Suggested two centuries ago by Robert Hooke, this use of fossils has in the hands of Barrande, Neumayr, the marquis de Saporta (1895), Oswald Heer (1809-1883), and an army of followers developed into a sub-science of vast importance and interest.
Many scholars connect the origin of the deity with the popular German and Swedish belief in a raging host (in Germany called das wiitende Heer or Wutes Heer, but in Sweden Odens Jagt), which passes through the forests on stormy nights.
It is, however, likely that this formation occurs in Greenland, for in Dana Bay, Captain Feilden found a species of Spirifera and Productus mesolobus or costatus, though it is possible that these fossils represent the " Ursa stage " (Heer) of the Lower Carboniferous.
The name is of uncertain origin; some derive it from lolium, tares, quoting Chaucer (C. Shipman's Prologue) "This Loller heer wil prechen us somwhat..
One large specimen is figured by Heer from Lower Cretaceous rocks of Greenland, and by the side of the frond is shown a carpel with lateral ovules, as in the female flower of Cycas; but an examination of the type-specimen in the Copenhagen Museum led the present writer to regard this supposed carpel as valueless.
