebrate aquatic animals, and an examination of the number and forms of these will greatly help him to form an opinion as to whether the rate of deposition was slow or rapid, whether the water was deep or shallow, near shore or far from land. Finally, an acquaintance with the different faunas and floras, which have at different times inhabited, and formed part of the general succession of life upon the earth, enables the palaeontologist to estimate the relative age of any particular group of fossils, and to assign them to their probable place in the geological series. There are few formations or deposits of any thickness that are entirely destitute of organic remains, and in districts where the succession of the rock-groups is not fully known, the fossils obtained from the different localities visited form the only reliable data upon which an opinion can be founded. Even in cases where the relative position of the beds is easily ascertained, the evidence afforded by the fossils is of great use in confirming the conclusions derived from an examination of the rocks themselves, and in correlating the various subdivisions of the geological series. The important doctrine that strata may be identified by their fossil contents was first taught by William Smith, and is thus expressed in a sentence extracted from his 'Stratigraphical System: ' 'Organised fossils are to the naturalist as coins to the antiquary; they are the antiquities of the earth, and very distinctly show its gradual regular formation with the various changes of inhabitants in the watery element.' Before we can apply this highly useful doctrine to any particular series of beds, and before we consider any f...
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Seller's Description:
1879. Bailliere, Tindall & Cox. Second. Hard Cover. Book-Good, gilt titles on spine, black decoration on front board, green boards, spine sunned. 7.5x5. 319pp. Frontis, some b/w illus.
