INTRODUCTION

Summary

Astronomy and Geology owe much of their charm to the fact that they suggest thoughts of other forms of life than those with which we are familiar. Geology teaches us of days when this earth was peopled with strange creatures such as now are not found upon its surface. We turn our thoughts to the epochs when those monsters throve and multiplied, and picture to ourselves the appearance which our earth then presented. Strange forms of vegetation clothe the scene which the mind's eye dwells upon. The air is heavily laden with moisture to nourish the abundant flora; hideous reptiles crawl over their slimy domain, battling with each other or with the denizens of the forest; huge bat-like creatures sweep through the dusky twilight which constituted the primeval day; weird monsters pursue their prey amid the ocean depths: and we forget, as we dwell upon the strange forms which existed in those long past ages, that the scene now presented by the earth is no less wonderful, and that the records of our time may perhaps seem one day as perplexing as we now find those of the geological eras.

Astronomy has a kindred charm. We cannot indeed examine the actual substance of living creatures existing upon other celestial bodies; we cannot even picture to ourselves their appearance or qualities; and only in a few instances can we even form any conception of the conditions under which they live.