Thomas Hunt
Morgan, of Columbia University, has recently said, "The direct evidence
furnished by fossil remains is by all odds the strongest evidence that
we have in favor of organic evolution."[33] Accordingly we purpose to
examine carefully what this by all odds "strongest evidence" is like.
[Footnote 33: "A Critique of the Theory of Evolution," p. 24.]
II
As with some of the other facts with which we have had to deal in
previous chapters, a correct understanding of the questions involved
can best be obtained by examining the history of the development of the
science.
The first man with whom we need to concern ourselves is A.G. Werner, a
teacher of mineralogy in the University of Freiberg, Germany. For three
hundred years his ancestors had been connected with mining work, and he,
though possessing little general education, knew about all that was then
known regarding mineralogy and petrology. He wrote no books; but by his
enthusiastic teaching he gathered as students and sent out as
evangelists hundreds of devoted young scientists who rapidly spread his
theories through all the countries of Europe.
"Unfortunately," says Zittel, "Werner's field observations were limited
to a small district, the Erz Mountains and the neighboring parts of
Saxony and Bohemia.
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