Abstract
No science, probably, will ultimately have more to say in the proof or disproof of evolution as applied to the kingdoms of organic nature, than Palaeontology. I do not, however, in the present communication, propose to discuss at length this wide question. I propose, rather, to take a more limited field, and to examine shortly the bearing of certain portions of palaeontological evidence upon the Darwinian theory of the origin of species,-a theory which is only one method of explaining how evolution may have taken place, and which is totally independent of the general doctrine of evolution. In carrying out the object which I have in view on this occasion, I shall, for the most part follow Mr. Darwin through his celebrated chapter on " The Imperfection of the Geological Record," in which he fairly states the chief objections which he conceives to be capable of being brought forward out of geology and palaeontology against his theory, and in which he endeavours, with much ingenuity, to rebut these objections.