PALEONEWS:manuscripts of fossil origins

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

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Eye on Science Science Newsfossils

PARIS, 1746 -- Monsieur de Voltaire this week offered a startling new
theory to explain the origin of fossils, a problem that has vexed
philosophers since Aristotle. In an Italian essay, the French writer
proposes that fossilized bones found today in the mountains represent
picnic remains left by passing pilgrims and crusaders centuries ago. 

"Rotten fish were thrown away by a traveler and were petrified
thereafter," says Voltaire. 

The pilgrim-picnic-petrifaction hypothesis clashes with the standard
prayer-book explanation that fossils are a reflection of God's powers.
The Royal Office of the Fourth Estate and Public Information put out a
release saying, "Monsieur de Voltaire is clever indeed, but we are not
amused by his musings. If he persists, he will find himself once again
ensconced in a Bastille cell, this time without his linen
handkerchiefs." 

Leading scientists also have weighed in on the new theory. Georges-Louis
Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, called Voltaire a buffoon. "The fossils
present in the Alps are not the tastiest varieties of fish and would
make a poor lunch," says Buffon. 

Researchers remain divided over how patterns resembling shells, shark's
teeth and other living objects made their way inside rock strata near
the tops of mountains. Near the end of the last century, the English
physician Martin Lister concluded that fossils are inorganic structures
that grow within rocks and coincidentally bear a resemblance to living
marine creatures. 

Although fossil shells look superficially like living mollusks, scrutiny
reveals that they are not identical to any known today. "Our English
Quarry-shells were not cast in any Animal mold, whose species or race is
yet to be found in being at this day," he said in a letter published in
the Philosophical Transactions. 

Early this century, Swiss physician Johann Scheuchzer argued that fossil
fish, plants, and other forms are the remains of once-living species,
lofted into the mountains by the biblical flood. 

There are hints of unpublished data on fossil origins compiled in the
early 16th century by the master painter Leonardo da Vinci. A copy of
his long-hidden manuscript was recently purchased by Lord Leicester in
England. According to gossip, in this Codex Leicester, Leonardo argued
that the flood did not transport fossils, but rather that Earth itself
is capable of moving upward. Fossils once at the bottom of the sea would
then rise up to the mountains. 

Contemporary researchers, however, are unwilling to comment on this
theory because the manuscript is not available for peer review. Lord
Leicester says simply, "For a painter, the man had horrible penmanship." 

Some predict the manuscript will only come to public light when,
centuries in the future, a man controlling the gates to unfathomable
wealth buys it and brings the word of Leonardo to the marketplace. 


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