When we dig up coal, we find the leaves and mosses that come to light imprinted or petrified upon it prove that once they were upon the surface.
This to me is the flaw in Panspermy. These first vegetable growths flourished in semi-darkness, while for ages previous animal life was developing in the darkened waters. The earth never had seen a ray of sunlight or moonlight. Thick vapor clouds were all around it. In order that Panspermy may prove true, it must be shown that it was possible for germs borne on rays of light to penetrate this fog and sow the land and water with life. The only explanation for this would seem to be that these germs were caught in the vapor clouds and fell upon the earth in the form of rain.
Next: Petrified Remains of Animals
pg. 28
Now, as we dig up layers of coal, and the slate and rock which go to make the different formations of the earth's crust, we find the petrified remains of these first animals that crept from the waters and the beasts and birds that evolved from them. In the American Museum of Natural History can be seen the "Brontosaurus," a little over fifteen feet tall, and almost sixty-seven feet long; the length of the leg bones, in comparison with the spine, proving that the head, neck, and tail were serpentine. In the British Museum there is part of the skeleton of the "Archteopteryx," and in Berlin a complete skeleton. The bird had a tail with twenty long, slender vertebrae, a skull with thirteen teeth above and three below, each set in a separate socket, feet like our birds of to-day, and wings, the third joint of which ended in three-fingered claws much longer than the feet, the feathers clearly outlined, and the specimen near the size of a crow. Our birds have shed their teeth and gradually dropped and contracted their tails, until a queer little muscular appendage, having only a few very small vertebrae, fattish substance to hold the feathers and cover the oil sac, forms the tail. The two muscle and skin covered bones, that we call the third joint, have evolved from the long claws of the wing tip.
Next: What Other Writers Said About Natural History And Fossils Of Ancient Animals (Prev: The Problem With Panspermy)
Misspellings:
- Archseopteryx