Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Throughout mediaeval times the true nature of fossils seems to
have been lost to researchers. The prevailing view was that fossils
originated in the bowels of the Earth from a creative or plastic force
(vis plastica). One of the first topics in the English language in which
fossils were described was The Natural History of Oxfordshire (1676)
together under the heading 'Formed Stones'. While the notion of a
plastic force was common so too was that of a universal Flood. This
idea began to subside as a plausible cause for the formation of fossils
by the middle of the eighteenth century. Many enlightened thinkers
throughout the Renaissance, and after, were unconvinced of the organic
nature of fossils, although some were certain that fossils represented
the remains of past life.
Among popular folklore, many fossils have been given names
that allude to their supposed origin. The cone-shaped shells of the
cephalopod belemnites were thought to be petrified thunderbolts on
account of their pointed shape; the bivalve Gryphaea arcuata, com-
monly found in rocks around the River Severn, was called the Devil's
toenail; the echinoid Micraster has a heart-shaped test which was
known to local people on the south coast of England as a fairy loaf;
and the Silurian trilobite Calymene blumenbachii from the Silurian
of the Dudley region was called the Dudley locust, and actually
appeared on the coat of arms of that town. Another case of fossils
being used as urban symbols was that of Whitby, Yorkshire, which
proudly displayed snakestones. These are actually ammonites which
have been carved with heads by local people (Figure
9.1
).
The Englishman Martin Lister (1638-1711) produced some
beautiful illustrations of fossils in his book Historia animalium
Angliae (1678). However, he did not regard fossils as being the remains
of animals and supposed them to be imitations caused by unknown
forces. Shortly afterwards, in 1699, Edward Lhwyd produced the first
book exclusively related to British fossils. This was Lithophylacii
Britannici Ichnographia in which he illustrated over 200 fossil
species.
