SKETCH OF
GEOLOGICAL
HISTORY
A 597102
QE
651
.H92
HULL
WDEACON&CO
DUPL

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1837
VERITAS
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QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM
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H92

AZOIC.
PRIMARY or PALEOZOIC.
GENERALIZED
GEOLOGICAL SECTION,
SHOWING
THE ORDER OF SUPER-POSITION OF STRATA.
In drawing up this Table it was found necessary to be guided by the order of British and European Strata, but
the representatives in other parts of the world have been, as far as possible, inserted.
SECONDARY or MESOZOIC.
TERTIARY or
CAINOZOIC.
EPOCHS.
POST-PLIOCENE
PLIOCENE
MIOCENE
OLIGOCENE (Europe) ..
EOCENE
British Isles, Europe, Asia,
Africa, New Zealand.
CRETACEOUS
British isles, Europe, Asia,
Africa, N. America.
OOLITIC or
JURASSIC..
British Isles, Europe, &c.
TRIASSIC
Britain, Europe, N. Amer-
ica, and S. Africa.
PERMIAN
Or DYAS.
Recognised in Britain,
Europe, & N. America.
Lower or
AQUEOUS FORMATIONS.
Lias. Oolite.
LMU L. M. U.
Neocomian Upper. Lo.Mid.Up.
WEALDEM. CRSAND
Lo.
Up.
Lo.
Up.
Mid.
Up
New Red S'stone.
SYNONYMS.
Drift Deposits of Northern Hemisphere.
Upper and Middle Sewalik beds (India).
"Molasse" (Switzerland). Sub-Apennine
beds of Italy. Lake beds of America.
Mummulite Limestone of Europe, Asia,
and Africa.
Hippurite Limestone of ditto.
Turonian (D'Orb.)
Albien, Aptien (D'Orb.)
Neocomian beds (D'Orb).
Weisser Jura (The Alps, &c.).
Schwartzer Jura (The Alps, &c.).
Keuper Mergel (Germany).
Muschelkalk (Germany).
Bunter Sandstein (Germany).
Zechstein (Germany).
Rothe-liegende (Germany).
Permo-Carboniferous (America).
Coal-Measures.
Carboniferous (America).
CARBONIFEROUS
Recognised in Britain,
Europe, China, Aus-
tralia, N. & S. America.
Upper
Lower
Middle.
Upper.
Hower.
Lo.
Upper.
OLD RED SANDSTONE
AND DEVONIAN
Recognised in Britain,
Europe, Asia, Australia,
N. America.
35
SILURIAN
"Systeme Silurian,'
(D'Orb.)
Recognised in Britain,
Europe, Central Asia,
Australia, New Zealand
and America.
CAMBRIAN
Britain, Europe, China,
Primordial Beds.
N. America.
ARCHAEAN (Dana).
VOLCANIC
PLUTONIC
Lower.
Upper.
Lower.
Sub-Carboniferous (America).
Carb. Limestone.
Calcaire Carbonifere (France & Belgium).
Slates, Grits, or Conglomerates.
Catskill Beds.
Chemung beds (America)
Hamilton 33
Corniferous
55
33-
Limestone of Ilfracombe. Eifel Lime-
stone and Calcaire de Givet (Belgium).
Hangman, Lynton, and Foreland beds of
Devonshire.
Oriskany Groups (N. America).
Lr. Helderberg,,
Salina
33
Niagara
39
Clinton
33
33
Medina
Oneida
33
35
33
35
(Not having exact Representatives in
Europe).
Cincinnati Groups (N. America).
Utica
Trenton
Chazy
Quebec
35
33
33
Calciferous
33
33
(Not having exact Representatives in
Europe).
"Sinisian Formation" of China.
Zone Primordiale (Europe).
Potsdam Formation (America).
IGNEOUS ROCKS.
Huronian beds (N. America).
Laurentian of Canada (Logan).
System of Whitney.
ENERAL
Azoic
Drawn by Professor EDWARD HULL, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.
VERS
OF THE
Vindhyan System, and Transition or Sub-Metamorphic (India, &c.)
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
:
:
!
:
!
A SKETCH
OF
30558
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
BEING
The Natural History of the Earth
AND OF ITS
Pre-Human Inhabitants
BY
EDWARD HULL, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.
DIRECTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF IRELAND
PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE DUBLIN
1
WITH
AN ILLUSTRATIVE DIAGRAM
DRAWN BY THE AUTHor.
LONDON:
C. W. DEACON & CO.
1887
All Rights Reserved.
}
1
}
LONDON:
C W. DEACON AND CO., DUKE STREET, Adelphi, W.C.
;
1


.
5-3=38
edit L
PREFACE.
THE day seems to have arrived when an acquaintance
with the leading facts and ideas of Geology has become
as necessary a portion of education as a knowledge of
Geography and History.
It has, therefore, been felt desirable to supplement
the "SKETCH OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY," embodied in the
three volumes already published, by giving an outline
of the Geological events through which our Globe has
passed since it assumed its form and became the abode
of animals and plants.
This little volume, from the pen of Professor Hull,
though coming last of the series, ought properly to be
read first, referring as it does to events antecedent
to those dealt with in the previous volumes. The
exigencies of publication cause it to come last; but
should the reader desire to have before him a "SKETCH
OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY" in its entirety, and in the
order of events, he will begin with the origin of the
Globe and of its living forms, and end his reading with
“Modern History."
viii
PREFACE.
<
During the last few years numerous manuals and
text-books dealing with the principles of Geology have
been published, but no summary of the Historical
portion of the Science has hitherto appeared in this
country. Such a treatise exists in Germany; but it
must be remarked that, in addition to the difficulty
always presented by a scientific work in a foreign
language, the one in question is both costly and
ponderous.
The conclusions expressd by the Author have been
submitted to the touchstone of the acknowledged
authorities on the subject, and whenever he has judged
it likely to be of service to the student, he has not failed
to give the necessary references.
Cu. Deacon To

#
CHARING CROSS CHAMBERS,
LONDON, W.C.
:
!
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1
INTRODUCTION: Original Condition of our Globe
THE ARCHÆAN OR AZOIC AGE
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE ARCHÆAN ROCKS...
North America
South America
Eastern Hemisphere
Spain
British Isles
Africa
Asia
Summary
...
:
...
...
Archæan LiFE—Eozoon Canadense ...
::
:
THE LOWER PALÆOZOIC AGE (THE AGE
OF INVERTEBRATES)
PAGE
17
23
23
25
26
27
27
28
29
31
33
33
35
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL PERIOD 35
X
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL STRATA
British Islands
Europe
Asia
America
:
:
:
PAGE
35
36
37
38
:
39
LIFE FORMS OF THE PRIMORDIAL PERIOD
...
4I
42
!
SILÚRIAN PERIOD
MINERAL CHARACTERS of the SILURIAN STRATA 43
Europe and the British Isles
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SILURIAN STRATA
Europe and British Isles.
Asia
Australia
:
•
:
43
44
44
45
46
Africa
...
:
North America
:
:
...
:
46
...
47
South America
48
POSITION OF LAND AND
SEA DURING THE
SILURIAN PERIOD
49
LIFE FORMS OF THE SILURIAN PERIOD
50
The Fauna
The Flora ...
...
...
50
52
THE UPPER PALEOZOIC AGE (THE AGE
OF FISHES)
DEVONIAN PERIOD
...
:
...
53
:.
53
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE DEVONIAN STRATA
Europe and British Isles
North America
xi
PAGE
54
54
:
56
57
...
57
58
59
LIFE FORMS OF THE DEVONIAN PERIOD
The Fauna
The Flora ...
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD ...
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS
STRATA.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA
The Principal Coal-fields of the World
Europe
Asia
Australia
America
:
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND WATER DURING
THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
VOLCANIC PHENOMENA
...
LIFE FORMS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
The Fauna
The Flora...
PERMIAN PERIOD
60
63
63
63
65
65
66
68
69
70
71
71
73
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE PERMIAN STRATA 75
British Isles
...
...
75
:
xii
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
་
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PERMIAN STRATA
Europe
North America
་
:
:
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND SEA DURING
THE PERMIAN PERIOD...
LIFE FORMS OF THE PERMIAN PERIOD
The Fauna
...
The Flora ...
...
PAGE
76
76
76
77
78
78
79
THE MESOZOIC AGE (THE AGE OF REPTILES) 80
TRIASSIC PERIOD
80
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE TRIASSIC STRATA...
81
Europe
82
4
...
Asia
83
South Africa
:
84
North America
Nova Scotia, &c. (Acadia)
LIFE FORMS OF THE TRIASSIC PERIOD
:
85
:
:
86
... 87
The Fauna
The Flora ...
...
JURASSIC PERIOD (The Age of Saurians)
...
87
88
89
MINERAL CHARActers of the JURASSIC STRATA 90
Distribution OF THE JURASSIC STRATA
Europe
Asia
...
...
:.
91
91
93
1
}
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
America
Other Lands South of the Equator
POSITION OF LAND AND
OF LAND AND SEA DURING THE
JURASSIC PERIOD
British and European Areas
Northern and Central Africa
...
America
LIFE FORMS OF THE JURASSIC PERIOD
The Fauna
The Flora ...
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
:
:
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE CRETACEOUS STRATA
Europe
...
India
Regions South of the Equator...
North America
South America
...
...
LIFE FORMS OF THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD
The Fauna
The Flora ...
xiii
PAGE
94
95
96
96
97
97
97
97
100
ΙΟΙ
I02
...
103
:
104
106
106
107
108
...
... 108
...
III
THE CAINOZOIC AGE (THE AGE OF MAMMALS) 113
EOCENE PERIOD (Epoch of Nummulites)
113
xiv
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
PAGE
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE EOCENE STRATA ...
114
!
Europe
114
Asia and Africa
116
North America
116
:
South America
116
LIFE FORMS OF THE EOCENE PERIOD...
118
...
The Fauna
Oligocene Beds
118
119
MIOCENE PERIOD
I20
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE MIOCENE STRATA ...
Europe and British Isles
India
North America
...
LIFE FORMS OF THE MIOCENE PERIOD
The Fauna
The Flora ...
...
PLIOCENE PERIOD
122
122
...
122
123
...
123.
123
...
124
125
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE PLIOCENE STRATA...
Europe and British Isles
...
...
126
126
India
127
America
128
...
...
LIFE FORMS OF THE PLIOCENE PERIOD
...
129
The Fauna
...
129

ABLE OF CONTENTS.
XV
ZOIC AGE
Fleistore,
POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD
(The Epoch of the Mammoth)
SPECIAL EPOCHS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD
A. The Earliest Epoch
...
PAGE
132
132
...
134
135
B.-The Medial or Inter-Glacial Epoch 137
C.-The Latest Epoch
139
LIFE FORMS OF THE
GLACIAL PERIOD
POST-PLIOCENE
OR
The Fauna
The Flora...
...
...
...
140
...
...
140
142
QUATERNARY PERIOD (The Epoch of Man) 143
RETROSPECT
...
TABLE OF GEOLOGICAL PERIODS, and list of Coun-
tries where the Representative Strata are
known to exist...
...
INDEX
LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED
::
:
146
149
159
...
179

GEOLOGY:
A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH
AND OF ITS
PRE-HUMAN INHABITANTS.
IN
N commencing an historical sketch of the earth's
crust, and of its pre-human inhabitants, it is
scarcely necessary for us to go further back than to the
period when it assumed its form of an oblate spheroid
as originally determined by Sir Isaac Newton.
Such a form cannot be considered as accidental;
inasmuch as it is that which would be assumed
by a viscous mass rotating on an axis; in other words,
a mass whose particles, mutually attracting each other,
are capable of great freedom of motion amongst them-
selves. The earth's polar diameter is 7,899.17
English miles; its equatorial, 7,925.65 miles; the
latter exceeding the former by 26.48, so that if a true
sphere were made to revolve on the polar diameter
within the circumference of the earth, it would have a
B
F
18
GEOLOGY.
crust (or envelope) a little over 13 miles in thickness at
the equator, gradually diminishing to zero at the poles.
This bulging at the equator is twice as great as the
altitude of our highest mountains; so that it is evident.
that the changes which the earth's crust have under-
gone are very small as compared with the bulk of the
earth itself, and the familiar simile holds good-that the
inequalities on the surface of our globe are less in pro-
portion to its size, than the roughness of the peel of
an orange to that of the orange itself.*
The viscosity of the earth can only have been due
to a high temperature such as that which the sun may
now be supposed to maintain. During this period of
igneous fusion, the waters which now form the oceans
and seas must have existed in the condition of a vast
envelope of vapour, stretching far out into space.
Ultimately, however, upon the cooling of the outer sur-
face of the globe to a sufficiently low temperature,
these vapours would begin to condense and fill up the
hollows and inequalities caused by the sinking in of the
solidified masses upon the viscous interior.
The size of our globe upon the first solidification of
the crust must have been much larger than at present;
the process of consolidation and cooling, owing to the
* The oblate spheroid is itself not a symmetrical body, as recent obser-
vations have shown that there is a slight bulging in the meridian of 8º 15' W.
CONSOLIDATION AND COOLING OF THE GLOBE. 19
radiation of the internal heat into space, being necessarily
accompanied by the contraction of the crust upon the
viscous or fluid interior. This process has proceeded
down to the present day; and throughout the past
history of our globe the crust has, from time to time,
given way to the tangential forces whereby the rocks
and strata have been upturned, fractured and crumpled,
and thus forced to assume narrower horizontal dimen-
sions than was originally the case.
To this cause we
may attribute the elevation of our mountain chains, the
depression of our oceans, and the contorted and
fractured condition of the strata of all geological
periods. Nor is this condition restricted to the more
ancient rocks, for in special districts it characterises
those of comparatively modern geological age. Some
of our highest mountain chains, like those of the Alps,
the Pyrenees, and even the giant Himalayas themselves,
having received their final upheavings in later Tertiary
times.*
It cannot, however, be successfully questioned that
the process of cooling and contraction was enormously
more rapid in the early portion of our globe's history
than in more recent times, and the results must have
been proportionately greater. Hence, as a recent
writer has observed, although the laws of chemistry and
* Messrs. Medlicott and Blandford have suggested that the Himalayas are
still undergoing a slow elevatory movement sufficient to counterbalance
denudation.-The Geology of India, pp. 571, 620.
20
GEOLOGY.
}
physics are unchangeable, and as permanent as the
material universe itself, the exhibition of the con-
sequences of those laws in their operation on the earth
has been one of constant variation in degree and
intensity of action.*
As regards the present condition of the interior of
the globe, our actual knowledge derived from observa-
tion is limited to a comparatively insignificant depth.
Though granite has been called "the foundation of all
rocks," geological research has shown that this rock is
not restricted to any geological period; and it is highly
probable that it may be, even now, in course of elabora-
tion deep below the outer surface. Certain it is that
Tertiary volcanic rocks, such as those of the Island of
Mull, pass downwards through successive stages into
those of a granitic character.† As such a highly
crystalline rock as granite can only have been elabor-
ated at the high pressure produced by superincumbent
masses, and with extreme slowness, it may be assumed
that the original crust was composed of rocks rather of
the nature of pumice, trachyte, or felstone, of but low
density and crystalline structure, and from the waste of
these the earliest sedimentary strata were formed. As
regards the deeper seated masses, it seems not im-
2
* Professor Prestwich, Geology, Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical,
1886, preliminary remarks, p. 6.
This was first suggested by Prof. Jukes, and more recently determined by
Judd, Quart. Journ., Geol. Soc., vol. xxx., p. 220 et seq.
THE PLUTONIC OR IGNEOUS ROCKS.
21
probable that they assumed an arrangement dependent
on relative density. If, as Durocher has supposed, wel
separate the components of crystalline igneous rocks
into two classes: (1.) The Basic, rich in metallic oxides,
especially those of iron and manganese, of which basalt
may be taken as the type; and (2.) The Acidic, rich in
silica, and deficient in iron and manganese, of which
granite or trachyte may be taken as types, then these
two classes of molten material may be supposed to
have arranged themselves in zones, the heavier within
the lighter, though separated from one another by tran-
sitional matter. From these two magmas the plutonic
rocks which have been extruded from time to time
may have been derived.
Leaving, however, these speculations, we know as
a fact that everywhere over the land surface of our
globe the temperature increases as we descend. Obser-
vations undertaken and collected by the Underground
Temperature Committee of the British Association for
some years past all tend to confirm the view of the
increase of temperature due to depth.* The actual
rate of increase is subject to variation, but it is a
sufficient approximation to state that after passing
below" the invariable stratum" the rate of increase is
1
In an
* Down to the year 1885 seventeen Reports have been presented.
elaborate paper on Underground Temperature, communicated in 1885 to the
Royal Society, Professor Prestwich considers that the mean rate of increase
of temperature is as high as 1 degree Fahr. for every 47'5 feet in depth.—Proc.
Roy. Soc., Feb., 1885.
$
22
GEOLOGY.
1
*
1
one degree of Fahrenheit for every 50 or 60 feet.* The
general effect of internal heat is to lessen the mean
density of the earth, as determined by experiment, to
an extent far below what it would otherwise be in
consequence of the force of gravity. Thus water at a
depth of 362 miles would be as heavy as mercury—i.e.,
13.5 times heavier than at the surface; and rocks at the
same depth would have an average density of about
ten times as much as at the surface. Hence, were
there not some agent in operation tending to reduce the
density of the earth's mass, due to gravity, its mean
density would be enormously greater than that deter-
mined by experiment, which is from 5 to 6.30, pure
water being the standard. This agent is heat.
That the globe consists of a solid crust, enclosing
a viscous and liquid mass at a very high temperature,
is a view which enables us to explain the phenomena
of the flexuring and faulting of the strata and their
local metamorphism in a manner far more satisfactorily
than can be attempted by any other hypothesis.†
* Much depends on the nature and position of the rocks or strata, hori-
zontal strata offering a greater resistance to the upward passage of internal heat
than those which are highly inclined.--See Third Report on Underground Tempera-
ture (Rep. Brit. Assoc., 1870).
The results arrived at by Professor Hennessy go to show that, on the
supposition of an interior fluid nucleus, the interior surface of the outer shell
has a greater amount of ellipticity than the outer surface, and that the fluid
interior is arranged in strata with constantly decreasing ellipticity towards the
centre.-Philosophical Magazine, Sept., 1886, p. 245; also, Ibid., Oct., 1886, p. 328.
THE ARCHEAN OR AZOIC AGE.
23
THE ARCHAEAN OR AZOIC AGE.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE ARCHEAN ROCKS.
That the mechanical and chemical agencies were
vastly more powerful and effective over our primæval
globe than in recent times is a thesis which can be
maintained by several weighty arguments; and, if so,
the processes of deposition of strata, of denudation and
erosion, of metamorphism and vulcanicity must have
been carried on with a rapidity far different from those
at present in operation. Owing to the proximity of
our satellite, the moon, tidal action must have been on
a scale vastly different from the gentle pulsations which
now strike our shores.*. It is quite within the range of
probability that the rise and fall of the tide twice in
every twenty-four hours may have been ten times as
high as at the present time, in consequence of this
proximity, and it is difficult to form an estimate of the
* Sir R. S. Ball, The Story of the Heavens, p. 510. Prof. Darwin, Nature,
1882.
24
THE ARCHEAN OR AZOIC ROCKS.
·
i
scouring effects of such tidal action along the coasts
and bays of the primæval globe. Again, in conse-
quence of the high temperature, both of land and of
sea, the atmosphere may have been surcharged with
moisture to an excessive degree, and the precipitation
may thus have been proportionally large. Thus vastly
greater quantities of sediment may have been carried
down into the ocean within an equal period of time,
and have been spread to far greater distances over its
bed than at present. In this way we may, perhaps,
account in some measure for the remarkable extent to
which the Silurian sedimentary deposits were dis-
tributed as compared with the restricted areas of
deposition of sediments, which deep-sea soundings.
have indicated in respect to our present ocean beds.
Space does not permit of reference to the inferential
effects of the chemical action of oceanic waters at a
high temperature, or of the hydro-thermal reactions
within the crust itself when it was solidifying from a
molten condition.
Of the original solid crust of our globe we have
probably no example on any part of its present surface.
It has either been worn down and supplied materials
for newer formations; or it may have been, in other
places, remelted by high internal heat when buried
beneath accumulations of sediment, and converted into
more modern granites or other igneous rocks. The oldest
known formations are marine sediments, which subse-
F
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 25
quently to their deposition have been completely
altered in their character and composition, and belong
to the class of rocks known as metamorphic. It is not
impossible that the original sediment, of which these
oldest known strata were formed, may have been
derived from the waste of the original rocky crust, but
more than this cannot be stated with certainty.
The Archæan Rocks, which form the most ancient
rock-masses of our globe, are widely distributed over
various parts of all our continents, either spreading
over large tracts, or rising from beneath more recent
formations in disconnected ridges and mountain heights.
"'*
North America.-In the continent of North America
these rocks, under the name of "Laurentian,' (or
Azoic) stretch from Nova Scotia and the coast of Labra-
dor to the shores of the Great Lakes, and thence in a
north-westerly direction to the Kent peninsula, north of
the Arctic Circle. Dr. Selwyn estimates the area occupied
by the beds forming the Archæan nucleus at 2,000,000
square miles, and they rise from beneath strata of
Huronian and Silurian age, with representatives of the
most ancient forms of life. They also form a tract of
country between the Alleghanies and the marginal
oceanic region of the Atlantic, and appear in Dakota,
*From the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. Logan's Geology of Canada,
P. 45.
1
26
THE ARCHÆAN OR AZOIC ROCKS.
1
the Laramie range of Nebraska, and in the Middle
Cordilleras.* These strata are supposed to attain a
thickness of 35,000 to 40,000 feet, and consist of two
divisions. The lower of coarse grey and red gneiss
and hornblendic schist with pegmatite and bands of
crystalline limestone; the upper, named "Huronian,"
from Lake Huron, of quartzites, felsites, schists and
volcanic rocks.
South America.-In the continent of South America
these most ancient rocks, consisting of granite, gneiss
(often porphyritic), syenite, and hornblendic schists
occupy portions of Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, and
British Guiana.† These most ancient deposits are
overlain in some cases by a newer series of crystalline
strata, in which quartzites, schists and limestones
prevail, and which may possibly be referable to the
Lower Silurian stage; but in any case it is clear that
the basis of all the fossiliferous strata of South America
consists of rocks resembling in composition those of
the Laurentian system of the northern continent. They
also appear to form the floor of more recent fossiliferous
strata in Chili and Peru.
* Clarence King, U.S. Geol. Explor. 40 Parallel, vol. i., pp. 17 & 53, &c. The
name "Azoic" was first applied by Murchison to the rocks of this group in
Scandinavia, (Proc. Geol. Soc., London, vol. iy., 1845, p. 602), and was afterwards
applied by Foster and Whitney to those of Canada, (Rep. on Geology of Lake
Superior Land District, vol. ii., 1851).
+ Crosby, On the Age and Succession of the Crystalline Formations of Guiana and
Brazil (Proc. Boston Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. xx., 1880). Prof. Hartt and O. A. Derby,
Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1879, and Amer. Journ. Science, vol. xix., 1880.
F
է
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
27
Eastern Hemisphere.-Turning now to the Eastern
Hemisphere, we find similar beds of gneiss, with horn-
blendic and micaceous schists and crystalline lime-
stones, rising from beneath the most ancient fossiliferous
strata, including the Cambrian and Primordial beds. Of
such rocks is formed a large portion of the Scandi-
navian promontory, together with Lapland and Finland
as far as the borders of the White Sea.* They are
overlain either by a newer series of clay-slates, con-
glomerate, quartzite and limestone, or by conglomerate
and red sandstone of Lower Cambrian age. In the
central parts of Europe similar gneissose rocks form
the floor of the oldest fossiliferous strata, as in the
Boemer Wald and Rauche Alb, and constitute M.
Barrande's Etage A. It is not improbable that they
form a portion of the crystalline nucleus of the Alps,
though there is much uncertainty on this point.
Spain. In Spain these ancient rocks, consisting of
granitoid gneiss, ordinary gneiss, various schists, and
quartzites are surmounted by slates and sandstones of
Cambrian and Primordial age; ‡ and the Spanish geolo-
gists have shown that large portions of the provinces
+
+
* The ancient rocks are known as the "Urgneiss," or Tellemarken formation.
Durocher, Annales des Mines, t. 15.
+ Système Silurien de la Bohême, 1852. Gumbel divides these rocks into two
groups, the lower of which is gneissose, the upper (Hercynian) of gneiss with
schist, graphitic limestone and serpentine.
‡ C. Barrois Reserches sur les Terrains anciens des Asturias, Lille, 1882.
t
:
28
THE ARCHEAN OR AZOIC ROCKS.
of Salamanca, Granada, Cordova and Seville are
formed of Archæan strata. To the same group may
also be referred the crystalline rocks of the north of
Portugal, which commencing in the north of the pro-
vince of Gallicia, as shown by M. G. Schulz, range
southward through the centre of the kingdom to the
banks of the Tagus.* To the same period may also be
referred, in all probability, the granitic and gneissose
rocks forming "the Central Plateau" of France, and
ranging thence into Normandy and Brittany. They
are older than fossiliferous strata of Lower Silurian
and Cambrian age,t while they constitute the platform.
from which rise the grand series of volcanic mountains
of Auvergne and Mont Dor.
British Isles.-Passing on to the British Islands, we
find the Archæan rocks, consisting of red porphyritic
gneiss, with veins of pegmatite, varieties of hornblendic
and micaceous schists, crystalline limestones, or
marbles, occupying mountainous tracts bordering the
Atlantic, both in Ireland and Scotland. They are
undoubtedly continuous under the ocean with those of
Scandinavia, and stretch from Cape Wrath to Loch
Torridon on the coast of Scotland, while they compose
* Descrip. Geogn, de Galicia, Madrid, 1835 ; also Barrois, Mém. Soc. Géol. Nord,
ii., 1882.
+ Murchison, Siluria, 4 Edit., pp. 407-9; Dalimier, Bull. Soc. Geol, de France,
2 Ser., vol. xiii
}
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
29
nearly the whole of the outer Hebrides.* In Ireland
they are considered to occupy tracts of Western
Donegal, of Sligo and Mayo; † and throughout the
region of the British Isles they are subordinate in
position to strata considered to be of Lower Cambrian,
or Lower Silurian age, and may be regarded as the
fundamental rocks upon which have been superimposed
the entire series of strata entering into the structure
of these islands.
Africa.-As far as our knowledge of the geology of
this continent extends, there is reason for believing
that the Archæan rocks are extensively represented in
its interior. The so-called "syenite," from which have
been hewn the grandest monoliths of either ancient or
modern times (such as Pompey's pillar at Alexandria,
the obelisks, and numerous statues), is known to form
but a portion of a series of granitoid and metamorphic.
rocks, which reach the surface from beneath the
Cretaceous strata of Egypt and the Soudan; and are
considered from their mineral characters to represent
the Archæan rocks of Europe and America.‡ The.
more recent rocks of the highlands of Abyssinia are
* The position of the oldest British rocks was first definitely determined by
Murchison, in Brit. Assoc. Report, 1885, Sects. p. 58; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol.
xiv., p. 501. Ibid., vol. xv., p. 353.
+ Trans. Roy. Dublin Soc., 2nd ser., Vol. I., p. 243, 1882.
↑ Sir J. W. Dawson, Geol. Mag., October, 1884. Dawson recognises two.
series of metamorphic rocks unconformable to each other, the older of which
he regards as of Laurentian age.
30
THE ARCHEAN OR AZOIC ROCKS.
supported on a great series of granitoid, gneissic and
hornblendic strata, which stretch from Mount Gadam
near the shores of the Red Sea as far south as Antalo.*
To the south of the equator, and forming a large tract
of mountainous country to the east and south of L.
Tanganyika, similar rocks, probably an extension of
those of Abyssinia, have been described by Mr.
Thomson. On the west they are overlain by a great
formation of red sandstone, and on the east towards the
coast, they form the marginal limits to Carboniferous
strata which have been deposited along the flanks of
these very ancient rocks which seem to have existed as
partially unsubmerged lands at the epoch of deposition.
Other tracts of similar crystalline strata occur along
the southern borders of the ocean on the east, and in
Benguela and Okota on the west; but of their exact
age we can only conjecture that they belong to the
same primæval system of strata which seems to have
formed the foundation of all others of whatever age;
and which appear to have been elevated into land
areas at a very early geological period. The island of
Madagascar throughout its eastern and loftier districts
is formed of granitoid and gneissic strata.‡
* Blanford, Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia, p. 143; also, Ferret and
Galimier, Voyage en Abyssinie, 1847.
+ Lenz, Geol. Mittheil. aus Westafrika, (Verh. K. K. Geol. Reichs.); Pomel,
Compt. Rend. Assoc. France, 1877, PP. 428—448.
↑ Mullens, Proc. Roy. Geogr. Soc., vol. xix., p. 182.
!
1
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
31
Asia. There is reason for believing that the crystal-
line rocks, consisting of granite, gneiss, schists and
porphyry which rise into the rugged heights of the
Sinaitic peninsula, and of Mount Seir on the borders.
of the great Arabian Desert, are referable to the
Archæan epoch; though all that can be definitely stated
is that they are older than the Carboniferous.* Passing
eastward into India, rocks of unquestionably great
antiquity, consisting of reddish gneiss, hornblendic and
other varieties of schist, called the "Bundelkhand
series," are overlain unconformably by a newer series.
consisting of schist, slates, quartzite and limestones
called "the Transition series. These metamorphic
groups occupy a large portion of southern, as well as
of eastern, India south of the valley of the Ganges; and
while the former may confidently be referred to the
Archæan epoch, the latter may possibly represent that
of the Lower Silurian or Cambrian. In the Western
Himalayas, there are also two sets of metamorphic rocks,
differing, however, in appearance from those of Central
India, their relations to which have not been clearly
ascertained. The older, however, consisting of gneiss,
is unconformable to the newer, which passes upwards
into Silurian slates, amongst which are fragments
derived from the waste of the more ancient formation.‡
* Hull, Physical Geology of Arabia, Petræa and Palestine, (Mem. Palest. Explor.
Society, 1886, p. 43).
+ Medlicott and Blanford, Manual of the Geology of India, part I. p. 9.
Ibid., Introduction, p. 26.
!
32
THE ARCHEAN OR AZOIC ROCKS.
Massive crystalline gneissose and schistose rocks enter
into the structure of a portion of the Baikal Mountains
in Central Asia, from which issue the head waters of
the Amour, Léna and Angara. These rocks may, with
some confidence, be referred to the Archæan epoch, as
they are overlain by a great formation of slates and
grits with Orthis Lenaica, and Trilobites, and these in
turn pass below Devonian beds.* The central portion
of the promontory of Kamtchatka has been described
by C. von Dittmar as formed of similar metamorphic
beds.t
The researches of Baron von Richthofen leave no
doubt that the sedimentary formations of Northern.
China at least have a foundation of Archæan gneiss
("Urgneiss "), which appears at intervals in the
mountainous parts rising from beneath the Cambrian,
Silurian and more recent formations. The mountains
of Hö-shan, Sung-shan and Fu-mien-shan rising to
elevations of 7,000 or 8,000 feet, are composed of
gneissose rocks which appear to agree in their general
characters with the Archæan gneiss of other regions.
The rock is generally hornblendic, but often micaceous
and chloritic, and distinctly foliated. It occupies
P. 122.
* Meglitzky, Verhandl. d. Kais. Russ. Min. Gesellschaft 2. St. Petersburg,
1855-56, p. 109, quoted by J. Marcou, Explan. Geol. Map of the World, 2nd edit.
† Bull. de l'Acad. de St. Petersbourg, t. 14, 1685.
ARCHÆAN LIFE.
33
extensive tracts bordering the Yellow Sea and Gulf of
Pi-chi-li.*
Summary. From the above, necessarily brief,
notices of the occurrence of these most ancient forma-
tions, it will appear that over very large tracts, at least,
of all the continents of our globe, the oldest fossiliferous
strata rest on a floor of still older crystalline materials
to which they are unconformable, these latter consisting
of granite, gneiss, schist and crystalline limestone, all
of several varieties. It may be inferred from their
resemblance to more modern metamorphic strata that
whatever may have been their original constitutions
they have been subjected to intense metamorphic
action, with great pressure and lateral shearing, to
which their foliated structure may be largely due.
ARCHEAN Life.
Of the existence of life on the globe during the
Archæan period we have no certain evidence. The
recent exhaustive investigations of Professor Möbiust
* China, vol. ii., pp. 71 and 373, 1882. Prince P. de Tchihatcheff has pointed
out that the crystalline rocks of the Altai and Sayansk Mountains are overlain
by those of "Transition," Carboniferous, Permian and Quaternary periods. The
Transition he divides into Silurian and Devonian stages.-Voyage Scientific
dans l'Altai, &c., 1845. The former are presumably Archæan.
+ Möbius, Der Bau des Eozoon Canadense, 1878.
C
34
NO EVIDence of ARCHEAN LIFE.
have tended to confirm the views of Professors King
and Rowney* that the supposed foraminiferal form,
known as Eozoon Canadense, found in Canada and
elsewhere, is in reality of mineral origin. In
this view he is also supported by the authority of
Professor F. Roemer. It is highly probable that the
waters of the ocean and the surface of the land were
unfitted to support even the lowliest forms; and
between the formation of the Archæan rocks, and those
in which forms of life are preserved to us, there elapsed
a vast interval of time; unrepresented except by the
discordance of stratification between the two great
groups of rocks; but constituting the great gulf which
separated the lifeless past from the living present.‡
}
* Professor W. King, Geol. Mag., 1883, p. 47, and Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, 1870,
X., 506.
+ Roemer, Lethaa Paleozoica, 1880, p. 285. See Dr. A. Geikie's review of
this subject, Text Book of Geology, 2nd edit., 1885, p. 634. Mr. J. B. Perry has
shown that the Eozonal structure is of chemical origin, resembling dendrites.
Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., April, 1871.
This is called by Professor Le Conte "The Lost Interval," which he
properly regards as of great duration.-Elements of Geology, edit. 1885, p. 292.
THE LOWER PALEOZOIC AGE.
35
THE LOWER PALÆOZOIC age.
(THE AGE OF INVERTEBRATES.)
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL STRATA.
The strata referable to this period possess a special
interest as being the earliest containing unquestionable
evidence of organised forms. They are distributed over
various districts of the continents of both hemispheres,
but not with much continuity; and have apparently
been deposited both in the open waters of the outer
ocean and within the limits of inland lakes; it is in the
case of the former alone that fossil remains have been
preserved. It may be inferred that towards the com-
mencement of the Primordial Period, much of the land-
areas composed of contorted and folded Archæan rocks
began to be submerged, and during the process of sub-
mergence the waters of the ocean extended their sway
over the lower tracts, while lake-basins were formed
amongst the higher elevations. Meanwhile, the streams
1
1
36
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL STRATA.
and floods brought down enormous quantities of
material from the continental tracts, and these being
carried seawards were deposited as beds of shingle near
the shore, while the finer sediments were conveyed far
out to sea. There is almost an entire absence of beds
of limestone amongst the Primordial sediments.
British Isles.-The British Cambrian series occurs
under both the marine and lacustrine forms; and as I
have elsewhere endeavoured to show, was distributed on
either side of an ancient ridge of Archæan rocks, which
being disposed along a north-easterly line passing
through the west of Ireland and the Central Scottish
Highlands, separated the presumed lacustrine beds of
the North Highlands from the marine beds of the east
of Ireland, Wales, and north-western Europe.* The
supposed lacustrine beds of the North Highlands of
Scotland seem to have been deposited in a basin, of
which the outer Hebrides formed the western margin.
They consist of red and purple sandstones and con-
glomerates resting discordantly on the contorted and
eroded surface of the Archæan gneiss and schist. They
form a range of lofty terraced escarpments and pyra-
midal masses rising grandly above the Atlantic waters,
and towards the east disappear beneath quartzites and
limestones of Lower Silurian age. The marine beds
* Contributions to the Physical History of the British Isles, p. 58, plate II., 1882.
!
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
37
consist of purple and green grits and slates of various
kinds, and occupy considerable tracts of the south-
eastern coast of Ireland, and of North Wales and St.
David's promontory. They reappear in central Eng-
land and in the Ardennes, and may be presumed to
underlie the greater part of England and Wales, and of
the adjoining parts of Europe. These marine beds are
fossiliferous; and in this respect, as well as in their
lithological characters, present a striking contrast to the
red sandstones and conglomerates of the North High-
lands of Scotland.
Europe.-The Primordial rocks. are represented
both in their lower and upper divisions in Sweden
and Norway in the form of shales, slates, con-
glomerates and limestones, resting discordantly on
Archæan rocks (Urgneiss), and surrounded by shales
characterised by the peculiar forms of trilobites refer-
able to this epoch‡ such as Paradoxides, Agnostus and
Olenus. Primordial beds have also been recognised in
Spain and Portugal, Bohemia and the Thuringer
Wald.
Nowhere, however, in Europe do the Primordial
* Dr. Mourlon, Géologie de la Belgique, t. I, p. 31.
+ Under the terms "Cambrian" and "Primordial," I here include both
the Llanberris and Harlech grits and slates together with the Lingula fags and
the Tremadoc beds,
Durocher, Annales des Mines, t. 15; 4th ser. Geikie, Text Book of Geology,
2nd edit., p. 654-5, in which a large number of references will be found.
!
38
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL STRATA.
beds with their subordinate Lower Cambrian members
occupy so important a position, at least as regards
their palæontology, as in Bohemia, where they form
parallel zones along the borders of the Silurian basin of
that country, with their base resting on crystalline
schists, gneiss and granite of Archæan age, and over-
lain, on the other hand, by beds referable to the Lower
Silurian stage. The splendid researches of Barrande*
have brought to light what he designates as the
Primordial fauna of this group, consisting of 27 species
of trilobites, and numerous brachiopods. These are
contained in schists or shales (stage C) resting no
conglomerates, quartzites and schists (of stage B).
!
Asia. On the Asiatic continent representatives of
the Primordial groups have been recognised in Thibet
and Kashmir, by Stoliczka, in the "Bhabeh and Muth
series," which lie on either side of the axis of central
gneiss of the Himalayas, and are surmounted by Lower
Silurian strata with Orthis and Chatetes. In China,
enormous masses of materials derived from the
waste of Archæan lands have been accumulated in
Liau-tung and Sung-shan, in the higher portion of
which Richthofen discovered characteristic Primordial
trilobites and brachiopods of the genera Dikelocephalus,
* Joachim Barrande, Système Silurien de la Bohême, 1852.
+ Geological Sections across the Himalayan Mountains; also Mem. Geol. Survey
of India, vol. v., 1866.
;
}
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
39
Conocephalus, Agnostus, Obolus, &c., as determined by Herr
Dames.*
America.-Passing to the North American continent
we find the Primordial beds represented at various
points from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, through
New York, Vermont and Eastern Massachusetts.
They are also found in the western parts of the conti-
nent. The Potsdam sandstone group, consisting of
various conglomerates, quartzites, sandstones and
shales of variable thickness is undoubtedly the repre-
sentative of the Primordial beds of Europe. It rests
on an uneven and eroded floor of the old Laurentian
rocks, and contains forms of trilobites (Paradoxides),
Lingula accuminata, Ophileta, and Orthoceras, together with
tracts of marine worms. It reappears in Texas
according to the observations of B. F. Shumard.
Beds of sandstone and conglomerate, according to Dr.
Hayden, skirt the Black Hills of Dakota, overlying
azoic and crystalline rocks, and containing character-
istic fossils, and is well represented by slates and sand-
stones in the region of the Appalachians.‡
From the above review it will be inferred that at
intervals throughout the northern hemisphere, the
* Richthofen's China, vol. ii., pp. 110, 226. To this series he gives the name
of Ober-Sinische Abteilung.
+ Logan, Geology of Canada, p. 102.
↑ Dana, Manual of Geology, p. 174, edit. 1863.
1
40
i
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE.
Archæan beds having undergone intense metamorphic
action, during which they were bent, folded and
contorted, owing to the lateral pressure of the globe's
contracting crust, were elevated in some places into
ridges and tracts of land, at others submerged under
the waters of the ocean. During this process large
quantities of shingle and sediment brought down from
the land areas were deposited around their margins,
and spread over the bed of the sea, forming the present
Cambrian and Primordial beds, in which for the first
time clear evidences of marine life are to be found; nor
was that life, although the earliest, by any means con-
fined to the lowest forms, as will be seen by the brief
account of it given below.
The first appearance of living forms on our earth is
an event far transcending in interest any subsequent
changes of their form and structure. As regards
the great question of the origin of life on our globe
science has failed to offer any satisfactory explana-
tion; therefore, in a question of this kind, when the
lamp of science fails to point a path we must have
recourse to the light of reason and of faith. These,
founded on Revelation, offer but one reply:-That the
same Omnipotent Being who called matter into existence
and endowed it with the laws by which the worlds
have been evolved, when a fitting time arrived, intro-
duced the principle of life under lowly forms upon our
planet. These forms were endowed with the laws of
LIFE FORMS OF THE PRIMORDIAL PERIOD.
4I
growth, of reproduction, of evolution, and of continuity,
whereby higher forms were originated as time went
on. Thus has an uninterrupted succession of animate
beings appeared on the surface of our globe and in its
waters, from the earliest Primordial dawn to the time
when man himself was placed on this earth as the
highest type of organised existence.
LIFE FORMS OF THE PRIMOrdial Period.
The general absence of limestones from the Cam-
brian rocks is necessarily followed by the absence also
of the Rhizopoda or Foraminifera, the Actinozoa or
corals, and other life groups which we commonly
find in calcareous strata; but there is an abundance
of other forms.* Representatives of the Protozoa,
Annelida, Crustacea, Brachiopoda, Lamellibranchiata,
Pteropoda and Cephalopoda, are all represented if we
include the Tremadoc group of Wales. The Crusta-
ceans are the most remarkable for their numbers and
distinctiveness. According to Mr. Etheridge the whole.
Primodial series may be ranged under two divisions, the
lower characterised by the prevalence of the genus
Paradoxides, the upper, by that of Olenus. The presence
* Etheridge, Phillip's Manual of Geology, p. 35, 1885.
+ Supra cit., p. 40.
་
}
42
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
of Cephalopods, the highest order of the Molluscs,
in the upper division of the oldest fossiliferous rocks
is probably the most remarkable feature connected
with their palæontology. In the Tremadoc slates of
Wales they are represented by Orthoceras sericeum and
Cyrtoceras præcox; and in the Potsdam sandstone of
Canada by two species of Orthoceras; this latter is
probably their first appearance in the life history of the
globe.
SILURIAN PERIOD.
The Silurian Period was characterised by a great
extension of the oceanic areas of the Northern Hemi-
sphere over that of the preceding Primordial epoch;
by the accession of new forms of life, such as those of
the coral animals and crinoids, and by prolonged
accumulations of sediment over the floor of the ocean,
which was undergoing continuous depression until
towards its close. The final stage of this great
period is of special interest as having witnessed the
introduction of the vertebrate type of animal life, in the
form of fishes.
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE SILURIAN STRATA. 43
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE SILURIAN STRAta.
Europe and British Isles.-The Silurian system,
with its base known as "the Arenig Beds" of North
Wales, consists of a vast assemblage of grey and
greenish grits and flags, of blue and black slates or
shales, and of limestones which are chiefly developed in
the upper division of the series. In Wales this assem-
blage attains a vertical development of nearly 25,000
feet. Amongst this group of sedimentary strata there
occur great masses of volcanic origin, which have been
extruded, or blown out, over the floor of the ocean at
one or more intervals, and now occur as sheets of
felstone, porphyry, or of ashes and tuffs, often contain-
ing marine forms of life.
The Lower Silurian strata are in many places more
or less metamorphosed into crystalline rocks, differing
but little in character from those of the Archæan
epoch, except perhaps in the greater proportion of
quartzites and limestones. The Upper Silurian strata,
on the other hand, are very rarely metamorphosed,
and from the relations of the two sets of strata in the
west of Ireland it may be demonstrated that the Lower
Silurian beds in the northern and western parts of the
British Isles had been subjected to a large degree of
disturbance, accompanied by metamorphic action, and
were also elevated into land surfaces and subjected to
1
44
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
much denudation before the beds of the Upper Silurian
epoch began to be deposited over their eroded and
uneven surface.*
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SILURIAN STRAta.
Europe and British Isles.-The Silurian rocks gener-
ally compose the mountainous districts of the British
Isles, either in their metamorphosed or unaltered con-
dition. Thus under the former type they rise into the
mountainous tracts of the west and north-west of
Ireland, and, to an unknown extent, into those of
the Scottish Highlands. They also form the
mountains of Wicklow and Dublin, and borders
of the east of Ireland, where they are partially
metamorphosed. In their unaltered condition they
compose the mountain groups of Wales, Cumber-
land and the south of Scotland. Under both forms
they are found in Norway and Sweden and along the
southern shores of the Gulf of Finland. From their
position here, and again along the line of the Oural
Mountains, it may be inferred that they underlie the
whole of the central plain of Russia, which is occupied
by more recent deposits. The formation occurs in
portions of the north of France, in several provinces
* Hull, Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland, p. 21.
↑ Prof. Schmidt, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxviii., p. 515.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SILURIAN STRATA.
45
of Spain, and again amongst the higher parts of the
Thuringer Wald.* Beds of this age are found
in Bohemia, forming stages D to H of Barrande's
Silurian Basin. Lastly, they have been identified by
their fossils in the Southern Alps, in the province of
Carinthia, resting upon older crystalline masses.†
Asia. Silurian formations have been recognised by
Stoliczka in Thibet and Kashmir, resting on Archæan
schists. The series of Bhabeh is formed of sandstones,
quartzites and schists, with Orthis and Chatetes. The
series of Muth with limestones in the centre has yielded
Silurian forms, such as Orthis, Strophomena, and Tenta-
culites.‡ Colonel Strachey from the same district
collected forms of Asaphus, Illanus, Cheirurus, and
Calymene.**
Silurian beds have also been recognised in the
Hundes district of the Central Himalayas, which are
continued into Kashmir, where, however, no fossils
have been observed.tt
In China, as Baron von Richthofen has admirably
* Murchison, Siluria, 3rd edit., p. 381.
+ Stache, Verhandl. Geol. Reichs., 1884, p. 25, cited by Geikie, Text Book,
р. 690.
↑ Mem. Geol. Survey, India, vol. v., 1866.
** Palæont. of Niti, Calcutta, 1865.
++ Geol. of India, part II., p. 662.
+
46
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
&
shown, the Silurian rocks form a large area of the
northern part of the empire, especially in the moun-
tainous province of Shensi, passing below the Devonian
and Carboniferous formations of the central districts.
The Silurian beds rest on others of Cambrian and
Primordial age (Sinische formation), and consist of
Lower and Upper Divisions, the latter of which is
especially rich in corals.* In Southern China, it
seems not improbable from the observations of
Kingsmill, that the great series of quartzites, schists
and shales, with ill-preserved shells and plants, may
be representative in time of the Silurian epoch.
Marcou considers that the Tung-ting series represents
the Cambrian, Silurian and Devonian epochs.t
1
Australia.--Both Lower and Upper Silurian beds
occur in Australia. The mountainous districts of
Victoria and New South Wales are largely formed of
slates, shales and grits belonging to this formation,** and
to a smaller extent those of Queensland, South Australia
and Tasmania.
Africa.-Except perhaps amongst the Atlas moun-
*China, vol. ii., pp. 110 and 573, &c.
+ Explication Geol. Map, 2nd edit., p. 112.
+ Clarke, Sedimentary formations of New South Wales, Sydney, 1878.
** Selwyn, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xiv., p. 533, and vol. xvi., p. 147.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SILURIAN STRATA.
47
tains, representatives of the Cambrian and Silurian
periods are (as far as is known) absent from the whole.
of the northern and central parts of this continent.
But in Southern Africa, the Silurian rocks
represented over considerable areas in the Transvaal
and Griqualand west; as also in the extreme south
coast near Cape Town.*
are
North America.-The Silurian beds are distributed
over extensive areas of the North American continent
on either side of the great central axis of Laurentian
rocks which ranges from the coast of Labrador, and
through the Laurentian Mountains to the Arctic
circle. The Upper Silurian beds are chiefly distributed
to the north of this axis, and amongst the islands beyond
the Arctic circle itself, as far as Lat. 80° N.t To
the south of this axis, the Lower and Upper Silurian
series range through Newfoundland to Nova Scotia
and New York and along the territories bordering
the great lakes westwards. They reappear in the
Appalachians along the interior continental basin
from Michigan to Tennessee. In the State of New
York, the Lower Silurian beds are locally converted,
metamorphosed into crystalline limestones, quartzites
* Dunn, Geol. Sketch Map of S. Africa.
+ Where they were discovered by the officers of the Alert and the Discovery
in 1875-76.
}
48
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
and schists, which as Professor Dana has shown, pass
into ordinary unaltered strata.*
na
South America.-Although our knowledge of the
geological structure of the South American continent
is imperfect, it would appear from the observations of
Professor Hartt and Mr. O. A. Derby, that in Brazil,
and in the eastern branch of the Andes which skirts
the shores of the Caribbean Sea, as well as in the
Island of Trinidad itself, there is to be found a great
formation of metamorphic beds consisting of micaceous.
schists, quartzites and limestones, resting uncon-
formably on an older crystalline formation, presumably
Archæan, and in some places overlain by fossiliferous.
Upper Silurian beds. If, this be correct, then the
Lower Silurian beds had undergone metamorphism
before the deposition of the Upper Silurian. Knowing,
as we do, that in the northern continent as well as
in the British Isles, the beds belonging to the Lower
Division of the Silurian system are often metamorphosed,
while those of the Upper Division remain unaltered,
there is nothing improbable in the views thus
advanced, while the analogy between the physical
conditions of the Silurian rocks on opposite sides of
the Atlantic cannot fail to prove of interest to the
student of geology.†
* These form "the Montalban, or Taconic, System, " Amer. Journ. Science,
vol. xx., p. 455.
+ Crosby, Proc. Boston Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. xx.
1
POSITION OF SEA AND LAND.
49
POSITION OF SEA AND LAND DURING THE SILURIAN
PERIOD.
Although our knowledge of the original extent and
relations of the Silurian strata forbid anything more
than rather vague generalisations on this subject, it may
be very confidently affirmed that the Silurian strata of
Europe and the British Isles were deposited within the
limits of an oceanic basin, of which the marginal lands
occupied tracts of the Atlantic Ocean, bordering on the
Scandinavian promontory, the western
the western shores of
Scotland, of Ireland, and of Spain. The southern
marginal lands probably occupied the Mediterranean
region and the adjoining portions of Africa and Asia.
1
Passing eastwards into the central Asiatic region, it
may be inferred that one or more Silurian basins
occupied the tracts north of, and including, the
Himalayas; while the peninsula of India formed a con-
tinuation of the great Silurian land area of Central
Africa.
Passing to the American continent; it seems clear,
from the relations of the Silurian strata to those of
Archæan age, that a large tract of land occupied the
peninsula of Labrador, and of the oceanic tracts
D
50
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
adjoining the American coast, while a central core of
the crystalline rocks stretched towards the Arctic circle.
along the northern shores of the great lakes. In fine,
from a consideration of the manner in which the
Silurian-beds, both of Europe and of America, thicken
out towards the Atlantic shores on either hand, I have
arrived at the conclusion that the bed of the North
Atlantic was mainly land in Silurian times, while the
continental areas on either hand were submerged.*
F
LIFE FORMS OF THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
The Fauna.-The Silurian age has been called by
Professor Le Conte" The Age of Invertebrates," and by
Professor Dana "The Age of Molluscs." Considering,
however, that both invertebrates and molluscs belong
to all geological periods from the Primordial downwards,
the Silurian might be characterised as "The Age of
Trilobites," which, coming in with the Primordial, and
going out with the Carboniferous, attained their fullest
development in this epoch in the World's history.
The Silurian seas abounded in crustacean, molluscan
*On the Geological Age of the North Atlantic Ocean (Scien. Trans. Roy. Dub.
Soc., vol. iii., new ser., p. 305, with plates); see also Dana, Manual of Geology, fig.
206; and Prof. J. Le Conte, On the Permanence of Continents and Ocean-basins
(Geol. Mag., March, 1886).
..
LIFE FORMS.
51
and coralline life; and, while all the grand divisions of
the molluscs were represented, the more prevalent forms
were those of the Brachiopoda, of which there are 174
species in the lower and 144 species in the upper
division of this period in the British Isles.* The
peculiar group of Hydrozoa allied, according to Dana,
to the Bryozoans of the present day, constituted a
special feature in the Fauna of the Silurian epoch, as
the last survivor Graptolites priodon disappeared with the
Ludlow stage. Of this group there are 176 known
forms in the British strata.f
It has been justly observed by Professor Le Conte
that, on a review of the succession of life on the globe,
we may recognise a law underlying the general plan,
according to which, 'that type which becomes dominant
in any special epoch is foreshadowed in the period pre-
ceding. Thus it comes to pass that the close of the
Silurian epoch was signalised by the appearance of
fishes, which become the dominant forms of the suc-
ceeding Devonian period, representing at the present
day the Placoids (sharks, skates and rays), and the
Ganoids (gar-fish, sturgeons and mud-fishes). These
forms bear a striking resemblance to the large
crustaceans, such as Pterygotus and Eurypterus with
which they are associated. The earliest fishes occur
* Etheridge, Manual of Geology, P. 148.
† Ibid., P. 143.
1
:
52
THE SILURIAN PERIOD.
..
in the Ludlow beds both of Britain and of Europe, as
in the case of the Bohemian basin, but in America they
are first found in the succeeding Devonian beds, to
which, in a certain sense, they more properly belong.
The Flora.-The plant forms of the period consisted
of marine alge or seaweeds (Fucoids) which have often
darkened the shales and slates with carbonaceous
matter. Cellular cryptogams probably occupied the
lands and swamps; and the remains of vascular
cryptogams, not unlike those which abounded in the
Carboniferous epoch, have been discovered in the
Upper Silurian beds of Ohio,* and are referred to the
genera Lycopodaceæ, Sigillaria, Calamites, together with
ferns of a genus allied to Palæopteris; in Wales, Dr.
Hicks has found what appears to be plant remains in
"the Denbighshire Grits" of the Wenlock stage. Thus
it may be said that the Fauna and Flora at the close of
the Silurian foreshadowed that which was developed in
such rich profusion in the succeeding Devonian and
Carboniferous epochs.
1877.
* By Scoville, Newberry and Lesquerreux, Journ. Amer. Phil. Soc., Oct.,
+ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., May, 1881.
1
:
THE UPPER PALEOZOIC AGE.
53
THE UPPER PALEOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF FISHES.)
DEVONIAN PERIOD.
This name was given to a group of rocks lying below
the Carboniferous in Devonshire, and described by
Sedgwick and Murchison in 1836.* The Devonian
Period was one which may be considered as transitional
between the Silurian, on the
the one hand, and the
Carboniferous, on the other. The Fauna and Flora
bear a resemblance to both; and in many districts the
Devonian beds unite those of the adjoining formations
connectedly, and without any unconformity in the
stratification. This is the case in North America,† and
in the south of England and Wales; but in Belgium the
Devonian beds rest discordantly against the flanks of
an old ridge of Primordial and Cambrian rocks, owing
to which the Silurian series is altogether absent.
On the other hand, there occurs in the northern
* Rep. Brit. Assoc., Bristol, 1836, p. 95.
+ Le Conte, Elem. of Geol., p. 327.
54
THE DEVONIAN STRATA.
1
and western portions of the British Isles-namely, in
Scotland and Ireland-a clear hiatus and unconformity
between the upper and lower divisions of the system,
in consequence of which the middle member, and part
of the lower, is entirely absent, and the formation is
represented by two series of conglomerates, sandstones.
and shales, unconformable to each other, and probably
deposited within the waters of inland lakes, in which
fishes of the period abounded. These strata are called
"Upper" and "Lower Old Red Sandstone."t
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
DEVONIAN STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.-Except in the northern
and western divisions of the British Isles, where land
and lacustrine conditions prevailed, the Devonian beds
consist of a great series of marine deposits, composed
of sandstones, shales, and limestones, rich in fossil
forms. In Devonshire the uppermost member is the
"Pickwell Down Sandstone," which corresponds to the
* On the Relations of the Carboniferous, Devonian and Upper Silurian rocks, &c.
(Scien. Trans. Roy. Dub. Soc., vol, i., new ser., 1880).
+ Etheridge, Manual, &c., p. 182 et seq. The reader will find the physical
relation of the Devonian strata illustrated in plates iv. and v. of my Physical
History of the British Isles, 1882. The Devonian beds of Devonshire range along
the Thames Valley into the Boulonnais and eastwards into Belgium, below
the Cretaceous beds, in which position they have been proved in borings.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
55
Upper Old Red Sandstone and conglomerate of Ireland
and Scotland, and to the "Psamite du Condroz" of
Belgium. The principal calcareous member is the
Ilfracombe and Plymouth Limestone of Devonshire, and
the "Calcaire de Givet" of Belgium. The whole series of
North Devon has its base in the Foreland Grits, which
are probably the passage beds into the Upper Silurian
series, and represent the Dingle and Glengariff Grits and
Slates of Ireland.
The Devonian beds range from Belgium and the
Hundsruck, across the Rhine into Prussia and Nassau,
and are laid open in the gorge of the Rhine for many
miles above Bonn. They enter largely into the struc-
ture of the Eifel and the Harz, and are represented in
Saxony and Franconia. In Russia they occupy a
band of country stretching southwards from the shores
of the White Sea into the central provinces, where they
lie in a position but slightly removed from the horizontal,
and are succeeded by Carboniferous beds. They con-
tain fishes and marine shells and crustaceans, some of
which are found in the Eifelian, Devonshire, and
Caithness strata.*
The Devonian beds are also represented in Brittany,
in parts of the Styrian Alps, and in the Carpathians, and
in the Sierra Morena and the Sierra Cantabrica in
Spain.
* Murchison, Siluria, p. 361.
56
THE DEVONIAN STRATA.
North America.-The Devonian beds of North America
consist of several members, beginning with the "Oris-
kany Sandstone," which reposes conformably on the
Upper Silurian strata, and terminating upwards with
the "Catskill beds." They are all of marine origin, and
contain limestones, shales and sandstones plentifully
laden with corals, crinoids, molluscs and crustaceans.
Fish remains first make their appearance in the "Cor-
niferous" stage in America, though appearing at an
earlier epoch in Europe. This, however, may be due
to their not having been as yet found at a lower stage
in the former region.
The Devonian beds cover a large tract of the North
American continent, stretching from the State of New
York along the southern shores of Lake Erie into the
interior of the continent along the basin of the Ohio;
and thence, in a narrower band, across the Mississippi
towards the banks of the Missouri, where they pass
below the Mesozoic formations. Throughout this
region it has been observed by Dana that the lime-
stones have been accumulated in the western area,
while the sedimentary strata become thickest in the
direction of the Appalachians, where they are not less.
than 15,000 feet.* This appears to indicate the existence
of extensive tracts of land in the regions bordering,
* Manual of Geology, p. 301, edit. 1863.
LIFE FORMS OF THE DEVONIAN PERIOD.
57
and at present overspread by, the North Atlantic Ocean
during the Devonian period, from which the sediments
were primarily derived.
LIFE FORMS OF THE DEVONIAN PERIOD.
The Fauna.-The Devonian has been justly called
"the Age of Fishes," as these were the dominant forms
of life, not only in the outer seas but in the inland lakes.
The Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, which is of lacus-
trine origin, is peculiarly rich in fishes of the Placoid
and Ganoid orders, such as Pterichthys, Coccosteus,
Cheiracanthus, Dipterus, Osteolepis, &c. The Estuarine
Devonian beds of Hereford and adjoining counties have
yielded forms of Cephalaspis, Onchus and Pteraspis,* and
in the Upper Old Red of the south of Ireland forms of
Coccosteus, Pterichthys, Glyptolepis and Asterolepis also
occur. Some of the Scottish forms extend into the
Devonian beds of Russia, and are associated with
marine shells. Hence it may be inferred that some, at
least, of the fishes were migratory in their habits, and
like the sturgeon of the present day, ascended the
rivers from the ocean at one time of the year, and
descended at another. The waters of the American
Devonian seas abounded in fishes of the same genera
}
1
* Siluria, 4th edit., p. 245.
!
}
58
THE DEVONIAN Period.
as those of Europe. Probably never in the history of
the earth have fishes existed in greater number,
variety, and size, and certainly never were they more
thoroughly armed for offence and defence. The
Dinichthys of Ohio was from fifteen to eighteen feet
long, and had jaws armed with a pair of knife-edged
enamelled bones, acting together like shear-blades.*
Next in importance to the fishes were the Crusta-
ceans, both of the order Merostomata, such as Eurypterus
and Pterygotus, and of the Trilobites, such as Bronteus,
Cheirurus, Phacops. But, as contrasted with the Crus-
tacean Fauna of the Upper Silurian epoch, there is a
marked diminution both of genera and species. The
Devonian Fauna was exceedingly rich in molluscs, if
we include the Brachiopoda; they comprehend all classes.
from the Cephalopoda downwards. Of this one class.
64 genera, and 1,200 species, are known from the
Devonian beds of Britain, Europe, America and
Australia. Corals also abounded in the Devonian seas,
and all the species are peculiar. The Hydrozoa
(Graptolites) are very rare, and disappear before the
Upper Devonian stage is reached.
The Flora.-The plants of this period were the fore-
runners of those which in the succeeding Carboniferous
* Newberry, quot. by Le Conte, Elem. Geol., p. 337.
+ Etheridge, Man. Geol., p. 198.
!
4
LIFE FORMS.
59
period became so extraordinarily prolific. They be-
long to the orders of Vascular Cryptogams and Conifers,
and flourished on the unsubmerged lands, and possibly
amongst the marshes and lagoons bordering the seas.
In America the labours of Dawson,* Lesquereux† and
others have been rewarded by the determination of no
less than 95 genera and 160 species; but in Britain
only 18 genera and 27 species have been described.‡
In Ireland the " Kiltorcan Beds" of the Upper Old Red
have yielded several forms of plants, amongst which are
magnificent fronds of a primæval fern, the Palæopteris
Hibernica. Of the eighteen genera of the British Devo-
nian strata seven occur in America-viz., Calamites,
Lepidodendron, with its root-stalk Stigmaria, Psilophyton,
Sagenaria, Sphenopteris, and Trichomanites. These names
will again recur in connection with the coal-formation,
and indicate a physical connection of the two continents
throughout the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.
}
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
The Carboniferous period stands out from the vista
of geological time as pre-eminently that in which the
* Acadian Geology.
+ Reports, Geol. Survey, U.S.A.
Etheridge, Man. Geol., p. 200.
:
бо
THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
j
..
flora takes precedence of the fauna in its interest and
importance. No previous, or subsequent, epoch has
yielded products of such value to mankind, and which
have contributed so greatly to the progress of the arts
and manufactures of modern times. As its name
implies,* it is the great storehouse of fossil fuel through-
out a large portion of the northern, and to a less extent,
of the southern hemisphere. At this epoch of the
earth's history, the physical relations of land and sea,
combined with a climate uniform, warm and moist,
gave such an impulse to the growth of plants that they
were capable of producing successive accumulations of
vegetable matter of great thickness, and extending over
wide tracts; and which, being from time to time covered
over by sediments, were fossilised, mineralised, and
ultimately converted into beds of coal throughout large
portions of Europe, the British Islands and North
America, as well as, to a smaller extent, in South
America and Australia.
MINERAL CHARACTERS
OF THE
CARBONIFEROUS
STRATA.
The basement beds of the Carboniferous series con-
* The name "Carboniferous" as applied to the whole system of strata is
first found in MacCulloch's System of Geology, published in 1831.
MINERAL CHARACTERS.
61
sist of sediments; and where, as in Devonshire, Belgium,
and some parts of North America, these succeed con-
formably to Devonian strata, the sediments consist of
fine materials, such as shale or grit. In other districts,
however, as in the northern portions of the British Isles,
where the earliest Carboniferous strata were deposited
unconformably on more ancient rocks, the basement
beds consist generally of conglomerates, or shore beds,
formed along the margin of adjoining lands. These,
however, are succeeded by the Carboniferous Limestone,
a great marine calcareous formation, the beds of which
(as shown by their organic structure) were built up over
the floor of the sea by the agency of foraminifers, corals,
crinoids, and molluscs, which abounded wherever the
conditions of warm and pure ocean waters were main-
tained. The Carboniferous Limestone in the centre of
England is over 4,000 feet in thickness; in Belgium,
2,530 feet; and in the centre of Ireland, about the same.
In the western parts of the United States of America
the formation (as one of limestone) is about 1,000 feet
thick, but swells out and passes into (mainly) sedi-
mentary strata in Pennsylvania and in the British
Provinces. In Nevada it is stated to reach a thickness
of 7,000 feet.*
This great calcareous member is succeeded by strata
of shale, grit and conglomerate, constituting "the Mill-
* Clarence King, U.S. Explor., 40 parallel, vol. i.
¡
62
THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
.
stone Grit" and "Yoredale Series" of the British Islands;
and this again, by the coal-formation, consisting of alter-
nating beds of sandstone, shale or clay, coal and ironstone,
and sometimes a little limestone, attaining a thickness.
in some places, as in South Wales, of as much as 9,000
feet,* in Lancashiret of 6,000 feet, and in the Saarbrück
district of Prussia, even a much greater development.‡
Now, as the great lagoons in which were formed, by
the growth and decay of succeeding generations of
plants, the beds of coal at successive intervals through-
out so great a thickness of strata must have existed at
about the level of the ocean for the time being, it
follows that, in the case of each of these coal-fields,
there was a subsidence of the ground to the extent of
several thousand feet during the coal-period; and that
as fast as the ground subsided it was filled up by the
deposition of fresh sediment.
The characters of the coal-measures above indicated
are remarkably uniform throughout a large tract of the
northern hemisphere, indicating great uniformity in the
conditions of deposition over this part of the globe. The
most remarkable exception, perhaps, occurs in the Utah
and Nevada Territories of the United States, where the
coal-formation is represented by marine limestones, show-
ing that in the region of the Rocky Mountains the ocean
* Horizontal Section of the Geological Survey, sheet 8.
+ Hull, Coal-fields of Great Britain, 4th edit., p. 199.
H. von Dechen, Geog. Unrisse der Rheinlander, &c., 1825.
:
THE PRINCIPAL COAL-FIElds.
63
waters prevailed, while the coal-bearing strata were
being formed in the lagoons, shallows and estuaries of
the eastern and central regions.* The uniformity of
the climate of the coal-period is indicated by the occur-
rence of Tree-ferns, gigantic Lycopods, Calamites, &c., in
the Carboniferous strata of Melville Island.
•
{
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
}
The Principal Coal-Fields of the World.
Europe. The Carboniferous rocks, both in their
lower and upper divisions, are found distributed over
a very large portion of the northern hemisphere. In
the British Islands, they occur in numerous detached
basins, which though originally united into larger
tracts, have since been dissevered by elevation
and denudation. Next to those in Great Britain,
comes the Franco-Belgian coal-trough, which emerging
from beneath the Cretaceous rocks near Boulogne and
Calais, extends somewhat disconnectedly by Valen-
* As to the mode in which coal was formed, it is unnecessary that I should
discuss that question here. The reader will find my views stated in The Coal-
fields of Great Britain, 4th edit., p. 60, and in most text-books on Geology.
For the original submerged and land areas in the Carboniferous period,
see the Author's Physical History of the British Isles, plates vi. and vii., and p. 79.
.
64
THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
!
ciennes, Mons, Namur and Liége to Aix-la-Chapelle,*
and emerges on the east of the Rhine along the Valley
of the Ruhr. In the central parts of France there are
several small coal-fields, of which the principal is that
of St. Etienne. The strata are largely composed of
conglomerates, and in this part of that country the
lower members of the Carboniferous system are absent.
The largest and most important Carboniferous
district of Western Europe is that of Rhenish Prussia,
generally known as the "Saarbrück Coal-field," which
has an area of about 900 square miles. The strata rest
on the Devonian schists of the Hundsrück, and pass
below the Permian and Triassic beds of the Vosges.
In Central Germany are the coal-fields of Zwickau-
Chemnitz, of the Plauenscher Grund, near Dresden,
Ibbenbüren, Piesberg in Hanover, and several in
districts of Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia and Posen.
Spain posseses a valuable coal-field in Asturias. In
Russia the Carboniferous beds occupy extensive tracts
of country, ranging from the White Sea southwards to
Riazan, and lying along the western base of the Oural
Mountains. The beds belong to the Lower Carbon-
iferous series, but contain occasionally workable coal-
seams; they rest on Devonian, and pass below Permian
* Dufrénoy et E. de Beaumont's Carte Geol. de la France, and Dumont's
Carte Geol. de la Belgique.
+ H. von Rönne, Die Steinkohlen Deutschlands, vols. i, and ii.
THE PRINCIPAL COAL-FIELDS.
65
beds.*
A more important coal-district is that which
lies between the Dnieper and the Don, which is 230
miles in length and 100 miles from north to south. It
contains many valuable seams, which are remarkable
for becoming gradually anthracitic towards the eastern
margin of the field. Carboniferous schists with beds of
anthracite are also found in some parts of the Western
Alps.
Asia. The Carboniferous rocks are largely repre-
sented in the northern parts of China. In the
mountains west of Peking, extensive coal deposits rest-
ing on Carboniferous Limestone (Kohlenkalk) are found
rising into the range of hills called Tai-hai-ling. They
are again found in the central provinces of Shensi and
Hönan, where, however, the Carboniferous limestone
and overlying strata (corresponding to the millstone grit)
is much more largely represented than the productive.
coal-measures. The Carboniferous rocks are character-
ised by a Fauna and Flora which leaves no doubt as to
their age. They have, however, undergone extensive
disturbance, and denudation, since their original
deposition.
+
Australia.-Strata referable to the same period, which
* Murchison, Russia and the Oural Mountains, vol. i., p. 69.
+ F. von Richthofen, China, vol. ii., p. 310, &c.
‡ China, b. ii., p. 518, &c.
E
}
:
66
THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
:
1
are more or less coal-bearing, occur in New South Wales,
Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Notwithstanding
that these districts lie on the other side of the globe from
the British Isles and Western Europe, they are character-
ised by genera of shells and plants identical with those
occurring in the Carboniferous strata of the latter
countries. Amongst the former may be mentioned,
Productus, Spirifera; and amongst the latter, Glossopteris,
Sigillaria, Lepidodendron and Knorria. Carboniferous
and Devonian beds have recently been identified by
Mr. E. T. Hardman in the Kimberley district of
Western Australia, with shells and plants resembling
or identical with those of Western Europe.t
America.-The Carboniferous strata occupy a very
large portion of North America, lying between the
Appalachian chain on the east, the Rocky Mountains on
the west, and the Great Lakes on the north. The
formation is divided into two series by Professor Dana,
(1.) the Sub-Carboniferous, and (2.) the Carboniferous;
the former being composed of marine, the latter of fresh-
water sediments, though marine beds are occasionally
present. The plant and animal remains are essentially
identical with those of the British Islands and Europe.
* As was originally pointed out by that indefatigable explorer, the Rev. W.
B. Clarke, Mines and Mineral Statistics of N. S. Wales, Sydney, 1875. For a
general account of the Australian Coal-fields the reader is referred to The Coal-
fields of Great Britain, &c., edit. 1881, p. 418, et seq.
+ Report on the Geology of the Kimberley District, Perth, 1885.
THE PRINCIPAL COAL-FIELDS.
67
of 434
According to Professor Lesquereux, out
American and 440 European species of plants, 176 are
common, and the remainder far less diverse in character
than the species of the two Floras of the present day.
The coal-measures of the United States occupy an area
of 190,000 square miles, of which 120,000 contain work-
able coal seams. * They also occur in the British
Possessions of Newfoundland, New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia, Cumberland, Pictou, Richmond and Cape
Breton. These beds were originally continuous with
those of the United States, and much more extensive
than at the present day. Carboniferous deposits are.
not wanting in the South American continent. Accord-
ing to the accounts of Mr. N. Plant, extensive deposits
with coal are contained in three distinct coal basins of
Brazil, between Lat. 30 deg. and 32 deg. S., and Long.
51 deg. and 54 deg. W., separated by hills of granite
and schist. Similar deposits also occur in the Province
of S. Catherina and in Uruguay. The fossil plants
from the Brazilian strata have been identified by Mr.
Carruthers as forms belonging to the Carboniferous
epoch. Hence it would appear from the evidence
derived from the fossils, both of South America and
of Australia, that the Carboniferous epoch was repre-
sented by a Flora almost identical on both sides of the
+
+
* Le Conte, Elem. Geol., edit. 1885, p. 351.
See Dawson's Acadian Geology; Logan's Geol. of Canada.
‡ Geological Magazine, April, 1869, with plate.
68
THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
equator and in both hemispheres, giving evidence of an
extraordinary degree of uniformity in the climate of the
world at that distant epoch.
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND WATER DURING THE
CarboniferOUS PERIOD.
There is the clearest evidence that throughout this
period, continental land-the ancient Atlantis-existed
over a large portion of the north Atlantic ocean,
together with the bordering tracts of Scandinavia,
Greenland, and the region surrounding Hudson's Bay,
including Labrador. On the other hand, large tracts of
Central Europe, the British Isles, and of Central and
Eastern America were submerged; the margin of the
land and sea, which was ever slightly oscillating,
extending outwards into the Atlantic considerably
beyond the shores of the present continent. It was not
till after the Carboniferous epoch that the outlines of
the existing continents were even faintly foreshadowed.
The evidence for the above propositions is of two
kinds: first, physical; second, palæontological. As
regards the first, it is well known that the Carboniferous
sedimentary strata increase in thickness as they
approach the Atlantic shores, both on the British
VOLCANIC PHENOMENA.
}
69
and American sides; from whence we infer that the
lands from which these sediments were derived lay in
the Atlantic region. On the other hand, the calcareous
strata, which are in the main made up of the skeletons
of marine animals which lived and flourished where the
waters of the ocean were free from sediment, increase
in thickness as we recede from the Atlantic shores. As
regards the second, the absolute identity of a large part
of the Carboniferous Flora in Europe and America, and
the general resemblance of the whole, indicates a
physical connection by means of land between the two
regions, and would not have been such as it is if these
areas had been separated by wide tracts of ocean
water.*
VOLCANIC PHENOMENA.
In some districts volcanic operations were in full
activity during the Carboniferous period, as is
shown by their products, sometimes in the form
of lava and ashes extruded from submarine vents;
* For fuller details of the evidence for the above views see author's paper
On the Geological Age of the North Atlantic Ocean, with plates in which the oùt-
lines of submerged and land areas are approximately indicated. (Scient. Trans.
Roy. Dublin Society, vol. iii., p. 313). Professor Le Coute has controverted these
views to some extent; but, as it seems to the author, unsuccessfully (see Geol.
Magazine, March, 1886, and reply, Ibid., April, 1886). Since the above was
written the President of the British Association, Sir J. W. Dawson, has
enunciated his views on the age and origin of the North Atlantic ocean in his
Presidential Address at Birmingham.
?
70
THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
1
at other times from craters of eruption which ejected
these materials into the air. In Scotland the Lower
Carboniferous strata are so largely charged with
intercalated volcanic rocks, that the region may be
studied as a typical one for this class of phenomena.*
In Derbyshire, at least two outflows of lava and ashes
are found amongst the limestone strata, together with
bosses of basalt, which once were the old vents of
eruption; and not less interesting are the volcanic
phenomena of the County Limerick in Ireland, where
beds of solid lava of various kinds, separated by ashes
and agglomerates, are interstratified with the Carboni-
ferous limestone; nor were such eruptions absent in
Upper Carboniferous times, as the intrusions amongst
the coal beds of Ayrshire in Scotland, and of South
Staffordshire in England, testify.‡
LIFE FORMS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
The Carboniferous may be designated the age of
Labyrinthodont Amphibians as regards its Fauna, and
of Acrogens as regards its Flora.
* Geikie, Text-book of Geol., p. 738. Geology of Edinburgh (Mem. Geol.
Survey, 1861).
+ Phys. Geol. of Ireland, p. 36.
↑ Jukes, South Staffordshire Coal-field (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1859).
1
LIFE FORMS.
71
The Fauna.-Taking the Fauna first; the Laby-
rinthodont Amphibians make their appearance in this
age, and are the dominant forms. From their habits,
they were admirably fitted for frequenting the swamps
and lagoons of the coal-period. Next to these come the
placoid and ganoid fishes, which from the abundance of
their remains in the coal-measures, must have crowded
the warm sluggish waters of the lagoons, especially
at those tranquil epochs during which the beds of
coal were being elaborated. Other inhabitants of the
waters were the molluscs, together with corals, crinoids,
and crustaceans. Marine forms abounded in the waters
of the Carboniferous Limestone epoch, and through their
vital agency, the vast masses of calcareous strata were
deposited layer upon layer over the floor of the sea.
In the subsequent coal-period, these marine forms
migrated into the permanent depths of the ocean, and
in other tracts gave place to freshwater and lacustrine
molluscs, of the genera Anthracosia, Anthracomya and
Cyclas, more adapted to the peculiar conditions then
prevalent. Meanwhile the air was not destitute of
inhabitants. At least one land snail, Pupa vetusta,
crawled amongst the plants; and numerous insects of
the orders, Coleoptera, Neuroptera and Orthoptera peopled
the air.
very brief
The Flora.-We can only attempt a
account of the prolific Flora, which has impressed a
72 LIFE FORMS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
special character upon this period. The plant-forms,
besides the Cellular Cryptogams, which are lost to us,
consisted of Coniferæ and Vascular Cryptogams (Acro-
gens). Along with tree-ferns, which were exceedingly
numerous, the prevalent genera of Acrogens were those
of Lepidodendron, Sigillaria (with its root called Stigmaria
ficoides), Asterophyllites, Cordaites and Calamites. The
forms, fructification, and modern analogues of these
plants are now pretty well determined. The remains
of these plants, which were capable of growing in
swamps and lagoons, are preserved to us, not only in
the structure of the coal beds, but in the shales and
sandstones which accompany them. Some of the
species are peculiar to certain stages of the Carboni-
ferous period, and Professor Geinitz has distinguished
five zones in the coal-formation of Saxony: 1st, the
Culm, with Lepidodendron veltheimianum and Calamites
transitionis; 2nd, the Zone of Sigillarias; 3rd, the Zone of
Calamites; 4th, the Zone of Annularias; and 5th, the
Zone of Ferns.* More recently, C. Grand 'Eury has
subdivided the Carboniferous Flora into ten zones.†
It may be doubted, however, if these are of very much
value for general reference, as there is a remarkable
uniformity and recurrence of species throughout the
whole period. The physical conditions which per-
Die Steinkohlen Deutschlands; vol. i., p. 29, 1865. Etheridge considers
Annularia to have been only the foliage of the genus Calamites. Man. Geol., p.
270.
+ Mem. Sav. Etrangers, xxiv., 1877. These are quoted at length by Geikie,
Text Book, edit. 1885, p. 733.
THE PERMIAN PERIOD.
73
mitted the formation of such deposits as those of the
coal-period were peculiar, and have never recurred in
the earth's history.* In order that such a vast store-
house of mineral fuel should be formed within the
crust, it was requisite that climate, distribution of land
and water, and the plant-forms should all present the
necessary characters. Such appears to have been the
case, and with such a remarkable concurrence of pheno-
mena we have as the result the existence of deposits of
mineral fuel, to an all but inexhaustible extent, distri-
buted at intervals over the face of the earth, and
affording to its inhabitants the material for the develop-
ment of motive power for the pursuits of industry and
the advancement of civilisation.
PERMIAN PERIOD.
After the close of the Carboniferous period, terres-
trial changes occurred over the European and American
areas, which broke up the vast swamps and lagoons in
which the coal-strata were deposited, and in certain
districts elevated these strata so considerably as to
render them subject to great denudation.
On this
For the manner in which beds of coal were formed the reader is referred to
the Text Books, and to The Coal-fields of Great Britain, p. 81, 1881.
1
:
74
THE PERMIAN STRATA.
account the Permian beds in the north of England often
rest upon those of Lower Carboniferous age; the whole
of the upper series of beds (there very thick), having been
denuded away during the unrepresented interval between
the close of the one period and the beginning of the other,
as represented by the deposition of strata. Generally,
throughout the British Isles and Central Europe, the
Permian beds are unconformable to the Carboniferous;
but in a few localities (such as Autun in France, and
the Bohemian coal-field, and especially in North
America), the Permian beds are found resting concor-
dantly on the Carboniferous, which gradually pass into
them; on which account some of the geologists of that
country regard the Permian as an upper member of the
Carboniferous system, representing a period of tran-
sition, preparatory to the great terrestrial movements
which elevated the Appalachian chain, and with this
elevation brought to a close the Paleozoic division of
geological time.
The name was first given to the system by
Murchison, from the Province of Perm in Central
Russia, where there occurs a series of red sandstones,
marls, conglomerates and breccias, with limestones and
dolomites, resting on the nearly undisturbed beds of the
Carboniferous age, and extending over a tract of
country twice the size of France.* Owing to the
* The Geology of Russia in Europe, vol. i., p. 136 et seq., 1845,
MINERAL CHARACTERS.
75
formation in Germany generally consisting of two
members, the Zechstein and Rothe-todte-liegende, it
has received the name of " Dyas," in contradistinction
to the term "Trias" of the succeeding epoch.
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE PERMIAN STRATA.
British Isles.-The Permian beds of the north of
England consist of two principal divisions; of which the
lower is red or yellow sandstone, the upper, dolomite
and limestone. In the central and western counties
only the lower member is present in the form of red
and purple sandstone, marl, breccia and conglomerate.
Amongst these latter, fragments of older rocks occur
of such a size and angularity of form as to have led
Sir A. C. Ramsay to conclude that they had been
transported from their original sites by floating ice.
during a glacial episode of the Permian period.*
Similar boulder beds have been recognised by the
author near Armagh in Ireland,† and they occur also in
the central parts of Europe, notably in the ridge of the
Castle of Wartburg, in Thüringerwald.
* Phys. Geol. and Geog. of Gt. Britain, 5th edit., p. 143, 1878.
+ Phys. Geol. and Geog. of Ireland
6 1878.
76
THE PERMIAN PERIOD.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PERMIAN STRATA.
Europe. The Permian formation has been traced
along the western slopes of the Oural Mountains to the
south of Orenburg; also along the northern slopes of
the Carpathians, and part of the Riesen-gebirge on the
borders of Moravia and Bohemia. In Bavaria, at
Cranagh, huge masses of Rothliegende rest discordantly
on the coal-formation. The upper member (Zechstein)
thins out towards the south of the European area.
North America.-The Pennsylvanian coal-measures
are overlain by 'certain strata of sandstone and shale with
a conglomerate base (beginning with the Waynesburg
Sandstone), which are regarded by some authors as
referable to the Permian system. It has been shown
that out of one hundred and seven species of plants
from this series, twenty-two are common to the coal-
measures and twenty-eight to the Permian beds of
Europe.* In Kansas, beds of clay, sandstone, lime-
stone and conglomerate rest conformably on the coal-
measures, as also in New Mexico and Western Texas.
* W. M. Fontaine and J. C. White, Second Geol. Survey Report of Pennsylvania,
P.P., 1880, p. 24 et seq.
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND SEA.
77
Until recently only a few shells had been discovered
in these beds, but now a considerable number of fishes,
amphibians and reptiles are known.* The Permian
period is unrepresented in Nova Scotia and adjoining
districts of Acadia.†
DISTRIBUTION OF
OF LAND AND SEA DURING THE
PERMIAN PERIOD.
The Permian beds appear to have been formed
within the limits of narrow seas, such as those of the
Baltic or Adriatic, and under waters which were more
or less brackish. The marine forms are for the most
part dwarfed as compared with those of the Lower
Carboniferous epoch, of which they were the
descendants. According to the views of Sir A. C.
Ramsay, the lower Permian beds, which are frag-
mental and sedimentary, were deposited in inland
lakes, while the upper calcareous strata of the Mag-
nesian Limestone, or Zechstein, were formed in the
waters of inland seas. The largest of these seas was
probably that in which the Permian beds of Central
* Le Conte, Elem. Geol., p. 414.
+ Dawson, Acadian Geology, 2nd edit., p. 125.
!
THE PERMIAN PERIOD.
♦
Russia were deposited, and smaller lakes and seas
occupied positions of Central aud Northern Europe
and the British Isles. The outlines of such lakes
and seas it would be impossible to define with any
degree of accuracy at the present day; but, with
reference to the British Isles, it may be inferred that
the south of England and Wales, the centre and south.
of Ireland, and the northern parts of Scotland, with
the adjoining (now submerged) tracts of the ocean
existed as land, and partially enclosed two submerged
areas of irregular outline.*
LIFE FORMS OF THE PERMIAN PERIOD.
The Fauna.-The Labyrinthodont Amphibians, sur-
viving from the coal-period, are still the dominant.
animal forms; but along with these are found Theco-
dont, or socket-toothed reptiles, allied to the cro-
codilians. Remains of a Labyrinthodont (Dasyceps
Bucklandi) from the Permian beds of Warwickshire were
described, as far back as 1859, by Professor Huxley.t
More recently remains of this order have been
described by H. Credner from the neighbourhood of
* Phys. Hist. Brit. Isles, p. 90, plate viii., in which the author has endeavoured
to represent the relations of land and sea during this epoch.
+ Geology of the Warwickshire Coal-field (Mem. Geol. Survey, P. 52).
}
LIFE FORMS.
79
Dresden.* But by far the largest discoveries have
been made by Dr. Fritsch, in the districts of Pilsen
and Rakowitz in Bohemia, which have yielded upwards.
of forty species of amphibians.† In America, the
Permian beds of Illinois, Texas and New Mexico
have yielded at least fifty species of vertebrates,
described by Professors Cope and Marsh. The stego-
cephalous amphibians of the Coal and Permian, and
the theromorphous reptiles of the Permian and Trias
were remarkably generalised types, the one connecting
together fishes, amphibians and reptiles, the other
amphibians, reptiles and mammals.‡
The fishes of the Permian were heterocercal, and
are represented by Platysomus and Palæoniscus. Together
with these are molluscs of several orders, besides
Foraminifers, Zoophytes and Echinoderms.

The Flora.-The plants consisted largely of Conifers
and of forms identical with, or allied to, those of the
coal-period, such as Lepidodendron, Calamites, Sphenop-
teris, together with Voltzia, Walchia, &c. The Flora of
the Permian, in fact, bore a remarkable resemblance to
that of the preceding period, but fell far short of it
in the exuberance of growth.
* Credner, Zeits. Deutsch. Geol. Geselsch., 1881-83
+ Anton Fritsch, Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalkstein der Permformation
Böhmens, vol. i., 1881-4, quoted by Geikie, Text-book, 752.
‡ Cope, loc. cit., p. 606.
80
THE MESOZOIC AGE.
}
THE MESOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF REPTILES.)
TRIASSIC PERIOD.
At the close of the Permo-Carboniferous period,
terrestrial changes took place over the northern hemi-
sphere of sufficient magnitude to bring to a close the
life-history of all the specific, and to some extent, the
generic forms then existing, and to produce discordancy
in the stratification between the terminating Paleozoic,
and the succeeding Mesozoic, formations. The dis-
cordancy which we noticed as locally existing between
the Carboniferous and Permian beds, becomes more
general between these latter and the Triassic, and is
accompanied by a more complete change in the Fauna.
of the two epochs. The physical revolution at the
close of the Palæozoic era resembles that which, in
historic times, took place with the decline and fall of
the Roman Empire. New conditions of life rose upon
the ruins of the old, and forms more nearly approaching
those of our own day made their appearance. While a
THE TRIASSIC PERIOD.
81
small proportion of the species of plants and animals
pass up from the Carboniferous into the Permian, no
single species ascends from the Permian into the
Triassic,* and many of the genera
genera are likewise
changed.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
TRIASSIC STRATA.
The Triassic, as its name implies, is a three-fold
group where complete, with an upper and lower
sedimentary, and a central calcareous member. The
Lower, is called the New Red Sandstone (Bunter
Sandstein), the Middle, the Muschelkalk, the Upper,
the New Red Marl (Keuper Mergel), with a base of
sandstone and calcareous breccia in the British Isles;
this last-named member is saliferous. The New Red
Sandstone consists of reddish and variegated sand-
stone and conglomerate, much used for building pur-
poses, and also as a source of water-supply. It is almost
destitute of fossils in the British area, and is probably
a lake-deposit. The Muschelkalk is absent in the
British Isles, but occurs in France, Germany and the
Alpine districts. It is a marine limestone, characterised
* Etheridge, Man. Geol., p. 293; compare with ibid., p. 320.
F
82
THE TRIASSIC STRATA.
}
1
by crinoids (Encrinus liliiformis) and molluscs (Nautilus
bidorsalis, Schloth, Ceratites nodosus, De Haan, Pecten
lævigatus, Lima, Cardiun, &c.). The absence of the
Muschelkalk in the British area is probably due to this
area having been converted into dry-land when the
waters of the sea overspread the European area during
the same epoch. The Keuper division consists of
sandstones at the base, passing up into red and grey
marls and shales, characterised by a little phyllopod
crustacean, Estheria minuta, Goldf. and a few fishes. In
this formation occur numerous footprints of Labyrinth-
odon, of which five or six species are known from
the British area.* The fishes are homocercal; one,
Dipteronotus cyphus, described by Sir Phillip Egerton,
differs entirely from any known genus.†
Europe. The occurrence of beds of rock-salt and gyp-
sum in the Keuper division, together with the absence of
molluscous forms, lead us to infer that it was a lacustrine
deposit laid down under the waters of a lake discon-
nected with the outer ocean. This inland lake embraced
central and eastern France and northern Germany, and
its margin was formed of the old rocks of the west
and north of France, the Harz mountains, the Eifel,
Hünsdruck and Taunus; and it was probably physi-
* Etheridge, loc. cit., p. 334.
+ Egerton, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. x., p. 369.
!
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
83
cally separated from the basin of the British area, the
limits of which I have elsewhere endeavoured to trace
out.* But where these Triassic rocks are encountered
in the Alpine regions, it is under very different forms.
In the western parts, the beds are not unlike those of
Germany, though dolomites become important mem-
bers; but in the eastern Alps they give evidence of
having been deposited under very different conditions
from the latter. The great thickness of the limestones,
their unequivocally marine organisms, show that they
have been accumulated in open sea-water comparatively
free from sandy or muddy sediment. Some of the dolo-
mite masses are considered by Mojsisovics to have been
coral-reefs. These rocks possess a high interest as
presenting a great marine formation interposed between
Permian and Jurassic times, and containing a remark-
able blending of Palæozoic with Mesozoic organisms.
In the St. Cassian beds and Alpine Muschelkalk
numerous species of Ammonites, Orthoceratites, Lamel-
libranchs, Gasteropods, Crinoids, Corals and Sponges
occur together.
Asia. The Triassic strata have a wide distribution
on the borders of the Himilayan range in the western
* Phys. Hist. Brit. Isles, p. 94, plate ix.
+ Geikie, Text-book, p. 767.
E. von Mojsisovics, Jahrb Geol. Reichsanstalt, Vien., 1869-1875, 1880
1
84
THE TRIASSIC STRATA.
:
part of the Salt-range in Beluchistan, in Northern
Kashmir, and throughout the mountain region to the
south as far as Spiti, and in Western Thibet. They
consist of various strata, among which are limestones,
Ceratites, Orthoceras, Halobia, Spirifer Peilhavii, and Pro-
ductus semireticulatus being the more numerous forms.*
In Peninsular India, the great coal-bearing (or
Gondwana) series indicates that it belongs in part to
Paleozoic, and in part to Mesozoic periods. In the
Upper Damuda beds Cycads abound, and in the Lower
containing coal-seams, several forms which serve to
connect it with the Upper Palæozoic period, also occur,
amongst which may be named Sphenophyllum, Pecopteris
and Calamites; this last occurring in the Carboniferous,
Permian and Triassic beds.
South Africa. The Karoo formation, so-called from
the Karoos, the immense plains of the interior of Natal,
has been referred by Professor Tate to the Triassic
group. It consists of sandstones, shales and coal, with
a boulder bed at its base, resting on crystalline rocks;
sheets of trap have been extensively intruded along the
planes of bedding. They are characterised by plants.
and remains of Dicynodon.t
* Medlicott and Blanford, Geol. of India, part i., xlvi.
+ Griesbach, Geol. of Natal (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvii, p. 56).
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
85
:
North America.-The close of the Paleozoic era was
specially marked in the North American continent by
a great contraction of the crust, owing to which the
Alleghanny mountain range, with its accompanying
flexuring and folding of the strata, was originated.
Throughout this era the successive formations were
tranquilly deposited over ever-subsiding areas, generally
covered by ocean waters, but in the Carboniferous
epoch by those of lakes and estuaries. Towards its
close a terrestrial change of great magnitude began,
producing a general elevation of the whole continental
area, together with the creation of its most important
mountain system. These terrestrial movements corre-
spond in general time with those which, in the British
and European areas, have produced the unconformity.
between the Permo-Carboniferous and Triassic strata.
In consequence of this, the Triassic strata are every-
where discordantly superimposed on those of Paleozoic
age.
The strata of the Triassic period are met with in
two distinct regions-(1) In the Atlantic border region,
between the Appalachians and the coast; and (2) In
the Western interior region, over part of the slopes of
the Rocky Mountains.* These beds, in the former
region, consist of red sandstone passing into shale and
conglomerate, occasionally containing beds of impure.
* Dana, Manual of Geology, p. 414.
:
86
THE TRIASSIC STRATA.
..
limestone. The Richmond and North Carolina coal-fields
are probably of Upper Triassic age. In the region west
of the Mississippi they consist of red sandstones, with
beds of marl and gypsum. Phenomena curiously
resembling those of the British Trias are also observable.
in America; the sandstones, being ripple-marked,
rain-pitted and covered sometimes with footmarks of
animals, such as worms, insects, reptiles, and probably
of Dinosaurs, resembling those of birds.*
Nova Scotia, &c. (Acadia).-The Triassic are the
newest strata represented in the British Territories
of North America if we except those of the Glacial
epoch. They are found occupying nearly the whole
of Prince Edward Island, and along the southern
shore of the Bay of Fundy accompanied by great
sheets of volcanic trap and ashes. The formation
consists of coarse and fine soft red sandstone with
calcareous cement, and its
its relations to the older
rocks, occupying hollows on either side of the
Paleozoic ridge which connects Nova Scotia with
New Brunswick, prove, as Sir William Dawson has
remarked, that the form and contour of the ground had
* Prof. O. C. Marsh, Odontornithes, U.S., Geol. Survey of Fortieth Parallel,
1880, p. 1. The footprints in the Connecticut sandstones, which probably are of
Triassic age, were formerly supposed to be those of gigantic birds; but when it
was found that the Dinosaurs had three fundamental toes on the hind feet,
Prof. Marsh concluded the footprints were those of these animals.-Vide Intro-
duction and Succession of Vertebrate Life in America, 1877. Prof. Le Conte concurs.
Elem. Geol., p. 455.
LIFE FORMS OF THE TRIASSIC PERIOD.
87
already made an approach to that of the present day
when the Triassic strata were being deposited.* In
Prince Edward Island the sandstones have yielded
remains of the reptile described by Dr. Leidy under the
name of Bathygnathus borealis.†
1
LIFE FORMS OF THE TRIASSIC PERIOD.
The Fauna.-Though Labyrinthodonts occur in the
coal-period, they appear to have reached their culmi-
nating point of development in the Trias, which also
contains representatives of marine Saurians (Enalio-
saurus), beaked Saurians (Rhynchosaurus), Dicynodonts,
Lacertians (or Lizards), and probably of Dinosaurs.
Owing to the paucity of marine beds, fish remains are
not numerous, but are represented by Acrodus, Placodus,
Hybodus and Ceratodus, a species of which still sur-
vives in the Australian rivers. In the marine beds of
Europe, Cephalapods are represented by a group
approaching the Ammonites, named Ceratites ; C. nodosus
being distinctive of the Muschelkalk. There are forms
of Gasteropods, such as Trochus, Naticella and Turritella,
which now first appear, together with several new genera
* Acadian Geology, 2nd edit., p. 86.
+ Ibid., p. 120.
88
LIFE FORMS OF THE TRIASSIC PERIOD.
:
of Conchifers. The beautiful sea-lily Encrinus liliiformiss
is an abundant form in the Muschelkalk of Germany.
The most interesting discovery connected with.
the Fauna of the Trias is the appearance of a mammal,
(Microlestes), in the upper strata of the Keuper of Stutt-
gard. The teeth only have been found, and are con-
sidered by the late Dr. Falkiner to have been those of a
marsupial and a feeder on herbs. It seems as if born
out of due time, and an early forerunner of its race.
The Flora.-The Flora of the Triassic period largely
consisted of ferns, equisetaceæ, conifers and cycads,
which flourished on the lands margining the submerged
areas.
!
In conclusion it may be stated that the Triassic was
a period essentially continental in Europe and America.
Large tracts of the present lands, together with much of
the now submerged Atlantic areas, were also land sur-
faces. Amongst these tracts of land, extensive lakes
were formed, over the beds of which were deposited the
sediments of sand and clay which go to make up the
Bunter and Keuper Divisions. In the south and east of
Europe, however, oceanic conditions extensively pre-
vailed during the same interval of time, so that the
demarcation between the Palæozoic and Mesozoic
eras is not as definite in this latter region as in the
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
89
former. As we shall see further on, a similar physical
fact can be stated with reference to the Mesozoic and
Cainozoic eras as represented in the region bordering
the eastern Mediterranean.
JURASSIC PERIOD.
(THE AGE OF SAURIANS.)
The Jurassic period was one in which marine con-
ditions prevailed largely over central and western.
Europe and the British Isles, where continental con-
ditions had been in the ascendant during the preceding
period of the Trias.* The lakes of the Trias gave
place to the ocean waters carrying with them those forms
of life belonging to them. This change was brought
about gradually, and is indicated by the presence at the
base of the Jurassic system of a series of passage beds
called "Rhætic,". which over northern Europe were
formed in estuaries and shallows, and are characterised
by a few marine molluscs of which Avicula contorta,
Modiola minimna, Pecten valoniensis and Cardium
;
* For the relations of land and sea over the British area during the Jurassic
period, see Physical History of the British Isles, chap. x., plate x.
*
90
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
Rhaticum are the most common, Along with these are
also remains of fishes, saurians and insects. In the
central parts of Europe, and on both sides of the Alps,
the Rhætic beds expand into an important formation,
characterised by some of the same fossils which are
found in the British Isles.*
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE JURASSIC STRata.
The name "Jurassic," applied to the great system
succeeding the Trias, is taken from that of the beautiful
range of hills lying on the borders of France and
Switzerland, which is almost wholly constructed of
strata referable to this system. In England the system
is divisible into two great groups, the Lower, consisting
chiefly of clays, known as "The Liassic;" the Upper,
consisting chiefly of limestones, known as "The
Oolitic," from the peculiar structure of some of the
limestone strata; but the different beds of limestone
are separated by thick deposits of clay, viz.: the
Oxford and Kimmeridge clays which are all of marine
origin, as testified by the character of the fossils they
contain. In the French, Swiss and German areas, the
* The Rhætic beds of England are well laid open at Aust Cliff, Penarth, and
Garden Cliff on the banks of the Severn. Mr. Bristow has given them the name
of Penarth Beds which is generally recognised.
4
DISTRIBUTION OF THE JURASSIC STRATA.
91
composition of the beds is somewhat similar to those of
England; and on both sides of the Alps the formation
attains to an important position in the physical structure
of this mountain range, being known, par excellence, as
"The Alpine Limestone," rising into ridges of great
altitude, and breaking off in grand cliffs and precipices.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE JURASSIC STRATA.
Europe. In the British Islands the Jurassic system
is represented in each of the three kingdoms, though
but slightly in Ireland and Scotland as compared with
England. In this latter the Jurassic beds range right
across the country, from the coast of Dorset and Port-
land Bill to that of Yorkshire south of the Tees. The
Oolitic limestones generally rise in the form of in-
dented escarpments above the Liassic plains, and thus
produce the picturesque ranges of the Somersetshire,
Cotteswold, and Cleveland Hills. In the north-east of
Ireland the Liassic and Rhætic beds are found forming
narrow bands beneath those of the Cretaceous Age;
and in the north of Scotland both Liassic and Oolitic
strata, with coal, are found in the Isles of Skye, Raasy,
and at Brora in Sutherlandshire.
In France the Jurassic beds occupy large tracts of
92
}
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
the northern, central, and eastern districts, stretching
from the coast of Normandy southwards by Le Mans to
La Rochelle, and thence eastwards through the centre
of the country, and northwards to the flanks of the
Ardennes near Luxemburg. Throughout this tract the
beds are but slightly inclined, and generally dip at a
low angle towards the margin of the Cretaceous and
Tertiary Basin of Paris. On approaching the Jura hills,
east of Dijon, the strata become disturbed, and ulti-
mately are thrown into a system of flexures and foldings,
ranging in a north-eastern and south-western direction.
From the banks of the Rhone, near Chambery, the
beds range to those of the Rhine at Basel, and crossing
into Germany, stretch towards Regensburg, and thence
northwards by Nüremberg into Coburg, where they
terminate against the flanks of the ancient crystalline
masses of the Böhmer Wald, which, along with those of
the Bayerischer Wald, probably rose above the waters
of the Jurassic sea.
To
The position occupied by the Jurassic beds along
the Alps has already been noticed. They stretch in a
broad band from the banks of the Rhone eastwards by
Salzburg as far as West Neustadt, near Vienna.*
the south of the Alps they form a broad band from the
banks of Lake Como to the neighbourhood of Görz near
Trieste, rising into broken heights overlooking the
H. von Dechen, Geol. Karte v. Deutschland.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE JURASSIC STRATA.
93
Plains of Lombardy. The same formation ranges along
the Central Apennines and the flanks of the Pyrenees,
the Carpathians, and the Caucasus. It also spreads
over considerable tracts of Central and Northern Russia
to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Asia.-Jurassic beds lie along the base of Mount
Hermon, characterised by Cosmoceras ornatum, Ammonites
hecticus, A. lunula and A. perarmatus. They pass below
the Lower Cretaceous beds and the "Lebanon Lime-
stone."*
In India, the Jurassic beds of Cutch afford a
very complete representation of all the European
strata above the Inferior Oolite, and include the Bath,
Kelloway, Oxford, Kimmeridge and Portland stages.†
Beds of the same system also occur near, and along,
the eastern coast of the Peninsula at the mouth of the
Godavery, and inland from Madras, containing Trigonia,
Leda, Pecten, and Ammonites.‡ The Upper Gondwana
group of the Indian Geological Survey is probably refer-
able to the same age. Dr. Waagen has endeavoured
with much success to trace out the marginal lines of
the Jurassic and Cretaceous basins in Peninsular India,**
from which it appears, that during these epochs, nearly
* Carl Diener, Die Structur des Jordanquellgebietes, xcii., B. d., Sitzb., d. K.,
Akad. der Wissensch, 1885. These beds were first recognised by Dr. Fraas.
† Medlicott and Blanford, Geol. India, xxxvii.
Ibid., p. 147.
** Dr. W. Waagen, Record Geol. Survey Ind., Nov., 1878.
94
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
the whole of the Peninsula existed as land, enclosing
occasional lake basins, while the marine areas lay close
to the present coast-lines, and also stretched from the
Run of Cutch northwards through Rajpootana towards
the Himalayas. In the Extra-peninsular region, Jurassic
strata are known to exist in the Salt Range in the
Western Himalayan area, and in Thibet they form an
important band along the northern flanks of the Hima-
layan axis.
!
T
America.-The Jurassic beds take a subordinate.
place in the rock-systems of the North American
continent, and by some geologists they are linked.
together with those of the Trias constituting the Jura-
Trias system of America ;* this is partly due to the
poverty of fossils, and partly to the continuity of condi-
tions throughout. Beds, however, which may be
confidently referred to the Jurassic epoch occur in the
Colorado, Black Hills, Dakota, Uinta Mountains and
New Mexico. They are fully developed in the district.
of the Grand Cañon, forming a belt of shales, limestones
and white sandstones nearly a thousand feet thick.
The shales contain abundant fossils of Jurassic age.†
From these beds Professor Marsh has brought to light
*Le Conte, Elem. Geol., p. 451.
+ Clarence E. Dutton, Second Annual Report; U.S. Geol. Survey by J. W
Powell, 1882; Clarence King, U.S. Geol. Explor. Fortieth Parallel, vol. i., p. 285,
et cet., 1878.
{
DISTRIBUTION OF THE JURASSIC STRATA.
95
a remarkable series of reptilian and other forms, which
have imparted a new interest to the Jurassic system of
Western America. These include fishes (Ceratodus),
herbivorous dinosaurs, pterodactyles, crocodilians and
tortoises, together with a carnivorous Creosaurus. Some
small marsupials also occur along with the above.
The occurrence of Liassic strata with the remains of
Ichthyosaurus and other reptiles, in high latitudes, as
brought to light by Sir E. Belcher, Sir L. McClintock
and Admiral Sherrard Osborn, indicates the existence
of a remarkably warm climate at this epoch. A
vertebra of one of these saurians, brought from Bryan
Martin Channel, has been named Artosaurus Osborni by
Professor A. Leith-Adams.*
In South America, Jurassic beds have been identified
as occupying a band of country lying along the coast.
and western flanks of the Andes from the neighbour-
hood of Arequipa to that of Valparaiso.t
:
Other Lands South of the Equator.-Jurassic beds have
been recognised in the central parts of Madagascar,
and in Western Australia and Queensland; and it is
remarkable that a considerable number of marine forms
* Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., 2nd ser., vol. ii., 1875.
+ J. Marcou, Geol. Map of the World.
1
96
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
occur in common with those of England, amongst
which may be mentioned Ammonites radians, A. Walcotii,
A. Macrocephalus, Nautilus semistriatus, Belèmintes canali-
culatus, Gresslya donaciformis, Cucullaa oblonga, Avicula
echinata and Pecten cinctus.* In New Zealand, a thick
series of Jurassic strata has been divided by Dr. Hector
into three divisions, including marine and estuarine
beds, with Rhynchonella, Terebratula, Spiriferina, &c.t
:
POSITION OF LAND AND SEA DURING THE JURASSIC
PERIOD.
British and European Areas.-Over the British area,
marine conditions appear to have prevailed except in
the western and southern parts of Ireland, the Scottish
Highlands and those of the Lake District, and Wales.
In the east of England, a promontory of land formed
of Paleozoic Rocks protruded, probably from Scandi-
navia, into Norfolk as far as Oxfordshire. The
southern margin of this land apparently extended east-
ward along the coast of the Baltic, sending a branch
southwards into Central Europe and the valley of the
}
+
Charles Moore, Australian Mesozoic Geology (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol.
xxvi., p. 231).
+ Hector, Handbook of New Zealand, p. 31.
+
•
Phys. Hist. Brit. Isles, p. 102, plate x.
POSITION OF LAND AND SEA.
97
Danube about Linz, and including the Bavarian and
Moravian Highlands.
Northern and Central Africa, &c.-Land conditions
prevailed in Northern and Central Africa and Arabia
Petræa from which Jurassic strata are entirely absent.
The Peninsular portion of India with Ceylon were also
land surfaces, with the exceptions along the coast
already stated.
America.-On the North American continent only
the western and southern portions, with small basins
along the east of the Appalachians, appear to have been
submerged under oceanic waters. The South American
continent, also, existed as a land area, with apparently
only the exception of a tract lying along the slopes of the
Andes of Peru, Chili and Bolivia.* It would thus appear
that in the period of the Jura-Trias the continental con-
ditions of the Western Hemisphere had been largely
determined.t
LIFE FORMS OF THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
The Fauna.-The animal forms of the Jurassic
period are exceedingly varied, showing a considerable
*Prof. Domeyko, Sur la Constitution Géologique du Chili (Annales des Mines
vol. ix., pp. 3, 364, 1846).
This is the view held with much reason by Dana, Le Conte and other
American geologists.
G
98
THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
advance towards those of the present day as compared
with those of the Paleozoic age, though still largely
differing from them. Mammals were represented by
marsupials of small size, whose representatives survive
in Australia; they belong to the genera Amphitherium,
Phascolotherium, Stereognathus and Amphilestes. The Stones.
field Slate of Oxfordshire has yielded three of these
forms. Next come birds with teeth, forming connecting
links between the Dinosaurian reptiles and true birds;
they were frequenters of the land, and are represented
by the genera Archæopterix, from the Solenhofen beds of
Europe, Ichthyopterix, Layornis and Dinornis.* A recently
discovered form is the Laopteryx from the Jurassic beds
of Wyoming in Western America.
The Saurians form, however, the characteristic
fauna of this great period, and are represented by
inhabitants of the land, the rivers and lakes, the sea
and the air. Of the first, there are eight genera including
Cardiodon, Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, and a lizard
(Lacerta); of the second (Crocodilia) Bothriospondylus,
Cetiosaurus, Cryptosaurus and Teleosaurus; of the third
(Enaliosauria) Ichthyosaurus (24 species), Plesiosaurus (37
species), Pliosaurus, &c.; and of the fourth (Ptero-
sauria), Dimorphodon, Pterodactylus, Rhamphocephalus and
Rhamphorhynchus. Besides these there were numerous
* Professor Marsh considers it difficult to say where the bird begins and the
reptile ends; feathers are but scales modified. See Introduction and Succession
of Vertebrate Life in America, by Prof. O. C. Marsh. Address delivered in 1877
at Nashville.
LIFE FORMS.
99
1
turtles (Chelonida), such as Chelys, Enalochelys, Testudo
and Trionyx.*
The fishes were exceedingly numerous including
those of the Placoid and Ganoid orders. The most
abundant genera were Hybodus (23 species), Acrodus,
Strophodus and Ganedus.
The molluscs in orders, genera, and species, were
enormously prolific; and the warm seas of the period
were thickly peopled with these forms, if we are to
judge by the abundance of their remains, both in the
Liassic and Oolitic strata. The most characteristic
forms were unquestionably those of the Ammonitidæ,
which, commencing at the base of the Lower Lias with
Egoceras (Ammonites) planorbis, range throughout the
whole series up to the Portland beds with Ammonites
gigas. Mr. Etheridge enumerates 417 species, of which
246 belong to the Liassic beds. Gasteropods include
74 genera with 988 species, of which those of Cerithium,
Chemnitzia, Littorina, Monodonta, Natica, Nerinæa, Patella
Pleurotomaria, Trochus and Turbo are the predominating
genera. The Lamellibranchs were also exceedingly
abundant, yielding 1,319 species; the most abundant
being of the genera Avicula, Gervillia, Grypheæa, Lima
Ostræa, Pecten, Pinna, Plicatula, Arca, Astarte, Cardium,
Cypricardia, Gresslya, Leda, Modiola, Myacites, Mytilus,
:
* The most complete enumeration of these forms is to be found in Etheridge's
Phillip's Manual of Geology, p. 501.
Dorm
༔
:
*
100
LIFE FORMS OF THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
Opis, Pholadomya, Pleuromya and Trigonia; many of these
genera survive in the seas of
seas of the present day.
Brachiopods were also locally numerous, the principal
genera being Discina, Rhynchonella, Terebratula and
Waldheimia.
Insects appear to have been abundant in the air
and waters, and the elytra of beetles (Coleoptera) are
numerous in such beds as those of Stonesfield and
Solenhofen, which were apparently formed in shallow
lakes on the margin of land areas. Crustaceans are
largely represented by 23 genera and 68 species, and
the waters of the ocean were fruitful in many forms of
Echinoderms, such as sea-urchins (Echinoidea), star-
fishes (Asteroidea), brittle-stars (Ophiuroidea) and sea-
lillies (Crinoidea). The Pentacrinus was most abundant
in the epoch of the Lias, and was undoubtedly one of
the most beautiful of marine forms of life either in past
or present times. Sponges, Corals and Foraminifera
complete the great census of the animate forms which
imparted life and beauty to the ocean depths of the
Jurassic period.
The Flora.—Of the Flora of the Jurassic period little
need be said, as it very much resembled that of the
preceding Trias. It consisted mainly of Conifers,
Cycads, Ferns and Equisetums, together with some
forms of uncertain affinities. The coal-seams which
are found in the Jurassic strata of the north of
Maou
CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
ΙΟΙ
England, Scotland, and in America are formed of
plants which doubtless grew on the spot; and in the
Isle of Portland there occurs an interesting example of
a fossil forest-ground with the erect stumps and
ramifying roots still in situ. The character of the
vegetation indicates the prevalence of sub-tropical
conditions in the now temperate regions of Europe,
and probably in those extending even to high latitudes.
CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
At the close of the Jurassic period terrestrial move-
ments-though not of a violent kind—took place over
the British and adjoining continental areas, owing to
which the sea-bed was raised into slightly elevated dry
land, and considerable masses of the Upper Jurassic
strata were broken up and carried away into the adjoin-
ing ocean. Lakes and shallow lagoons were also
formed, within the limits of which freshwater strata
were deposited; such are those of the Purbeck formation
with Paludina carinifera, which may be considered as
the uppermost member of the Jurassic system; and,
subsequently, those of the Wealden, which may be con-
sidered as the introductory member of the Cretaceous.
Owing to the above movements the Cretaceous beds
rest unconformably, or with a conformable hiatus, on
those of the Jurassic, or older systems. With this
physical hiatus there is a concurrent paleontological
}
102
THE CRETACEOUS STRATA.
i
break in succession, as no species passes from one
system into the other.
The Cretaceous system is so called from the
predominance of chalky limestones in the upper
division, giving a special character to the formation in
the British Isles, France and adjoining districts. In
the Carpathians, the Alps, Greece, Syria and Northern
Africa the limestones are more solid and crystalline
than in the former districts.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
CRETACEOUS STRATA.
Two well-defined divisions, a Lower and an Upper,
amongst several of minor importance, may be recog-
nised. The former including (a) the Wealden and
"Lower Greensand" (Néocomien of D'Orbigny*); (b)
the SpeetonClay and Gault (Aptien, D'Orb.); the latter
including (c) the Upper Greensand (Cenomanien
D'Orb.); (d) the Lower Chalk (Turonien, D'Orb.);
(e) the Upper Chalk (Senonien, D'Orb.); and (f)
"Etage Danien " D'Orb., not represented in Britain,
but present at Meudon (Seine-et-Oise) and Laversines,
&c., in France. To this stage may possibly be referred
the Maestricht beds of Belgium, which serve partially
* Cours Elem. de Palæontologie et de Gelogie (Paris) 1849.
!
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 103
to bridge over the interval between the close of the
Cretaceous, and commencement of the Tertiary, epochs.
The Lower Cretaceous beds consist generally of
detrital deposits of sand, clay and conglomerate formed
in shallow waters and in proximity to land. In the
Upper Division we have oceanic limestone beds formed
by the agency of marine animals, chiefly foraminiferal,
when the British, European and Mediterranean areas
had been depressed under the waters of an ocean, which
stretched from the Atlantic eastwards into Central Asia
and across the northern parts of Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula to the Indian Ocean.
Europe.-In England and France, the Lower
Cretaceous beds are composed of sands and clays; the
upper chiefly of soft white limestone or chalk, with
bands of flint in the upper part, and about 1,000 feet in
average thickness.
A close examination, especially
under the microscope, shows that the chalk is mainly
composed of the shells of minute Rhizopods, chiefly
Foraminifera, together with spicules of sponges and
fragments of Echinoderms. The formation has its
analogue in the calcareous ooze of the Atlantic sea-bed,
specimens of which were first brought to light when the
deep-sea soundings were carried out in connection with
the Atlantic Telegraph Cable. The presence of the
bands and nodules of flint favours the same view; as
1
104
THE CRETACEOUS STRATA.
1
microscopic siliceous shields of Diatoms are abundant
along with calcareous organisms in the waters of the
oceans of the present day, and the tendency of such
siliceous organisms to form aggregations round other
bodies, when undergoing chemical change, explains
the frequent occurrence of fossils within flints, or the
silicification of Sponges, Crinoids and Echini.*
In the central and eastern parts of Europe, as
amongst the Alps and Carpathians, and also in Asia
Minor, Palestine and Northern Africa, the Cretaceous
limestones, characterised by Hippurites, are generally
more solid and crystalline than in France and Britain.
They also contain numerous beds of flint, which are
unquestionably of chemical or organic origin.
Upper Egypt the Upper Cretaceous beds, chiefly lime-
stones, with others of calcareous clay, have a thickness
of about 2,000 feet,† and both here and in Arabia
Petræa and Palestine they repose upon a sandstone
formation ("The Nubian Sandstone" of Russegger),
which probably belongs to the "Cenomanien " stage.
In
India. In the Peninsular area, marine Cretaceous
beds occur in Cutch (of Neocomian age); in Pondicherry
and Trichinopoly, in Southern India; and in the
* The deep-sea soundings of the Challenger Expedition also go to show the
prevalence of siliceous sponges, or of sponge spicules, amongst the deposits now
in progress in the other ocean beds of the world.
+ Zittel, Ueber den Geolog. Bau, d. Libyschen Wüste, Munchen, 1880.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 105
Narbada Valley, between Mandlesir and Broach; these
latter beds are of Upper Cretaceous age. The Fauna
of the Utatur beds near Pondicherry is very rich,
especially in Cephalopoda, 109 species having been
met with.* The strata of the Narbada Valley,
generally called "The Dágh beds," consist chiefly of
marine limestones interposed between the Deccan traps
and the metamorphic schists. The great sheets of augitic
lava, volcanic ash, and lake-deposits, which occupy so
vast an area in Central India, and are included under the
general name of "The Deccan Traps," are themselves
probably of Upper Cretaceous age; at least, they are
interposed between the Middle Cretaceous and the
Middle Eocene formations. Cretaceous beds have
also been identified in the Extra-Peninsular regions in
the Punjab Hills, in Beluchistan, and in the Assam.
range at Khasi and Garo. In the former, numerous
fossils, Inocerami, Ammonites, Nautali, &c., have been
identified; in the latter, sandstone with beds of coal
predominates.** In conclusion, it may be observed
that throughout the Cretaceous period, Peninsular
India existed in the main as land, the submerged areas
lying outside the present surface, except where bays.
and gulfs stretched inland from the outer ocean.††
+
* Medlicott and Blanford, Geol. India, part i., page 276.
+ Ibid, p. 294.
1 Ibid, p. 331.
** Ibid, part ii., p. 690.
++ Dr. Waagen, Record Geol. Survey of India, Nov., 1878 (with map).
106
THE CRETACEOUS STRATA.
Regions South of the Equator.-Cretaceous beds occupy
a large portion of Western Australia, stretching from
the banks of the River Darling in long. 135 deg. E.,
towards the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the
Northern coast.* In New Zealand, the Cretaceous system
consists of a lower division of incoherent sandstones in
which beds of bituminous coal occur on the west coast;
these are surmounted by a mass of strata, from 2,000 to
5,000 feet thick, which appear to connect the Cretaceous
with the Tertiary systems. The Upper beds which
consist of greensand, limestone and chalk with flints
are of marine origin, and contain Ancycloceras, Belemnites,
Rostellaria, &c.t In South Africa, between the rivers
Umtamfuna and Umzambane, are certain deposits of
sandstone and shales with calcareous concretions rest-
ing unconformably on the "Karoo beds,” and containing
numerous fossils described by Mr. Bailey, amongst
which may be mentioned Ammonites Gardeni, A Soutoni,
Anisoceras rugatum, together with numerous gasteropods
and bivalves. Several of these species also occur in
the Cretaceous beds of India, and are considered to
represent the Upper Greensand and Upper Chalk stages
of Europe.‡
North America.-In North America, an arm of the
* Marcou, Geol. Map of the World, 2nd edit. C. Moore, Australian Mesozoic
Geology (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvi., p. 226).
+ Hector, Handbook of New Zealand, p. 29.
↑ Griesbach, loc. cit. p. 61.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION.
107
sea extended from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico
northwards as far at least as lat. 55°, dividing the
continent into east and west sections.* This "Medi-
terranean Sea" stretched at least as far north as the
head waters of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers,
and overspread a considerable tract of Texas and the
eastern parts of the Rocky Mountains. The Peninsula
of Florida and a track bordering the Atlantic, and lying
at the eastern base of the Appalachian chain was also
submerged. The Cretaceous beds of New Jersey show
by their structure and position that they were formed
either along a sea-coast, or in off-shore shallow
waters. Farther west, the limestones of Texas indicate
a clearer sea; while the soft, sandy and clayey forma-
tions to the north are evidence that the same sea
spread northwards, but with diminished depth.
South America. In the South American continent, a
band of Cretaceous rocks is represented by Prof. Marcou
as stretching from the coast of Venezuela in Long. W.
70 deg., through Columbia and Equador into Peru-
amongst the higher tributaries of the Amazon-and
along the eastern base of the Andes.
found in the Island of St. Domingo.
They are also
:
* Dana, loc. cit. p. 489.
+ Le Conte, loc. cit. p. 471, suggests that the arm of the gulf may have
stretched into the Pacific--cutting the continent into two. The configuration of
the mountainous region at the head of the Missouri, does not appear to favour
this view.
‡ M. H. Karsten, Karte d. verbreitung d. Geog. Format, in Columbien, 1856.
108
the cretacEOUS PERIOD.
THE
LIFE FORMS OF THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
The Fauna.—The marine forms of life are those
which are most abundantly represented in the Cre-
taceous strata, and these are so varied and numerous
that it is extremely difficult to present more than a
fragmentary sketch of their essential characters. The
discoveries made within the last few years in America,
have added enormously to our previous knowledge of
such forms. The remains of birds occur in both
American and European strata, of which the Hesperornis
regalis, a swimming bird, may be taken as a represen-
tative type. In this bird the wings are absent, and the
jaws were armed with teeth set in grooves.* Another
abundant form was that represented by the Ichthyornis, a
small bird, endowed with great powers of flight, and
having teeth in sockets, and biconcave vertebræ. These
two types of toothed birds have been placed by
Professor Marsh under the sub-class Odontornithes, and
are characteristic of the middle Cretaceous epoch of
America. Of the Reptilian forms, the numbers and
varieties were remarkable, including Deinosaurs,
Pterosaurs, Crocodilians, Lacertilians, Enaliosaurs (or ocean-
* A figure of this bird (skeleton) is given by Marsh, Extinct Toothed Birds
of America (U.S., Geol. Expl., 40 parallel, 1880, plate 20).
+ Ibid, Introduction, p. 3.
LIFE FORMS.
109
saurians), and Turtles. In the Cretaceous seas,
veritable "Sea-serpents
Sea-serpents" appear to have abounded,
and are represented by the Discosaurus, described by
Professor Cope as a huge snake-like form, 40 feet in
length, which, while keeping its body under the water,
was able to raise its head, surmounting a swan-like
neck, some 20 feet above the surface. Fishes were
abundant, and include representatives of the four orders
of Agassiz.*
Passing to the Invertebrate forms, those of the
Cephalopoda lend a special character to the Fauna.
Together with Nautili, Ammonites and Belemnitest
generally resembling those of the preceding period,
there are found forms special and peculiar to the
Cretaceous seas. They may be roughly described as
partially coiled Ammonites, and in this manner have
given rise to strange forms to which characteristic
names have been applied. Thus we find the Crioceras,
which is an Ammonite with the coils of the shell
not in contact; Scaphites, resembling in form a boat or
canoe; Ancycloceras, in which the central part of the
shell is straight, the terminal partially coiled; the Bac-
culites, a perfectly straight shell like a staff; Hamites,
resembling Ancycloceras, but more hooked; and Turri-
lites, a specially coiled form, resembling a Turritella,
* Placoid, Ganoid, Cycloid, and Ctenoid orders.
† Ammonites and Belemnites die out with the Cretaceous period.
IIO
THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
except that the direction of the coils is from left to
right. No less than 15 genera and 246 species of
Cephalopods are recorded.* The other classes of the
Mollusca were proportionately well represented. Of the
Gasteropods the most abundant forms are Aporrhais,
Cerithium, Fusus, Natica, Pleuratomaria, Scalaria, Solarium,
Trochus and Turritella. Of the lamellibranchs, the
most abundant forms belong to the genera Inoceramus,
Exogyra, Ostrea, Spondylus, Lima, Pecten, Isocardia, Cardium
and Venus. In some regions the peculiar forms of the
Hippuritida, including Hippurites, Radiolites, Sphærulites,
Caprina and Caprotina are prevalent, and belong exclu-
sively to Cretaceous strata. Brachiopods of the genera
Terebratula, Rhynchonella and Waldhemia were also very
plentiful. Polyzoans were not so abundant as in
former and later times, and though generically abundant
(59 genera) were specifically few (114 species).†
Crinoids, especially Echini, were very abundant, and
are frequently preserved in flint; along with these were
Crustaceans, Annelids and Actinozoa, or corals. The
Foraminifera take a most important place as limestone
builders, and belong to 39 genera, of which Bulinima,
Cristeltaria, Dentalia, Nodosaria, Rosalina, Rotalina, Texu-
laria and Vaginuling contain the greatest number of
* Etheridge, Man. Geol., p. 593.
+ Etheridge, Ibid., p. 590.
↑ The corals were scarce as compared with those of the Jurassic and present
periods.
!
LIFE FORMS.
III
species. Sponges are abundant, especially those of
the genus Xanthidium, a calcareous sponge with 14
species. There are besides many genera of siliceous
sponges. The presence of the latter largely accounts for
the flint bands and nodules amongst the limestones of
the Upper Cretaceous beds. On the whole it may be
inferred that the warm and open seas of the Upper
Cretaceous period teemed with multifold forms of living
animals.
The Flora.-Still more remarkable, perhaps, is the
character of the Upper Cretaceous Flora as compared.
with that which preceded it. Down throughout the
Secondary period into the Lower Cretaceous the Flora
consisted altogether of Conifers, Cycads, Ferns and
Equisetums. Hitherto no examples of Dicotyledonous
plants had appeared; but with the Upper Cretaceous
epoch a far more varied Flora, and one representative
of that which characterises the regions of the Northern
Hemisphere at the present day, makes its appearance
with startling suddenness. Though the plant remains of
the Upper Cretaceous epoch are scarce (owing to the
prevalence of marine beds), yet both in Europe and
America strata deposited in proximity to land, and
belonging to this division, have yielded sufficient
specimens to enable us to form a fair conception of the
characters of the new Flora which had begun to
decorate the surface of the land. In the words of
Oswald Heer, this new Flora of Dicotyledonous forms
I12
LIFE FORMS OF THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
1
i.
was the introduction of a new fundamental conception
into the vegetable kingdom. Together with the Ferns,
Cycads and Sequoias previously existing we have now
representatives of our forest trees and shrubs, such as
the Oak, Myrtle, Walnut, Fig, Magnolia, Willow,
Poplar, Plane-tree, Hornbean, Liriodendron (or Tulip-
tree) and Eucalyptus. The gigantic Sequoia, now
surviving only in the valleys of California, was a special
and abundant form, and seems to have spread over the
whole of the Northern Hemisphere. These, and
numerous others, flourished from the sub-tropical to the
Arctic regions of North Greenland at Noursoak, and
indicate an extraordinary prevalence of warm conditions
of climate throughout the Northern Hemisphere during
the Cretaceous period.*
To a
At the close of the Cretaceous period the British
Isles, the central and southern parts of Europe, and the
regions bordering the Mediterranean were deeply
depressed beneath the waters of the ocean.
smaller extent this was the case over the central and
southern parts of North America. In both tracts the
centre of depression lay along the parallel of 40° N.
lat., while the land areas lay over the northern tracts
of both hemispheres and included in all probability
extensive portions of the adjoining Arctic and Atlantic
Oceans.
A
* O. Heer, Flora Fossilis Artica, vols. vi. and vii. (1882–83.)
THE CAINOZOIC AGE.
113
THE CAINOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF MAMMALS.)
EOCENE PERIOD.
(EPOCH OF NUMMULITES.)
At the close of the Cretaceous period a gradual
elevation of the sea-bed took place over the region of
Europe and extended into Northern Africa and Asia.
The effect of this movement was to destroy the
species inhabiting the waters, so that on the re-sub-
mergence of these regions, or parts of them, at the
beginning of the Cainozoic age, the waters flowing
in brought an entirely new set of forms. Several of the
Cretaceous genera, such as those of Hippurites,
Ammonites, Ancycloceras, Baculites, Crioceras, Hamites and
Scaphites also perished; but these changes, operating
most powerfully over marine areas, did not much affect
the flora of the land, nor were they of an intensity to
produce sensible flexuring of the Cretaceous strata.
The general relations, therefore, between the strata of
the Cretaceous and Eocene epochs are those of a
H
7
114
THE EOCENE STRATA.
conformable hiatus ;* in which the former have been
more or less denuded without having been folded or
contorted before the Eocene beds were deposited over
them.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
EOCENE STRATA.
Owing to the existence of extensive tracts of land
in the northern parts of the Europasian continent, and
of oceanic conditions to the south of this land-area, the
characters of the Eocene strata are widely different
according to position. Thus the more northerly repre-
sentatives bordering the lands, the sediments of which
were derived from the streams draining those lands,
are in the main sedimentary in character; while those
which are found in the oceanic regions to the south, and
which were built up mainly by the agency of animal
organisms, are chiefly calcareous, and are represented
by one of the greatest limestone formations in the
world, known as the "Nummulite Limestone."
Europe. The Eocene beds of England occupy two
*Not of" Universal Unconformity" as stated by Le Conte. Elem, Geol.,
P. 497.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 115
separate "Basins," originally connected together—(1)
that of London, and (2) that of Hampshire and the Isle
of Wight. These beds consist of clay, sand and gravel.
resting on the Chalk. The London clay, which is about
600 feet thick under the City, thins out southward
into the Isle of Wight. The middle Eocene beds con-
tain Nummulites (N. lævigata, N. variolaria) and numerous
shells.
In the Paris basin, originally connected with that of
England, limestone (such as the "Calcarie Grossier")
forms an important part. In the Middle Stage four
species of Nummulites (N. laevigata, N. scabra, N. variolaria
and N. Lamarki) occur, which serve to identify these
beds with the Nummulite limestone of Southern Europe
and the regions surrounding the Mediterranean basin.
Along the northern flanks of the Alps, a band of
Eocene strata, chiefly Nummulitic, may be traced from
the valley of the Rhone, by Lausanne and St. Gallen
to Vienna, and thence into Hungary where, according
to Hébert, there are four successive horizons charac-
terised by different species of Nummulites, and consisting
of limestones, calcareous marls, clays and sandstone,
overlain by Miocene strata.* In the Alps the Nummulitic
beds rise to elevations of 8,400 feet and upwards. The
Eocene beds occupy a wide tract along the borders of
*Comptes Rendus, t. lxxxv., p. 122-181 (1877.)
116
THE EOCENE STRATA.
1
the Gulf of Genoa, and extend by Bologna along both
borders of the Apennines southwards. They are also
found along the flanks of the Pyrenees, and Carpathians,
rising into high altitudes.
Asia and Africa.-These strata occupy large tracts of
the Nubian and Libyan deserts of North Africa, and
extend thence into Palestine and Asia Minor, where
they repose directly on Cretaceous limestones, forming
one great calcareous formation from 3,000 to 4,000 feet
in thickness.* The Nummulitic limestones of Egypt
have been employed in the construction of the most
colossal works of human art, namely, the Pyramids,
the stone for which has been taken from quarries
on the opposite banks of the Nile; while the mysterious
Sphinx, hewn out of the solid limestone rock, looks out
over the vista of five thousand years. In the Extra-
Peninsular region of India, the Nummulitic beds attain to
great dimensions; and in Beluchistan (Khirthar), Thibet,
&c., rise to very high elevations, from which they
extend to the frontiers of China.t Dr. T. Thompson
has found Nummulites at an elevation of 16,500 feet in
Western Thibet.
North America.-In the Western Continent the
Cretaceous rocks appear to be continued up into the
* Zittel, Ueber den Geol. Bau d. Libysch. Wüste, 1880.
+ Medlicott and Blanford, Geol. of India, part ii.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 117
Tertiary, through the intervention of a great series of
strata known as "The Laramie Beds" of Colorado and
New Mexico. These consist of sandstones, shales,
with beds of coal and lignite, and extend over an area
of 2,200 square miles, as ascertained by Professor
J. J. Stevenson. They contain numerous plants and
remains of Dinosaurs, and are considered by Dr.
Hayden and Professor Cope to bridge over the interval
between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods in
America.* The Tertiary strata extend along the
Atlantic borders from New Jersey, and stretch inwards
from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. The strata
here are marine, but are represented in the western.
interior by fresh-water deposits of great extent and
depth, constituting the Green River and Uinta Basins
to the east of the Wahsatch Mountains. These strata
have been accumulated to the depth of at least a mile.
South America.-In South America large tracts of
Lower Tertiary strata occupy the extensive uplands.
at the head waters of the Orinoco and the Amazon,
and the plains bordering the Rio de la Plata; and
again, are found bordering the eastern shores of
Patagonia. The Tertiary strata are but sparingly
represented in Brazil.t
* Cope, Horizons of Extinct Vert., Bull, U.S. Geol. Surveys, vol. v. (1879).
+ According to the observations of Prof. Hartt. Bull. Cornell University,
vol. 1, cited by J. Marcou. -
$
118
THE EOCENE PERIOD.
LIFE FORMS OF THE EOCENE PERIOD.
The Fauna.-As its name implies, the Eocene period
is characterised by animal forms which are representa-
tive of those at present inhabiting our earth. It is the
dawn of the modern animate world. The Mammalia
begin to take the foremost place in the grand procession
of inhabitants, and though none of the species have
descended to the present day, they may be regarded as
the immediate progenitors of those which survive.*
From the Eocene deposits formed in a great lake north
of the Uinta Mountains in North America, the
researches of Professor Marsh have brought to light
large numbers of specimens belonging to an extinct
order of Mammalia, to which he has given the name.
Dinocerata. The specimens preserved in the Museum
of Yale College represent more than 200 individuals.
Along with these are those of ancestral forms of the
horse and pig; others related to the Lemurs, and various
Carnivores, Insectivores, Rodents and Marsupials.
Crocodiles, serpents, lizards, tortoises and fishes appear
to have swarmed in this Eocene lake.† Numerous
* Many of these were first detected by the illustrious Cuvier from the
remains in the gypseous deposits of Mont Martre, Paris, and are described in his
great work, Recherches sur les Ossement fossiles, 4th edit., 1836.
+ Marsh, Monograph on the Dinocerata (U.S. Geol. Survey, vol. x., 1884).

LIFE FORMS.
119
e
Ruminants were
recalls the form of
ere the Cynodon, the
The Quadrumana
be, resembling in its
and named by
animals allied to the tapir floured, represented by
the genera Palæotherium, Lophi, the Anchyterium,
supposed to be the proger of the horse.
Amongst the representatives of
the Xiphodon Gracile (Cuvier), wh
the gazelle. Of Carnivores ther
Amphycion, and a species of Civ
were represented by a species of
dentition the Lemur of Africa,
Rütemeyer Canopithecus lemuroides True birds had their
representatives in Lithornis Vultuinus, of the Eocene of
Sheppy, Halcyornis toliopicus, ar a species of seagull.
From the beds of Mont Martr, Cuvier obtained the
bones of eleven distinct species. Amongst the reptiles
there were serpents, lizards, iguanas, crocodiles and
several tortoises. The seas
molluscs, chiefly of the ge
Conus, Mitra, Cyrena, Cythe
species descend to the
found in warm seas. Cr
also numerous; but th
Nummulites were enorm
abundance of their shel
limestone.
abounded in fish and
Nautilus, Oliva, Voluta,
d Chama, of which a few
ht day, and are chiefly
s and sea urchins were
raminifera of the order
prolific, and often, by the
onstitute whole beds of
Oligocene Beds.-The
shire and Paris basins
occupy a large tract of
e represented in the Hamp-
the highest members, and
Germany, bordering on the
!

120
MIOCENE PERIOD.
Baltic. The nam as given by Professor Beyrich in
1854 to a series deposits intermediate between the
Eocene and Mioce
conglomerate over
Germany of Upper
in an open sea aft
general elevation of
consisting of sand, gravel and
g the lignite beds of North
cene age. They were accumulated
the Nummulite epoch, when a
e sea-bed took place, converting
it into a land-surface with lakes and estuaries.
MIO ENE PERIOD.
The Eocene strata were deposited over a continu-
ously subsiding sea-bell; but towards the close of this
period, terrestrial movements of wide extent, and often
of great intensity, took over the Europasian conti-
nent, and the adjoinincts of North Africa. The
effects of these moveme
by extensive denudation
are manifest in the phys
accompanied and followed
e Cretaceo-Eocene strata,
eatures of the south and
east of England, those ofral and Northern France,
and beyond these in the
nees, the Carpathians, an
period, the physical featur
the Valley of the Nile, fir
hills of Palestine and the
the Jordan-Arabah Valley
along the line of a great fa
es of the Alps, the Pyre-
the Himalayas. At this
Lower Egypt, including
eived their form. The
non were upraised, and
proportionally depressed
fracture of the earth's
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
I2I
crust.*
In a word, the general form and outline of all
the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea became
developed during the Miocene period; either, by the
uprising of the then existing sea-bed; or by the contem-
poraneous depression of other tracts, accompanied by
rain and river action, whereby the ranges of hills and
valleys received their general form and contour. Over
the regions just described, continental conditions were.
in the ascendant; hence, it will be inferred, deposition
of strata was but locally carried on over the tracts now
existing as dry land. In North America, also, there
occured a general rise of the Plateau region, sufficient
to allow of the drainage of the great Eocene lakes;
but other lakes were formed both to the east and to the
west of the former, in which Miocene strata were con-
temporaneously deposited. Hence it will be seen, that
all over the Northern Hemisphere, the crust was sub-
jected to vertical movements; and, in the case of our
mountain chains, to movements of great potency in refer-
ence to the physical features of the surface. Volcanic
action was also developed powerfully over parts of the
British Isles, Central France, Italy and parts of Asia
Minor, as well as in the North American Continent.
* Author's Physical Geology of Arabia Petræa and Palestine (Mem. Palest.
Explor. Soc., part iv., p. 192, 1886). L. Lartet, Voyage d'Exploration de la Mer Morte
par le Duc de Luynes, t. in., 1880.
122
THE MIOCENE STRATA.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND
DISTRIBUTION OF THE
MIOCENE STRATA.
Europe. In the British Isles, the Miocene period is
only.represented by certain lacustrine beds of Bovey
Tracy, in Devonshire, and volcanic rocks of the north
of Ireland and west of Scotland, consisting of great
sheets of augitic lava, with beds of ash and tuff con-
taining plant-remains. In Switzerland and Italy, a
great formation known as "The Molasse," lying at the
base of the Alps of Piedmont, attains a thickness of
6,000 feet and upwards, and consists of conglomerates,
sandstones and shales, partly lacustrine, partly marine,
and has yielded a profusion of animal and plant
remains, representative of the epoch in that part of
the world. The great valley which stretches from the
Lake of Geneva eastwards along the base of the Alps
by Munich to the confines of Hungary, is chiefly com-
posed of Miocene beds, which, however, are often
concealed by Post-Pliocene and Quaternary deposits.
Miocene beds occupy a portion of the upper plains of
Lombardy, and form a narrow band along the flanks of
the Apennines.
India.-In India the representative of the Miocene
period, constituting the "Gaj Group" of the Siwalik
!
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 123
Hills, is composed of strata, chiefly calcareous at Karachi,
and resting on the "Nari Beds." The Gaj beds are
rich in marine fossils, including those of crustaceans,
molluscs and echinoderns. It also contains remains
of an extinct form of Rhinoceras (R. Sivalensis).*
North America.-The Miocene period is represented
chiefly by lake deposits known as those of the White
River Basin of Nebraska and the John Day Basin of
Oregon. In this latter case great sheets of augitic
lava have been poured over the sedimentary deposits.
The latter contain remains of mammalia, reptiles and
fishes. Amongst the first are those of the Brontotherium,
Menodus, Mesohippus, Oreodon, Hyanodon, Miohippus,
Dicatherium, &c.†
LIFE FORMS OF THE MIOCENE PERiod.
The Fauna.-The European Fauna of this epoch is
abundantly represented by the remains obtained from
the Swiss deposits, for a knowledge of which we are
largely indebted to the labours of Rütemeyer and Oswald
Heer. Amongst the mammals we have as represen-
tative of the Quadrumana an extinct species of Ape;
* Geol. of India, part ii., p. 465.
+ Marsh, Dinocerata, Introd., p. 6; also, Vertebrate Life in America, p. 35.
¡
?
124
LIFE FORMS OF THE MIOCENE PERIOD.
}
of Ruminants the Stag, the Roebuck and Chamois;
the Pachyderms are represented by the Palæotherium,
Tapir, Mastodon, Dinotherum, Rhinoceros and
Hog; the Rodents by the Beaver and Bat; the
Carnivores by the Hyæna, Otter and Civette; Birds
by a Goose (Anas Enignensis). Along with the above are
Salamanders, Frogs and Toads, Lizards, Crocodiles,
Serpents and Tortoises.
The Flora.-The Miocene Flora is chiefly known by
specimens derived from the Molasse. It was extremely
rich and varied; and while differing largely from that of
the present day is representative of the plants now grow-
ing over all parts of the globe, and indicates a contem-
poraneous physical connection of lands now widely
separated. Thus we find identical (or homologous)
forms, of which 12 species are Asiatic, 2 Atlantic Isles,
33 American and 2 New Holland. Of representative
forms 103 are found in the Southern States of America,
40 in tropical America, 6 in Chili, 23 in the Temperate
Zone and 45 in the Torrid Zone of Asia, 25 in the
Atlantic Isles, 26 in Africa and 21 in New Zealand.
In this magnificent flora the Pomacea, Leguminosia, the
forest trees such as the Plane, Maple, Elm, Oak,
Myrtle, Laurel and Cinnamon tree were well repre-
sented. Monocotyledons, such as Palms, Lilies, the Iris
and aquatic plants are present. The Conifera are largely
represented, and the Taxodium disticum, a kind of Cypress,
THE PLIOCENE PERIOD.
125
clothed the banks of the lakes and swamps. Ferns
also decorated the woodlands, and the ground was
carpeted with grasses and mosses. Cycads had dis-
appeared, and (what is strange) the Rosaceæ, now so
abundant, appear to have been unrepresented at this
epoch. Not only was the Miocene flora thus prolific,
and (with the exception above-named) representative
of that over the whole world at the present day, but it
was very widely spread, reaching even into the Arctic
circle at Grinnel-Land.
PLIOCENE PERIOD.
At the close of the Miocene period, the physical
features of the British islands and the Europasian con-
tinent had been pretty well determined. It was a
period of prolonged duration, in which the forces of
elevation and erosion had abundant time to play their
part; and they left these lands with mountains and
valleys, plains and sea-coasts not very dissimilar in
form from what we find them at the present day. The
Pliocene epoch was one, on the other hand, during
which but little change took place in this surface-con-
figuration; but its introduction was marked by a
general slight depression of the land-areas, owing to
126
THE PLIOCENE STRATA.
which marginal tracts of no great elevation were
submerged, while lakes were formed in more inland
regions.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
PLIOCENE STRATA.
Europe. In the British Islands the Pliocene period.
is represented by a small tract of shelly gravels, marls
and limestones along the coast of East Anglia, chiefly
in Norfolk and Suffolk. The strata are known as the
Crag Beds," and have yielded a large number of
remains, both of Mammalia and of Molluscs and other
chiefly marine forms. The "Coralline Crag" contains,
according to the observations of Mr. Searles Wood, 345
species, of which 31 per cent. are considered to be
extinct. In the "Red Crag" 25 per cent. are sup-
posed to be extinct, and in the "Norwich Crag" only
18 per cent. have disappeared. Some of the shells in
this latter indicate boreal waters, such as Nucula Cob-
boldiae, Tellina obliqua, Rhynconella psittacea, Scalaria Gran-
landica, Astarte Borealis and Panopica Norwegica. The
Mammals are represented by the following species:
Mastodon Arvernensis, Rhinoceras Schliermacheri, Tapirus
Priscus and Cervis Anoceras.
The Pliocene strata are unrepresented in Switzer-
land and along the borders of the Alps; but they are
i
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION. 127
found along the flanks of the Apennines, stretching
southward from the neighbourhood of Turin and
Bologna. They consist of calcareous marls with beds
of sandstone and lignite, and contain shells, some of
which belong to warmer latitudes than the Mediter-
ranean, while others are found in the Mediterranean
itself. Strata belonging to the same period occur in the
lands bordering the Levant, forming beds of shells along
the hills of Lower Egypt, the coasts of Palestine, Syria
and Cyprus, and indicating a depression of the land to
an extent of over 200 feet. This ancient sea-margin
was first recognised by Dr. Oscar Fraas, and more
recently by Schweinfurth and the author.†
India.-In Extra-Peninsular India the Pliocene beds
are very fully represented in the Siwalik Hills at the
base of the Himalayas. They appear to have been
deposited over the floor of a wide lake, on the borders,
and in the waters, of which a great variety of animals
belonging to the period abounded. The Mammalia, as
determined by Falconer and Lydekker, include the
following species:-The Primates are represented by
Palæopithecus, Macacus, Semnopithecus and Cynopithecus;
the Carnivores by Mustela, Mellivorae, Mellivorodon, Lutra,
Hyanodon, Ursus, Hyænarctus, Canis, Hyana, Lepthyana,
Felis and Machavodus; the Proboscidians by Elephas and
* Fraas, Aus dem Orient (Geolog. beobachtungen).
+ Physical Geology of Arabia Petræa and Palestine, page 69, et cet.
}
128
THE PLIOCENE STRATA.
4
Mastodon; the Ungulates by Rhinoceras (3 sp.), Equus and
Hipparion; the Hippopotamus, Sus (5 sp.), Cervus, Camelo-
paradalis, Bubalus (2 sp.), Bison, Bos (3 sp.), Capra, Ovis
and Camelus; the Rodents by Mus, Rhizomys, Hystrix
and Lepus; and the Birds by Pelecanus, Megaloscelornis,
Argala, Struthis and Dromæus. It will be observed that
some of these forms, such as the Camelopardalis and
Rhinoceras, have disappeared from the Asiatic penin-
sula and are now found in Africa.
America. -On the American continent there were at
least four lake basins formed during the Pliocene period,
the Niobrara basin, the Oregon basin, and those of Rio
Grande and of Nevada. The strata are composed of
soft sands and clays in nearly horizontal positions, worn
down into innumerable hollows and hummocks, with
occasional castellated masses between, and constituting
the "Mauvaises Terres" of the West. In these beds the
following forms, some of which survive to the present
day, have been discovered:-Equus, Protohippus*, Tapirus,
Elephas, Pliohippus, Tapiravus, Mastodon, Procamelus,
Aceratherium, Bos and Morotherium.
It should be here observed that, although the American
geologists classify their Tertiary formations under the
same head as those of Europe, yet in reality they are not
* Equus in Upper Pliocene, Protohippus in Lower Pliocene; Marsh,
Vertebrate Life in America, p. 32.
LIFE FORMS OF THE PLIOCENE PERIOD.
129
strictly contemporaneous, but only homotaxial, as has
been pointed out by Professor Marsh and other writers.
The Tertiary epochs of Europe were in advance (so to
speak) of those in America; and this holds good whether
we consider the Fauna or the Flora. As regards the
latter, it may be stated that the present Flora of
America bears a general resemblance to that of the
Pliocene period in Europe.
J
LIFE FORMS OF THE PLIOCENE PERIOD.
The Fauna.-In the Europasian continent Ruminants
abounded, especially Deer, amongst which were the
Stag, the Elk and the Reindeer. With these were
hollow-horned Ruminants, such as the Bison and the
Musk Ox. Of Pachiderms, there were at least two species
of Elephant, the Elephas Meridionalis and E. Antiquus,
besides the Hippopotamus Major, the Rhinocerus Etruscus
and the Mastodon, which frequented both Europe and
America. The Hipparion, the progenitor of the Horse,
with three toes to each foot, only the middle one of
which touched the ground, belongs to the early part of
the period, to be succeeded by the Pliohippus, a more
advanced form belonging to the later stage. The
Pliohippus was succeeded by the true Horse, which
frequented the Europasian and American continents at
the close of the Pliocene epoch. The Carnivores were
I
130
THE PLIOCENE PERIOD.
་
represented by several species of Felis, Hyana, Macheirodus
and other forms. Such was the general character of the
animals that roamed over the vast region extending from
the British Islands into Central Asia, and thence into
the Western Hemisphere.
From the census given of the animate forms of the
Pliocene deposits in the Europasian continent, it may be
inferred that it is largely representative of the Fauna of
the present day in that region. A few forms have
become extinct, others have been specifically altered, but
the general change is not very great. During this epoch
there is reason to believe that the continent of Africa was
the abode of a very different and much more restricted
Fauna, which is now only represented by that of the
island of Madagascar; and to which, from the semi-
apes which characterise it, Dr. Sclater has given the
name of “Lemuria." The question now arises, by what
process, or owing to what circumstances, has the present
Fauna of Africa become so remarkably changed, inas-
much as it bears a strong resemblance to that of the
Europasian continent during Pliocene times? This
opens out to us one of the most interesting episodes in
the history of animal life during past geological ages, and
has been admirably elucidated by the researches of Dr.
A. Wallace.* Here we have the evidences of a great
* Wallace, Island Life (1880), and Geographical Distribution
(1876).
LIFE FORMS.
131
migration of the larger animals inhabiting the Northern
continent into the Southern, followed by the destruction
or expulsion of the aboriginal inhabitants over the whole
of Africa; owing to which they would have been utterly
exterminated, had it not been that the survivors were
left in possession of the island of Madagascar, as
the wide and deep channel which separates it from the
continent formed an impassable barrier to the invading
host. But the cause of this great invasion remains to
be explained; it was in effect the approach of the
intense cold, which reached its climax in the succeeding
Post-Pliocene or Glacial epoch, and which converted the
climate of, at least, the Northern part of Europe into one
approaching that of the Arctic regions at the present
day. According to the views of Dr. Wallace there
were three causeways by which the migration of the
animals from the North into Africa took effect; namely,
by lands connecting Europe and Africa at the Straits of
Gibraltar, at Sicily and Tunis, and at the Isthmus of
Suez. There is also reason to believe that the surface
of the Mediterranean was considerably lowered at this.
epoch, partly by the freezing up of the rivers which enter
it from the North, and partly by a general elevation of the
land, which narrowed the connection with the Atlantic
Ocean*. In this way the Mediterranean seems to have
been converted into several separate gulfs, divided by
barriers of land, which were peopled by the migrating
*T. F. Jamieson, Geological Magazine, May, 1885, p. 199.
Der M
132
THE NEOZOIC AGE.
Pachiderms and Carnivores while making their way
southward. The large number of remains of Elephants
and Hippopotami, and of other extinct mammals, in the
caves of Malta and Sicily bear testimony to the extent
of the land-connection here indicated, which could only
have been brought about by a considerable lowering
of the Mediterranean waters. With this remarkable
episode in the animal life of Europe in Tertiary times,
which reminds us of some of the great invasions of the
Tartar tribes into the Roman empire in human history,
we may fittingly conclude this account of the Pliocene
period.*
THE NEOZOIC AGE.
POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
(THE EPOCH OF THE MAMMOTH.)
It is not improbable from astronomical considera-
tions that, throughout the earth's history, there may
have been periodic recurrences of extreme cold in the
* In the Malta Caves, three extinct species of elephant, a hippopotamus, and
bones of other mammals have been found. The occurrence of these points to a
time when Malta stood in the centre of surrounding lands. Remains of hippo-
potami have also been found in the Caves of Gibraltar.
MU
{
THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD. 133
climates of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
The boulder beds which are found in the Old Red Sand-
stone of Scotland, in Carboniferous strata of New South
Wales, in Permian beds of Central England, in Triassic
strata in South Africa, and in Miocene beds of Switzer-
land and Italy, all tend to bear out this conclusion.
But, however this may have been, certain it is that no
epoch has left such widely extended and strongly
recorded evidences of glacial conditions over large
portions of the Northern Hemisphere as that which closes
the geological record and immediately precedes the Age
of Man. The evidences of these conditions may be
included under five principal heads: (1.) The glaciation.
of rock-surfaces, both amongst mountains and over
plains, where at present no glaciers are found; (2.) The
dispersion of erratic blocks (or boulders) of stone, often
of large size, over tracts far removed from their parent
masses; (3.) The presence of a deposit known as
boulder clay," unstratified and containing glaciated
stones and blocks differing in form and surface-charac-
ters from water-borne pebbles; (4.) The occurrence of
glacial Moraines, both lateral and terminal, in mountain
valleys of the British Islands and other districts now
destitute of glaciers; and (5.) The occurrence of lakes
in such districts, either lying in "rock-basins" or formed.
by terminal moraines thrown across valleys. It will
only be possible to deal very briefly with such portions.
of the above evidence as bear upon the historical view
of the subject.
134
THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
1
SPECIAL EPOCHS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
From the evidence which has been obtained, both
in Europe and America, there is reason for believing
that the Glacial period is capable of a three-fold
division, each of which was characterised by special
climatic and terrestrial conditions, and is indicated by
distinct and special deposits. Arranged in a tabular
form, they are somewhat as follows:-
DIVISIONS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD (British Isles).
(Arranged in descending order.)
DIVISION OR
EPOCH.
CLIMATE.
C.-Latest
PHYSICAL
CONDITIONS.
FORMATION.
Sub-Glacial
Partial Depres- Upper Boulder
sion of Land
Clay.
Depression of
Middle Sand and
B.-Medial or Temperate
Interglacial
Land
A. Earliest
Extreme Glacial Elevation
Land
Gravel with
Shells.
of Lower Boulder
Clay and Till.
The above conditions are specially designated as
applicable to the British Isles; but, with more or less
modification, are also applicable to regions lying beyond.
In considering them we shall begin with the earliest,
and thus follow the course of history.
SPECIAL EPOCHS.
135
A.-The Earliest Epoch.
The general refrigeration of the climate over the
Northern Hemisphere, which took place with the com-
mencement of the Glacial period, was marked not only
by the advance of existing glaciers in the mountainous
regions of Norway, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Cau-
casus and the Himalayas; but, by the formation of
glaciers in the Highland districts of the British Isles,
and the overspread of the plains of Northern Europe
and of North America by great sheets of ice, the limits
of which have been very clearly defined by the occur-
rence of boulder clay, the glaciation of the solid rock
surfaces, and the distribution of erratic boulders. At
this epoch, according to the views first enunciated by
Charpentier and Agassiz, the glaciers of the Rhone
Valley descended into the Great Valley of Switzerland,
filling the bed of the Lake of Geneva, and climbing the
flanks of the Jura Mountains, where large stranded.
blocks (such as the Pierre-a-bôt) of the granite of the
higher Alps, attest the former presence and prodigious
extent of the Rhone glacier.* To the south of the Alps
glaciers also descended and debouched upon the plains
of Lombardy, and have left terminal moraines of large
* This glacier extended down the Rhone Valley to Lyons and Besançon,
where MM. Falsan and Chantre have traced its terminal moraine, Monog.
Geolog. des Anciens Glaciers du Bassin du Rhone (Lyons, 1869).
136 THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
I
dimensions, such as those of Ivrea and of the Dorea
Baltea in Piedmont.
Turning now to Scandinavia, the deposits and erra-
tics which were derived from these mountains have been
found spread over the plains of Hanover, Prussia and
Russia as far south as lat. 50 deg. N. in the last-named
country. Passing to the British Isles; the limit of the
ice-sheet, which filled the North Sea and overspread
East Anglia, may be traced from the coast of Suffolk,
westwards to the borders of Wales, and thence out to
sea in Pembrokeshire. The whole of Scotland and
Ireland were enveloped in ice which stretched out into
the Atlantic Ocean.* On the American continent the
surface of Canada to the south of the Great Lakes was
glaciated as far as lat. 40 deg.-38 deg. N. The vast
plateau of Labrador and of the Laurentian Mountains
seems to have been the field over which the snow accu-
mulated that gave origin to an enormous sheet of ice
which moved in a general southerly direction, and has
left behind boulder clay and erratics as far as a limit
which has been traced for several hundred miles.†
Similar glacial deposits, including large quantities of the
bones of the Mammoth, are found covering the northern
tracts of Siberia and of the Asiatic continent. The
glaciers of the Himalayas descended far below their
*See Croll's Climate and Time, and Author's Phys. Hist. Brit. Isles, plate xiii.
+ T. C. Chamberlin, Third Rep. U.S. Geol. Survey; also H. C. Lewis
Report on the Terminal Moraine (2nd Geol. Survey, Pennsylvania.)
SPECIAL EPOCHS.
137
present limits, as did those of the Caucasus; while the
Lebanon was for a time covered with perennial snows,
sending down glaciers where now grow forests of
cedars.* Thus there is clear evidence of the former
existence of glacial conditions throughout the Northern
Hemisphere and over both continents, in regions from
which they are now entirely absent.
B.-The Medial or Interglacial Epoch.
The intense cold of the Earliest Epoch appears to
have been followed by an interval of mild climatic
conditions in Europe and America. This was ac-
companied by a considerable depression of the land,
and consequent submergence of certain districts. The
sands and gravels which (as shown by the table)
succeed to the Lower Boulder clay, contain numerous
marine shells of existing species, and are found occu-
pying the plains of England and Ireland; but when
traced towards the mountainous districts, they are
found to ascend to elevations of over one thousand
feet above the sea level, from which we infer that
the land has been by so much depressed during this
epoch. Thus, amongst the Wicklow mountains of
Ireland, these shelly gravels have been found at a level
}
(
* This statement, though founded on the observations of Sir J. D. Hooker
has been disputed in a recent work, Der Libanon, by Dr. Diener, of Vienna; but
as it seems to me, on insufficient grounds.
138
THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
A
of 1,235 feet ;* amongst the Sperrin mountains of Derry
at 1,200 feet; amongst the mountains of Wales at
1,170 feet; and on the Macclesfield Hills at an
elevation of 1,100 to 1,200 feet. In Scotland, similar
shell beds have been detected in Inverness-shire at 500
feet.**
All these and other cases go to show a general
submergence of the British Isles, and the characters of
the shell beds, being those of stratified and water-worn
deposits, point to conditions differing remarkably from
those of the preceding epoch. At this stage, the
British Isles must have been converted into an archi-
pelago of islands, wherein only the high tracts appeared
above the surface of the sea.
In Switzerland and Central Europe, as pointed out
by Oswald Heer,tt an Interglacial Epoch separated two
others of intensely glacial conditions. In the Valley
of the Drance the deposits of stratified gravels are seen
interposed between an Upper and Lower Moraine mud
with boulders. These gravels were formed during the
interglacial stage, and at Dunten have yielded remains
of Elephas antiquus, E. Primigenius (Mammoth), Rhinoceros,
Bos, Ursus spelæus (Cave Bear) and Cervus elaphas (Stag).
•
* Discovered by the Rev. Maxwell Close. Journ. Roy. Geol. Soc., Ireland,
vol. x.
+ On Moel Tryfaen, and other spots, first described by Mr. Trimmer.
↑ Described by Prof. Prestwich.
** Described by Mr. R. Richardson, Trans. Edin. Geol. Soc., vol. iv., p. 179.
A representation of the features of the British Isles at this period is given in
plate xiv., fig. i., of my Phys. Hist. Brit. Isles, p. 127.
++ Heer, Urwelt der Schweiz.
SPECIAL EPOCHS.
139
In North America the Interglacial Epoch is represented
by the stratified deposits of "the Champlain period,"
consisting of gravel terraces in the interior, and of
stratified clays and sands along the coast, rising 600 feet
above the ocean, and containing Leda artica, Tellina
grænlandica.*
C.-The Latest Epoch.
The phenomena connected with the Latest Stage,
indicate a partial return of glacial conditions, and a
continued depression of the land though to a less
extent than during the Interglacial Epoch. In the
British Islands glaciers descended from the snowfields
of the unsubmerged mountain heights, and entering
the sea, floated away in the form of icebergs and
rafts carrying blocks of stone and mud which, as
the supporting ice melted, were strewn over its floor.
In this way was the deposit known as "the Upper
Boulder Clay " formed over parts of the British Islands.
In Switzerland the glacier of the Rhone, which in the
Earliest Glacial Epoch had filled the whole valley of
Geneva, only descended as far as the head of the Lake
Leman during the later glacial stage. In America the
boulder clay belonging to the second Glacial Epoch is
clearly differentiated from that of the first or earlier
* Dawson, Acadian Geology', p. 80, et seq.; Le Conte, Handbook of Geology
P. 545.
140
THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
:
stage, and
and its limits have been traced by T. C.
Chamberlin and the officers of the Geological Survey
for a distance of 3,000 miles from the Atlantic sea-bord
at Long Island into North-West Canada. This Upper
sheet generally lies considerably within (or to the north
of) the Lower, except to the south of Lake Erie, where
the margins of the two deposits generally coincide.*
On a review of the whole subject, it may be affirmed
that the succession of events, both in Europe and
America, were, on the whole, similar; and that,
throughout the Northern Hemisphere, considerable
oscillations of surface-level, accompanied by changes in
climate, were approximately coincident over the whole
region.
LIFE FORMS OF THE POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL
PERIOD.
The Fauna. The animals which inhabited the
Northern Hemisphere during the Glacial Epoch were
those which had survived from the Pliocene epoch.
At the head may be placed the Mammoth (Elephas
primigenius), whose bones and recurved tusks are found
at intervals over the entire region. In the frozen soil of
* T. C. Chamberlin, Terminal Moraine of the Second Glacial Epoch. 3rd Ann.
Rep. U.S. Geol. Survey (1881-2), plate xxxi. Those who desire fuller information
regarding the Glacial Period should consult Dr. J. Geikie's Great Ice Age;
Lyell's Antiquity of Man; or Dr. Croll's Climate and Time.
1
}
LIFE FORMS.
141
Northern Asia his tusks are so abundant as to have
become an article of commerce.*
Next to the Mammoth comes the Mastodon, common
to both continents, and in both extinct. The Horse which
roamed over the American continent at the close of the
Pliocene period appears to have been exterminated, in
consequence, probably, of climatic changes. Reverting to
the European region, the plains and valleys, which were
free from snow, abounded in Bisons, Oxen (Bos primi-
genius), Stags of several species, including the noble
Megaceros (or "Irish Elk") and the Reindeer. With
these were herds of Horses, of several varieties, and of
the Musk Ox (Ovibos). The Carnivores were largely
represented by the Dog, the Lion, the Machairodus, the
Hyæna, the Bear and the Wolf; and of living Pachy-
derms, there were the Hippopotamus, the Rhinoceros,
and the Hog. The smaller animals now inhabiting the
land are also found in a sub-fossil state, such as Hares,
Weasels and Mice; while various Birds peopled
the air, such as the Eagle, Goose, Duck and Pigeon.
The Ostrich, which is found fossil in the Sewalik beds
of India, migrated into Africa during the Glacial epoch,
and has made that continent its home. The
Giraffe and the Camel are not found beyond the
Asiatic limits, and the former appears to have followed
with the great migration into the Southern continent.
* The Mammoth of Siberia possessed a woolly coat, as shown by an indi-
vidual preserved in the ice.
1
142
LIFE FORMS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
On the other hand, those animals to whom a cold
climate is suited, such as the Musk Ox and Reindeer,
have permanently retreated northwards into tracts.
bordering on the Arctic Circle. Such was the character
of the Fauna which, surviving from the Pliocene period,
maintained a struggling existence in those regions.
where the rigours of the climate and the absence of
snow and ice permitted. Many of the Carnivores, such
as the Cave Lion, the Cave Bear and Hyæna, took up
their abodes in the caves and underground river
channels which had been formed in limestone districts
from the Miocene period downwards, and their bones
and exuvia are found under the stalactite floors. Africa,
however, afforded a genial retreat for the more tropical.
forms, and the aboriginal tribes of Lemurs and small
Carnivores having been exterminated, it became what
it remains to this day, the abode of Monkeys, Elephants,
Hippopotami, Lions, Leopards, Giraffes, Zebras and
numerous Antelopes.
The Flora.-Of the Flora of the Glacial period it need
only be said, that as regards the British and European
areas, it is largely represented by that which is found
in the northern latitudes and higher mountains at the
present day. As for the remaining forms, while some
have died out, the vast majority are identical with those
now inhabiting the earth.
CLOSE OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
143
QUATERNARY PERIOD.`
(THE EPOCH OF MAN.)
Towards the close of the Glacial period a gradual
amelioration of the climate took place over the Northern
Hemisphere; while, at the same time, the relations of
land and sea approximated generally to those which are
now established. As the land rose from a state of
partial submergence, and the temperature became
warmer, the snow melted from off all but the higher
mountains, and the glaciers retreated up the valleys,
till (in some districts, such as the British Isles) they
altogether disappeared. Their effects and evidences,
however, remain; so that, amongst our mountain
groups, we behold the surfaces of the rocks ice-worn and
striated, erratic blocks widely dispersed, and numerous
moraines lining the sides of, or thrown across the centres
of the valleys themselves; thus sometimes damming up
the streams which descend from the heights and
forming lakes. By a similar agency, basins have been
hollowed out of the most solid rocks, and many a little
mountain tarn, whose presence high up amongst the
peaks and crags of our highlands fills us with surprise,
owes its existence to the abrading action of the glacier
I
144
THE QUATERNARY PERIOD.
which once filled its basin.* As the land rose, eskers
or kames and terraces of gravel were formed over the
plains, along the sides of the valleys, and along our
coasts; so that the ancient shore-line is often marked
by a cliff at a considerable distance inland from the
present high-tide line, and connected therewith by a
sloping terrace of shelly sand or gravel, once the
bed of the sea.t
At this epoch, man himself was an inhabitant of
our continents. At what exact period he first made his
appearance even in Europe is not fully determined.
His advent has been variously stated to date even from
Miocene times downwards; but after careful examina-
tion of the evidences adduced, this may be safely
rejected. We may go a step considerably in advance
and state that there is no unquestionable evidence of the
presence of man till towards the close of the Glacial
period itself. Man appears to have followed the track
of the retreating glaciers. The proof that he was
contemporary with the extinct Mammoth, the Cave
Hyena, the Cave Lion, and the Irish Elk, as well as with
animals which have disappeared from the European
area, is fully established.
A work of primæval art,
*On the subject of the glacial origin of lake basins, see Ramsay's Physical
Geography and Geology of Great Britain, 5th edit., p. 432.
+ Such terraces are very remarkable in Norway, Scotland, and the North of
Ireland. Old sea-stacks often rise like rugged pillars above the surface, and the
inland cliffs are penetrated by sea caves containing the bones of animals, &c.
↑ Le Conte, Elements of Geol., p. 592 (1885).
THE EPOCH OF MAN.
145
surpassing in antiquity those of ancient Egypt and
Assyria, has come down to us in the form of a piece
of reindeer-horn, on which has been traced in bold
and unmistakable lines the form of the Mammoth.
Towards the close of the Glacial epoch, the human race
issuing from its cradle in the East, overspread the
plains of Europe and of America. His weapons and
implements of the chase were fashioned out of flint,
basalt or porphyry, or of bone and horn. He was a mighty
hunter, and, probably by his agency many of the larger
animals were exterminated over extensive districts.
That he was also a fisherman is proved by the number
of fishing hooks of bone in the Perigord Caves;
and for protection he built himself dwellings over
the waters of the Swiss Lakes. He appears to have
entered Europe in several successive migrations,
the precursors of so many future invasions, and to have
overspread the lands with extraordinary rapidity.
Some writers have endeavoured to maintain the suc-
cessive migration of a more advanced race upon the
ruder aborigines, carrying more highly finished weapons
and implements, and ultimately supplanting the earliest
settlers; to the older, they have applied the term
Paleolithic," and to the newer, that of "Neolithic ;
but it is extremely questionable whether these dis-
tinctions can be maintained, as the various kinds of
works of art overlap each other, and various fashions
of weapons and implements of the chase may have co-
existed widely over Europe and other lands. As a recent
K
146
THE QUATERNARY PERIOD.
writer well observes, "rudeness of form is no evidence
of age,
"* and as a matter of fact, the manufacture of
stone weapons is a process which is still carried on in
remote districts of the world, as at Kadasseh on the
banks of the Nile. Generally speaking, however,
in prehistoric times the races of men, within
certain limits, may be indicated by the character
of their works of art, so that those who used
implements of stone were the predecessors of those who
used implements of bronze and iron. Much uncertainty,
however, hangs over the whole of the prehistorical
question regarding the appearance and habits of pri-
mæval man; still less have we any grounds on which
to form conclusions regarding his mental, moral and
spiritual capacities, and his relations to those more.
civilised races which, both in the old and new world,
have left us admirable proofs of high mental endow-
ments and of powers of constructive art.
RETROSPECt.
In looking back upon the past history of our globe
as sketched out in the preceding pages, it will be seen
* Sir J. W. Dawson, Egypt and Syria, p. 133 (1885).
On this point the human remains found in the Aurignac Cave in France,
described by M. Lartet, afford grounds for inferring that the aboriginal cave-
dwellers practised funereal rites, indicating a belief in immortality. Lartet,
Annales des Mines, Zoologic, t. xv., p. 177; Lyell, Antiquity of Man, p. 181.
RETROSPECT.
147
that since the period when its crust became consolidated
down to the advent of man, it has passed through a
succession of physical revolutions by which land and
sea have (to a greater or less extent) changed places;
and that, concurrently with these physical changes, the
animals and plants inhabiting its surface, or living in
its waters, have themselves given place, in a large
measure, to others of a higher organisation. Such
a history as this is only less interesting and worthy
of our study than are those events in which Man
himself has been the principal actor. The evolu-
tion of higher from lower forms has been a law
constantly in operation throughout, but not to the
extent of bringing about the total destruction of the
more simple forms. Thus it arises, that from the
Sponge or Foraminifer to Man himself, we have a
complete representation at the present day of all the
successive forms which, throughout the immensity of
geologic time, were evolved at successive intervals—a
sort of instantaneous panorama of the grand procession
of life in past time. In beholding this marvellous
outcome of organised existence on our globe, it calls
for no great demand upon our reasoning powers to
come to the conclusion, that such a result could only
have been arrived at through the exercise of an
Omnipotent Power outside and beyond this world of ours.
No application of the doctrine of chances can suffice to
explain the origin of successive forms of animal and
plant-life, with all their beauty, harmony and adapta-
148
RETROSPECT.
bility to the conditions of surrounding nature. The
views enunciated by Darwin and Wallace, and so
successfully illustrated by reference to living animals
and plants, have only opened up to us another of those
laws by which the Creator has guided and directed the
development of living beings towards definite and
evident ends. For, given matter, the principle of life,
and the laws which govern both, what would have been
the result in the absence of a governing and directing.
Power but simply the production of living monstrosities?
But even for all of these antecedents we have still to fall
back on the God of Nature, the Author and Giver of
life, or, in the words of the great Apostle: "Him in
Whom we live, and move, and have our being."
Having thus brought the geological narrative down
to the verge of history, I feel that my task is ended.
If the narrative is in some respects defective, I
have two reasons to urge in justification: first, that
the materials on which to construct such a narrative
are in themselves sometimes entirely wanting or often
deficient; and secondly, the limits necessarily imposed
upon me in writing this portion of an Universal History.
All I can ask is this: that it may be admitted, as far
as the evidence goes, that the narrative is faithful to the
facts of Geological History.
TABLE
OF
GEOLOGICAL PERIODS.
L
1
!
}
TABLE OF GEOLOGICAL PERIODS,
AND LIST OF COUNTRIES WHERE THE REPRESENTATIVE
STRATA ARE KNOWN TO EXIST.
THE ARCHÆAN OR AZOIC AGE.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARCHEAN ROCKS.
Western Hemisphere.
North America.
South America.
Eastern Hemisphere.
Spain.
British Isles.
Africa.
Asia.
Summary.
THE LOWER PALEOZOIC AGE
(THE AGE OF INVERTEBRATES.)
CAMBRIAN AND PRIMORDIAL PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS
AND DISTRIBUTION OF
AND PRIMORDIAL STRATA.
British Isles.
Europe.
Asia.
America.
THE CAMBRIAN
L*
152
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
:
SILURIAN PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
Asia.
Australia.
Africa.
North America.
South America.
$
THE SILURIAN
THE UPPER PALEOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF FISHES.)
DEVONIAN PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE DEVONIAN
STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
North America.
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD.
(THE AGE OF LABYRINTHODONTS.)
MINERAL CHARACTERS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS STRATA.
The Principal Coal-Fields of the World.
Europe and British Isles.
Asia.
Australia.
America.
PERMIAN PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PERMIAN STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
North America.
TABLE OF PERIODS.
THE MESOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF REPTILES.)
153
TRIASSIC PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRIASSIC STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
Asia.
South Africa.
North America.
Nova Scotia, &c. (Acadia).
JURASSIC PERIOD.
(THE AGE OF SAURIANS).
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE JURASSIC STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
Asia.
America.
Other Lands South of the Equator.
POSITION OF LAND AND SEA DURING THE JURASSIC PERIOD.
British and European Areas.
Northern and Central Africa, &c.
America.
1
CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE CRETACEOUS
STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
India.
Regions South of the Equator.
North America.
South America.
4
154
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.

Cen
THE CAINOZOIC AGE.
(THE AGE OF THE MAMMALS.)
EOCENE PERIOD.
(EPOCH OF NUMMULITES).
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE EOCENE STRATA.
Europe and British Isles,
Asia and Africa.
North America.
South America.
OLIGOCENE BEDS.
MIOCENE PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION or THE MIOCENE
STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
India.
North America.
PLIOCENE PERIOD.
MINERAL CHARACTERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PLIOCENE
STRATA.
Europe and British Isles.
India.
America.
:
I
TABLE OF PERIODS.
THE NEOZOIC AGE.
POST-PLIOCENE OR GLACIAL PERIOD.
(THE EPOCH OF THE MAMMOTH.)
SPECIAL EPOCHS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD.
DIVISIONS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD (BRITISH ISLES).
A.-The Earliest Epoch.
B. The Medial or Interglacial Epoch.
C.-The Latest Epoch.
QUATERNARY PERIOD.
(THE EPOCH OF MAN).
155
%
:
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
INDEX.
:
E
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
INDEX.
Abyssinia, Archæan rocks in, 29.
Acadia, absence of Permian beds
from, 77; Triassic beds in,
86, 87.
Aceratherium, 128.
Acidic rocks, 21.
Acrodus, 87, 99.
Acrogens during Carboniferous
period, 70, 72.
Actinozoa, during Cretaceous pe-
riod, 110, (see also Corals).
Egoceras planorbis, 99.
Africa, Archæan rocks in, 29, 30;
Silurian, 46, 47; connected
with India, 49; Triassic
character of the Karoo for-
mation in South Africa, 84;
Jurassic strata absent from, 97;
depression of Northern part
during Cretaceous period, 103;
elevation at close of this
pe-
riod, 113; Eocene strata in
the North, Nummulite lime-
stone of, 116; movements in
North Africa at close of Eocene
period, giving rise to present
physical features, 120, 121;
fauna during Pliocene period,
now represented by that of
Madagascar, 130; causes of
change, 131; migration of
animals from Europe into
Africa, 131; immigration of
present fauna, 142.
Agnostus, 37, 39.
Alleghany mountains, 25, origin of,
85.
Alps, 19, Western, 65; Triassic
rocks in, 83; Alpine lime-
stone, 91; Jurassic beds of,
92; Cretaceous strata of, 102,
104; Eocene strata of, 115,
116; upheaval at close of
Eocene period, 120; Miocene
strata, 122; Pliocene strata
unrepresented, 126; during
the Glacial period, 135.
America, N., Archæan rocks in, 25,
26; Primordial rocks of, 39;
Silurian, 47, 48; position du-
ring Silurian period, 49; De-
vonian beds conformable to
Silurian, 53; Devonian beds
of, 56, 57; flora during this
period, 59; Carboniferous
strata in, 61, 66, 67; submer-
gence of, 68; during Permian
period, 76, 77; fossils of, 79 ;
close of Palæozoic era, Tri-
assic strata, 85, 86, 87, 94;
Jurassic beds, poverty of fos-
sils and subordinate position
of, 94, 95; submergence of
Western and Southern por-
tions during Jurassic period,
97; submergence of central
portions during the Cretaceous
period, 107; fauna of, during
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
160
at
Cretaceous period, 108;
close of period depressed, 112;
Tertiary strata of, 117; Eo-
cene fossils, 118; upheaval
of Plateau region, 121; lake
deposits of Miocene period,
123; lake basins of Pliocene
period, 128; comparison of
Tertiary epoch with that of
Europe, 128, 129; during
Glacial period, formation of
ice-sheets, 135, 136; Intergla-
cial period, 137, 138; boulder
clay of second Glacial epoch,
140.
America, S., Archæan rocks in,
26; Silurian, 47; position
during Silurian period, 49;
Carboniferous rocks of, 67, 68;
Jurassic beds in, 95; land
area during Jurassic period,
97; Cretaceous rocks of, 107;
Tertiary strata of, 117.
Ammonites, 83, 93; characteristic
of Jurassic beds, 99; during
Cretaceous period, 109; Eo-
cene period, 113.
Ammonites hecticus, lunula, ferar-
matus, 93; radians, Walcotii,
Macrocephalus, 96; planorbis,
99; gigas, 99; Gardeni,
106.
Amphibians of Permian period, 78,
79.
Amphilestes, 98.
Amphitherium, 98.
Amphycion, 119.
Anas Enignensis, 124.
Anchyterium, 119.
Ancycloceras, 106, 109, 113.
Andes, 48, 95, 97.
Anisoceras rugatum, 106.
Annelida, 41; during Cretaceous
period, 110.
Annularias, zone of, 72.
Anthracomya, 71.
Anthracosia, 71.
Ape, appearance of, during Miocene
period, 123.
Appenines, Jurassic formations of,
93; Eocene strata on flanks
of, 116; Pliocene strata, 127.
Aporrhais, 110.
Appalachian mountains, 39, 56.
Arabia, submerged during Creta-
ceous period, 103; beds of this
period in, 104.
Arca, 99.
Archæopterix, 98.
Archaean (or Azoic) age, 23-35.
Archæan rocks, mineral charac-
ter and distribution of, 23-33;
in N. America, Laurentian of
Canada and in the United
States, 25, 26; in S. America,
26; Scandanavia, Lapland,
Central Europe, Spain, 27;
France, 28; British Isles, 28,
29; Africa, 29, 30; Asia, 31,
32.
Nature of Eozoon Canadense,
33, 34.
Submergence, denudation and
upheaval of, 40.
Arctic circle, flora during Miocene
period, 125.
Arctic land-area at close of Creta-
ceous period, 112.
Ardennes mountains, Primordial
rocks in, 37; Jurassic rocks of,
92.
Arenig beds, 43.
Argala, 128.
Armagh, boulder beds of Permian
period near, 75.
Asaphus, 45.
Asia, Archaean rocks in, 31, 32;
Primordial, 38; Silurian, 45,
46; condition during Silurian
period, 49; Carboniferous
rocks, 65; Triassic rocks,
83; Jurassic bed, 93; depres-
sion of central part during
Cretaceous period, 103; India
INDEX.
161
|
Bear, 141.
Beaver, remains of, in Miocene
strata, 124.
Belemnites end with Cretaceous
period, 109.
during Cretaceous period, 105,
106; elevation of Southern
portion at close of Cretaceous
period, 113; Eocene strata of,
116; movements at close of
Eocene period, developing Belemnites canaliculatus, 96.
present physical features of Belgium, unconformityof Devonian
Western Asia, 120; similarity beds in, 53; Calcaire de Givet
of fauna during Pliocene of, 55; Carboniferous series,
period in Asia and Europe, 129; basement beds of, 61; total
during Glacial period, 136, thickness, 61; coal field of,
137; Mammoth, 141.
63; Maestricht beds of, 102.
Asia Minor, 104.
Beluchistan, 84; Cretaceous beds.
Astarte, 99; A. Borealis, 126.
in, 105; great thickness of
Asteroidea, in Jurassic beds, 100,
Nummulitic limestone, 116.
Asterolepis, 57.
Benguela, 30.
Asterophyllites, 72.
Asturias, coal field of, 64.
Atlantic, bed of during Silurian
period, 50; land during Tri-
assic period, 88; calcareous
ooze of, 103.
Atlantis, ancient, 68.
Australia, Silurian rocks in, 46;
Carboniferous rocks of, 65,
66; Jurassic beds in, 95;
representatives of Jurassic pe-
riod still surviving in, 98.
Autun, 74.
Auvergne mountains, 28.
Avicula, 99.
Azoic age-see Archæan age..
Baikal mountains, 32.
Barrande, 27; researches on fauna
of Primordial beds of Bohemia,
38.
Basalt, nature of, 21.
Basic class of rocks, 21.
Bhabeh series in Thibet, 38, 45.
Birds, with teeth in Jurassic
period, 98; remains of, during
Cretaceous period, 108; true
birds during Eocene period,
119; in Miocene period, 124;
during the latest period, 141.
Bisons, 141.
Blocks, erratic, 143.
Boemer Wald, Archæan rocks
in, 27; not submerged during
Jurassic period, 92.
Bohemia, Primordial beds of, 37;
importance of these beds,
38; Silurian beds, 45; fishes
in, 52; Carboniferous beds,
64; coal field of, 74; Permian
beds in, 76; amphibian
remains of Permian period, 79.
Bolivia, during the period of the
Jura-Trias, 97.
Bonn, Devonian
near, 55.
Bos Primigenius, 141.
Bothriospondylus, 98.
beds exposed
Bat, remains of, in Miocene strata, Boulder beds of Permian age, 75;
I24.
Bathygnathus borealis, 87.
Bavaria, Permian beds in, 76;
highlands of during Jurassic
period, 97.
distribution of, 125, 133.
Boulder clay, lower, 134; upper,
139, 140.
Bovey Tracy, beds of, 122.
Brazil, Laurentian rocks in, 26;
..
162
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
1
of
coal beds and fossils
Carboniferous age, 67; scanti-
ness of Tertiary strata, 117.
Brachiopods in Primordial beds,
38, 41; in Silurian beds, 51;
in Jurassic beds, 100; plenti-
ful during Cretaceous period,
IIO.
British Isles, Archæan rocks of,
28, 29; Cambrian and Primor-
dial strata of, 36, 37; Silurian
strata of, 43, 44, 45; Devonian
period, 54, 55; Carboniferous
series in. 61, 62; submergence
during Carboniferous period,
68; Permian beds in, uncon-
formable to Carboniferous,
74; character and divisions
of Permian strata, 75; con-
dition during Permian period,
78;
beds of the Trias, absence
of the Muschelkalk, 81;
cause of, 82; marine con-
ditions during Jurassic period,
89, 96; distribution of Jurassic
strata, 91; during Cretaceous
period, 103; submergence of,
at close of this period, 112;
Eocene beds, 115; volcanic
action during Miocene period,
121; scantiness of Miocene
strata, 122; physical features
now formed, 125; little change
during Pliocene period, 126;
life of during Pliocene period,
130; Glacial period, 133, 134,
135; ice sheet of, 136; Inter-
glacial period, 137; submerg-
ence during, 138; formation of
upper boulder clay, 139; in
Quaternary period, 145.
Brittany, 28; Devonian beds in, 55.
Bronteus, 58.
Brunswick,
New, 39; coal
measures in, 67; Trias in,
86.
Bulinima, 110.
|
Bundelkhand series in India, 31.
Bunter sandstone, lower division
of the Trias, SI.
Cainozoic age, or age of mammals,
113-132.
Caithness strata, 55.
Calamites, 52, 59, 63;
(see
zone of,
72; of Permian period, 79.
Calcaire de Givet, 55.
Calymene, 45.
Cambrian period, 35-42
Primordial period).
Cambrian rocks of Britain, 36, 37.
Camel, 141.
Cameloparadalis, 128.
Canada, ice-sheet of, 136.
Canis, 127.
Cañon Grand, 94.
Cantabrica Sierra, Devonian beds
of, 55.
Town,
Cape
near, 47.
Silurian rocks
Capra, 128.
Caprina, IIO.
Caprotina, 110.
Carboniferous period, 59, 73;
specially characterized by
flora, 59; formation of coal
from remains of, 60; mineral
characters of; sedimentary
beds in Carboniferous lime-
stone, 61; millstone grit and
Yoredale series, 62; coal
formation, uniformity of; con-
ditions and climate during this
period, 62, 63; distribution of
Carboniferous strata, 63-68;
coal fields in Europe, 63-65 ;
Asia, 65; Australia, 65, 66;
America, 66, 67, 68; distri-
bution of land and water
during the period, 68, 69;
volcanic phenomena of, 69,
70; life forms of, 70–73.
Carboniferous limestone, 61.
Cardiodon, 98.
INDEX.
Cardium, 82, 110; Cardium Rhæti-
сит, до.
Carinthia, Silurian rocks in Alps
of, 45.
Carnivores, 119, 124, 127, 129, 141.
Carolina, N., coal beds of, 86.
Carpathian mountains, Devonian
beds of, 55; Permian forma-
tions in, 76; Jurassic strata,
93; Cretaceous limestone of,
104; Eocene strata of, 116; at
close of Eocene period, 120.
Cassian, St., beds of, 83.
Catskill beds, 56.
163
China, Archæan rocks in, 32;
Primordial rocks of, 38;
Silurian rocks in north of, 46;
Carboniferous strata largely
represented in North, 65.
Chatetes, 38, 45.
Civet, 119, 124.
Clay, Oxford and Kimmeridge, 90;
London, 115,-see Boulder.
Cleveland hills, 91.
Coal, formation and occurrence
60-62.
Coal-fields, 63-68; of Triasssic
period, 84, 86.
Coccosteus, 57.
Canopithecus lemuroides, 119.
Caucasus, Jurassic strata of, 93; Coleoptera, during Carboniferous
Glaciers of, 135, 137.
Cave animals, 142, 144.
Caves of Perigord, 145.
Cephalaspis, 57.
Cephalopoda in Primordial rocks,
41, 42; in Devonian, 58; in
the Trias, 87; characteristic
of Cretaceous period, 109.
Ceratites, 82, 84, 87.
Ceratodus, 87, 95.
Cerithium, 99, 110.
Cervis Anoceras, 126.
Cervus, 128.
Cetiosaurus, 98.
Ceylon, 97.
Chalk, composition of, 103.
Chalk, lower, of the Cretaceous
strata, 102.
Chalk, upper, of the Cretaceous
strata, 102.
Chama, 119.
Chamois, 124.
Champlain period, the, 139.
Cheiracanthus, 57·
Cheirurus, 45, 58.
Chelonidæ, 99.
Chely's, 99.
Chemnitzia, 99.
period, 71; during Jurassic
period, 100.
Colorado, 94.
Columbia, 107.
Como, lake, 92.
Conchifers, 88.
Conifers appear in Devonian pe-
riod, 59; in Carboniferous
period, 72; of Permian period,
79; of the Triassic period, 88;
of Jura sic period, 100; in
Cretaceous period, III; of
Miocene period, 124.
Conocephalus, 39.
Conus, 119.
Cooling of earth, 19.
Corals, appearance in Silurian pe-
riod, 42, 51; abound in Devo-
nian period, 58; in Carbon-
iferous period, 71; of the
Trias, 83; of Jurassic period,
100; of Cretaceous period,
IIO.
Cordaites, 72.
Cordilleras (American), Laurentian
rocks in, 26.
Cordova, 28.
Corniferous stage, 56.
rocks in, 26; Cosmoceras ornatum, 93.
Chili, Laurentian rocks
Jurassic beds in, 97.
Cotteswold hills, 91.
164
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
Crag, red coralline and Norwich, | Cycads, 84; of Trias, 88; in
126.
Creosaurus, 95.
Cretaceous period, 101-112.
Rocks of, unconformity with
those of Jurassic period;
break, 101, 102; mineral
characters and distribution of
strata, 102, 108; divisions of,
102, 103; distribution in
Europe,103,104 ; in India, 104;
in regions south of equator,
106; in N. America, 106; in
South America, 107.
Life forms of, 108, 109; sub-
mergence of British Isles at
close of Cretaceous period,
112; genera of period which
disappear with it, 113.
Crinoids, appearance in Silurian
period, 42; in Carboniferous
period, 71; of the Muschel-
chalk, 82; during Jurassic
period, 100; of Cretaceous
period, 110; during Eocene
period, 119.
Crioceras, 109, 113.
Cristellaria, IIO.
Crocodilians, 95, 98, 118, 124.
Crust of the earth, original, 20,
24.
Crustacea in Primordial rocks, 41;
in Silurian period, 51; in
Devonian period, 58; in Car-
boniferous period, 71; during
Jurassic period, 100; of Cre-
taceous period, 110.
Cryptogams, cellular, in Silurian
period, 52; vascular in Devo-
nian, 52; in Carboniferous
period, 72.
Cryptosaurus, 98.
Cuculloa oblonga, 96.
Culm, the Zone of Saxony, 72.
Cumberland, Silurian rocks in, 44.
Culch, Jurassic beds of, 93; Cre-
taceous beds of, 104.
|
|
Jurassic period, 100; in Cre-
taceous period, III; dis-
appearance in Miocene period,
124.
Cyclas, 71.
Cynodon, 119.
Cynopithecus, 127.
Cypricardia, 99.
Cyprus, 127.
Cyrena, 119.
Cyrtoceras præcox, 42.
Cytherea, 119.
Dagh beds, 105.
Dakota, 25; Black hills of, 39, 94.
Damuda Upper, beds of, 84.
Dana, 391, 48, 50, 501, 66, 9711.
Danish Stage, 102.
Danube, the, 97.
Darling, river, 106.
Dasyceps Bucklandi, 78.
David's Head, St., rocks of, 37.
Deccan, the, traps of, 105.
Deer in the Pliocene period, 129.
Denbighshire grits, 52.
Density of the earth, 22.
Dentalia, I10.
Derbyshire, volcanic rocks of, 70.
Derry, mountains of, 138.
Devonian period, 53-59.
Silurian
Transitional between
and Carboniferous, 53; Upper
and lower old red sand-
stone, 54.
Strata in Europe and British
Isles, 54, 55; in North Amer-
ica, 56, 57; in Australia, 66 ;
represented in China by Tung-
ting series, 46.
Life forms of, earliest fishes
in America, 52; age of fishes,
57; flora, of 59.
Devonshire, 54, 54, 55; Carbɔni-
INDEX.
165
ferous strata in, 61; beds of | Egypt, Granitoid rocks of, 29; Cre-
Bovey Tracey, 122.
Diameter of the earth, 17, 18.
Diatoms, 104.
Dicotyledons,
III,
Dicynodon, 86.
Dicatherium, 123.
appearance
Dikelocephalus, 38.
Dicynodonts, 87.
Dimorphodon, 98.
Dinichthys, 58.
Dinocerata, 118.
Dinornis, 98.
Dinosaurians, 861, 98, 108.
Dinotherum, 124.
Discina, 100.
Discosaurus, 109.
Dog, 141.
Dolomite, 75, 83.
Domingo, St., island of, 107.
Don, coal district of, 65.
Donegal, 29.
Dor, Mount, 28.
Dorea Baltea, moraines of, 136.
Dorset, coast of, 91.
of,
Dnieper, coal district of, 65.
Drance, valley of, deposits of,
138.
Dresden, 64, 79.
Dromæus, 128.
Dublin, mountains, of, 44.
Dunton, Post-pliocene remains at,
138.
Durocher, classification of igneous
rocks, 21.
Dyas, 75.
Eagle, 141.
Echini, 104.
Echinoderms during Permian
period, 79; Jurassic, 100;
Cretaceous, 103; of India
during Miocene period, 123.
taceous beds of, 104; Num-
mulitic limestones of, 116;
physical features of, receive
their present form during
Miocene period, 120;
Shell-
beds of Pliocene period, 127.
Eifel, the, during the Triassic
period, 82.
Elephant, 127, 129, 132, 138.
Elephas, primigenius, (mammoth),
140.
Elk, 129.
Elm, the, 124.
•
in,
Enaliosaurus, 87, 98, 108.
Encrinus liliiformis, 82. 88.
England, Cambrian rocks in, 37;
Silurian formations of, 44;
condition during Silurian
period, 49; Devonian beds in,
53; old red sandstone, 54,
55; Carboniferous limestone
of, 61; millstone grit, 62
coal measures of, 62, 63;
volcanic phenomena
during Carboniferous period,
70; Permian beds of, 74, 75;
condition of, during Permian
period, 78; Triassic period, 81,
82; rocks of Triassic period,
90, 91; condition of, during
Jurassic period, 96; Creta-
ceous system, 102, 103; during
Eocene period, 115; during
Miocene period, 120, 122;
beds of Pliocene period, 126;
early Glacial episodes in, 133;
divisions of Glacial period in,
134; boulder clays of, 137,
139; flora and fauna during
the Glacial period, 142.
Eocene period, disappearance of
old and appearance of new
forms, 113; mineral charac-
ter and distribution of Eocene
strata, 114; basins of Europe,
the Paris basin, Eocene strata
M
166
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
in the Alps, 115; in Libya and
Asia Minor, 116; in Egypt and
Central Asia, 116; represented
by the Laramie beds of North
America, 117; in South
America, 117; life forms of,
age of mammals, 118; Num-
mulites, 119; drainage of the
Eocene lakes, 121.
Eozoon Canadense, 34.
Equador, 107.
Equisetaceæ, 88, 100, III.
Equus, 127, 128, 141.
Erie lake, Devonian beds of, 56,
140.
Erratic blocks, 133.
Estheria minuta, 82.
Eucalyptus, 112.
Eurypterus, 51, 58.
Exogens, 11O.
Evolution of animate forms, 147.
Felis, 127, 130.
Ferns, 72; of the Trias, 88; of the
Jurassic period, 100; of the
Cretaceous period, 111; in
III;
Miocene period, 125.
Felsite, 26.
Felstone, 43·
Fig, 112.
Finland, 27.
Fishes, appearance of at end of
Silurian period, 51; in Devon-
ian period, 54; in America,
56; age of, 57, 59; during
Carboniferous period, 71; Per-
mian period, 79; of the Trias,
82, 87; during Jurassic pe-
riod, 99; Cretaceous period,
109.
Flints, 104.
France, Silurian rocks in, 44;
coal-fields of, 64; Muschel-
kalk in, 81; during the Trias-
sic period, 82; Jurassic strata,
90, 91, 92; Cretaceous strata
of, 102;
volcanic action in
during Miocene period, 121.
Franconia, Devonian strata in, 55.
Frogs, 124.
Fucoidea in Silurian period, 52.
Fusus, 110.
Gadam, Mount, 30.
Gaj group, 122, 123.
Gallicia, 28.
Ganoid fishes, 51, 57, 71, 99.
Ganodus, 49.
Garo, Cretaceous beds of, 105.
Gault, 102.
Gasteropods, 83, 87, 99, 110.
Geneva, lake of, 122, 135, 139.
Germany, Permian beds of, 75;
Muschelkalk of, 79; during
Triassic period, 82.
Gervillia, 99.
Gibraltar, straits of, 131.
Givet, Calcaire de, 55.
Giraffe, 141.
Glacial period, during Permian
period; traces of early Glacial
episodes, 133; approach of
the, 131; account of the, 132-
142
Glaciation of rocks, 133.
Glaciers, 155; of the Himalayas,
136; of Lebanon, 137; of
British Isles, 139; effect of
143.
Glossopteris, 66.
Glyptolepis, 57.
Gneiss, 26, 27, 30, 32, 36.
Florida during Cretaceous period, Gondwana series, 84, 93.
107.
Foraminifera, 41, 79, 100, 103, III.
Footprints, 86.
Goose, 121, 124.
Granite, 20, 31, 38.
Granada, 28.
INDEX.
1
167
;
Graptolites, 51, 58.
Gravels of Glacial period, 137, 138,
139.
Green river basin, 100.
Greenland during Carboniferous
period, 68; Cretaceous period,
II2.
Greensand, 102, 106.
Gresslya, 99; G. donaciformis, 96.
Grinnel land, 125.
Griqualand, Silurian beds in, 47.
Gryphæa, 89.
Guiana, 26.
Hippurites, 104, 110; disappear-
ance of, 113.
Hog, 141.
Homocercal fishes, 82.
Hönan, province of, Carboniferous
rocks of, 65.
Hornbeam, the, 112.
Hornblende, 27, 30, 32, 38.
Horse, descent of, 129, 141,—see
Equus.
Hö-shan mountains of China, 32.
Hundes district, 45.
Hungary, Eocene beds of, 115.
Gypsum in the Keuper beds of Hundsdrück, the, 55, 64, 82.
Trias, 82, 86.
Huronian strata, 25.
Hyæna, 124, 127, 130, 141, 142.
Hyænarctus, 127.
Hyænodon, 123, 127.
Hybodus, 87, 99.
Haleronis toleoficus, 119.
Halobia, 84.
Hamites, 109.
Hampshire, Eocene beds of, 115,
119.
Hare, the, 141.
Harlech grits, 371.
Harz Mountains, Devonian strata
of, 55; during the Triassic
period. 82.
Hebrides, Azoic rocks of, 29.
Hereford, Devonian beds of, 57.
Hesperornis regalis, 108.
Heterocercal fishes of Permian
period, 79.
Hiatus, between Upper and Lower
Devonian systems, 54; be-
tween Cretaceous and Jurassic,
102; between Cretaceous and
Eocene, 114.
Highlands, Scottish, Lacustrine
beds of, 36; Silurian rocks of,
44; during Jurassic period,
96.
Himalayas, the, Silurian beds of,
45, 49; Triassic beds of, 84;
Jurassic, 94; glaciers of, 136.
Hipparion, 128, 129.
Hippopotamus, 128, 129, 132, 141.
Hydrozoa, SI.
Hystrix, 128.
Ice-Sheet, 135, 136.
Ichthyopterix, 98.
Ichthyornis, 108.
Icthyosaurus, 95, 98.
Iguanon, 98.
Illanus, 45.
Illinois, the Permian beds of, 79.
India, rocks of great antiquity in,
31; Silurian rocks in, 49,
Palæozoic and Mesozoic pe-
riods in, 84; Jurassic beds in,
93, 94; during Cretaceous pe.
riod, 105; Nummulitic beds
of, 116; Miocene strata in,
122; Pliocene strata in, 127;
during the glacial epoch, 141.
Indian Ocean, the, 103.
Inocerami, 105, 110.
Insectivores of the Eocene strata,
II8.
Insects of the Jurassic period, 100.
Inter-Glacial epoch, the, 138, 139.
Invernesshire, shell beds in, 138.
i
168
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
during
Ireland, Archæan rocks in, 28;
Carboniferous strata in, 70;
Permian strata in, 75; Juras-
sic strata in, 91;
Jurassic period, 96; Miocene
strata in, 122; during the
Glacial period, 137.
Iris, the, 124.
Isocardia, IIO.
Jersey, New, Cretaceous beds of,
107.
Jordan-Arabah Valley, the, 120.
Juras, the, 90, 92; glaciers of, 135.
Jurassic period (age of Saurians),
the, 89-101; history of, 89,
90; mineral characters of, 90,
91; in Europe, 91, 92; Asia,
93, 94; America, 94, 95;
Australia, etc., 95, 96; position
of land and sea during, 96,
97; fauna of, 97, 98, 99, 100;
flora of, 100, 101.
Kadasseh, stone weapons made at,
146.
Kamstchatka, metamorphic beds
in, 32.
Kansas, Permian beds in, 76.
ferous and Devonian beds in,
66.
Kimmeridge clay, 90.
Knorria, 65.
Labrador, Silurian strata in, 49,
68; during the Glacial period,
136.
Labyrinthodont Amphibians, 70,
71; of the Permian period, 78;
Triassic period, 82; in the
Triassic strata, 87; in the
Cretaceous strata, 11O
Lacerta, 98.
Lacertians (Lizards), 87.
Lacertilians, 108.
Lake District, the, during the Jur-
Lamellibranchs, the, 41, 83, 99.
assic period, 96.
Lancashire, the coal-measures of,
62.
Lapland, Archæan rocks in, 27.
Laopteryx, 98.
Laramie Beds," the, of Colorado,
117.
Laurel, the, 124.
Laurentian rocks, 25, 26; mount-
ains, 136.
Lausanne, Eocene
115.
Laversines, 102.
Layornis, 98.
strata near,
Karachi, the Miocene strata at, Lebanon, mountains of, 120; dur-
123,
Karoo formation, the, in Africa, 84,
106.
Kashmere, Silurian rocks in, 45;
Triassic strata in Northern,
84.
Keuper division, the, of the Trias-
sic strata, 82; rock salt in,
82; of the Stuttgard, 88.
Khasi, Cretaceous beds at, 105.
Kiltorcan beds, the, in Ireland, 59.
Kimberley District, the, Carboni-
|
ing Glacial period, 137, 137.
Leda, 93, 99; L. artica, 139.
Leguminosa, 124.
Lemurs, the, 118, 142.
Leopards, the, 142.
Lepidodendron in America, 59, 66,
72; velthermianum, 72; of the
Permian period, 79.
Lepthyana, 127.
Lepus, 128.
Levant, Pliocene strata round the,
127.
!
!
INDEX.
Liassic division, the, of the Juras- | Madras, Jurassic beds in, 93.
sic strata, 90; in the British
Isles, 91; fossils of, 98, 99.
Libyan deserts, Eocene strata in
the, 116.
Lilies, 124.
Lima, 82; L. ostraca, 99, IIO.
Limerick, volcanic phenomena of,
70.
Limestone, absence of, among the
primordial sediments, 36; in
Devonshire, 55; Carboniferous,
61, 65, 71; of the Permian
period, 75; magnesian, 77;
in the Triassic strata, 84;
Alpine, 91; Oolitic, 91; Num-
mulite, 114.
Lingula acuminata, 39.
169
Maestricht beds, the, of Belgium,
102.
Magnesian limestone, 77.
Magnolia, the, 112.
Malta, 132.
I
Mammals of the Permian period,
79; of the Triassic period, 88;
the age of, 113-132; of the
Eocene strata, 118; of the
Pliocene strata, 126.
Mammoth, epoch of the, 132;
bones of the, 136, 140, 145.
Man, 143-146.
Maple, the, 124.
Marl, new red (Keuper Mergel), 81
Mastodon, the, 124; arvernensis
126, 128, 129, 141.
Linz during the Jurassic period, Marsupials in the Jurassic period,
97.
Lion, the, 141, 142.
Liriodendron, the (tulip tree), 112.
Lithornis Vulturinus, 119.
Littorina, 99.
Living forms, first appearance of,
40.
Lizards, 87; of the Jurassic period,
98; of the Eocene period, 118;
of the Miocene period, 124.
Lombardy, Miocene strata in, 122;
glaciers of, 135.
London clay, 115.
Lophiodon, 119.
95, 98; of the Eocene period,
118.
"Mauvaises Terres," the, 128.
Mayo, Archæan rocks in, 29.
Mediterranean Sea, the, 121, 131.
Mediterranean Sea, the, of Ame-
rica, 107.
Megaceros, 141.
Megalosaurus, 98.
Megaloscelornis, 128.
Mellivorae, 127.
Mellivorodon, 127.
Melville Island, the coal forma-
tions of, 63.
Ludlow beds, the; earliest fishes Menodus, 123.
in, 52.
Lutra, 127.
Lycopods, 63.
Lycopodacea, 52.
Macacus, 127.
Macclesfield Hills, the, 138.
Machærodus, 127, 130, 141.
Madagascar, Archæan rocks in,
30; Jurassic beds in, 95;
fauna of, 130, 131.
Merostomata," the, 58.
Mesohippus, 123.
Mesozoic age, the (age of reptiles),
So-112; Triassic period, 80-
89; Jurassic period, 89-101;
Cretaceous period, 101-112.
Metamorphic rocks, origin of, 25.
Meudon, Speeton clay at, 102.
Mexico, New, Permian beds in,
76, 79; Jurassic beds in, 94;
Eocene beds in, 117.
Microlestes, 88,
Millstone grit, 62.
170
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
Miocene period, the history of, | Nautilus bidorsalis, 82; N. semi-
120, 121; mineral characters
of, 122; in India, 122, 123;
America, 123; fauna of, 123,
124; flora of, 124, 125.
Miohippus, 123.
Mitra, 119.
Modiola minimna, 89, 99.
Molasse," the, 122, 124.
Molluscs, the, of the Carboniferous
period, 71; of the Permian
period, 79; of the Triassic
strata, 82; of the Jurassic
period, 99; of the Cretaceous
period, 110.
Monocotyledons of the Miocene
period, 124.
Monodonta, 99.
Moon, the former proximity of, to
earth, and effects of, 23.
Moraines, 133.
Moravia, Permian strata in, 76;
during the Jurassic period, 97.
Morotherium, 128.
Mus, 128.
Muschelkalk of the Triassic strata,
81; absent in the British Isles,
81, 82; Alpine, 83; fauna of,
87; of Germany, 88.
Musk Ox, the, 129, 141, 142.
Mustela, 127.
Muth, Silurian series of, 45.
Myacites, 99.
Myrtle, the, 112, 124.
Mytilus, 99.
Narbada Valley, Cretaceous beds
in, 105.
"Nari Beds," the, of India, 123.
Natal, Triassic strata in, 84.
Natica, 99, 110.
Naticella, 87.
Nautali, 105.
|
striatus. 96.
Nebraska, Laurentian, rocks in,.
26; Miocene strata in, 123.
Neolithic period, 145.
Neozoic age, the, 132-146; the
Glacial period, history of, 132–
134; earliest epoch of, 135-
137; medial epoch, 137-139;
latest epoch, 139, 149; fauna
of, 140-142; flora of, 142.
Neuroptera, 71.
Nevada, coal formations in, 62;
basins of, 128.
Newfoundland, Silurian rocks in,
47; Carboniferous strata in,
67.
New York, Silurian rocks around,
47.
Nile, valley of the, 120; stone
weapons made in, 146.
Niobrara Basin, the, 128.
| Nodosaria, 110.
Norfolk during Jurassic period,
96.
Normandy, Jurassic strata in, 92.
Norway, Primordial rocks in, 37;
Silurian rocks in, 44; Gla-
ciers of, 135.
Norwich Crag, the, 126.
Noursoak, the fauna of the Cre-
taceous period at, 112.
Nova Scotia, Silurian rocks in,
47; Carboniferous rocks in,
67; the Permian period un-
represented in, 77; Triassic
strata in, 86.
Nubian Sandstone,
the, 104;
Eocene strata in the Nubian
Deserts, 116.
Nucula Cobboldiæ, 126.
Nummulites, epoch of, 113-120;
Limestone, 114; beds in the
Alps, 115; limestone of
Egypt, 116; foraminifera, 119.
Nautili of the Cretaceous period Nummulites lævigata, variolaria,
109.
scabra, Lamarki, 115.
1
INDEX.
:
171
Nuremberg, Jurassic strata in,
92.
Oak, the, 112, 124.
period, 124, 129; of the Gla-
cial period, 141.
Paleolithic period, 145.
Palæoniscus, 79.
Palæopithecus, 127.
Palæopteris, 52; Hibernica, 59.
Obelisks, the, made of granite Palæotherium, 119, 124.
of Nile valley, 29.
Odontornithes, 108.
Okota, Archæan rocks in, 30.
Olenus, 37; of the Primordial pe-
riod, 41.
Oligocene beds, 119, 120.
Oliva, 119.
Onchus, 57.
Oolitic division, the, of the Trias-
sic strata, go; Limestone, 91.
Ophileta, 39.
Ophiuroidea (brittle stars), 100.
Opis, 100.
Oregon basin, the, 128.
Oreodon, 123.
Palæozoic age, the lower (age of
invertebrates), 35-52; Cam-
brian and Primordial period,
35-42; Silurian period, 42–52.
Palæozoic age, the upper (age of
fishes), 53-79; Devonian pe-
riod, 53-59; Carboniferous
period, 59-73; Permian pe-
riod, 73-79; close of the, 74,
So.
Palestine, Cretaceous limestone
in, 104; Eocene strata in,
116; hills of, 120; Pliocene
strata in, 127.
Palms, 124.
Organised forms, earliest evidence Paludina carinifera, 101.
of, 35.
Orinoco, the, 117.
Oriskany Sandstone," the, in
North America, 56:
Orthis Lenaica, 32, 45.
Orthoceras, 39; sericeum, 42; in the
Triassic strata, 84.
Orthoceratites, 83.
Orthoptera, 71.
Osteolepis, 57.
Ostrea, IIO.
Ostrich, the, 141.
Otter, the, 124.
Oural mountains, the, Silurian
rocks in, 44; Permian strata
in, 76.
Oxen, 141.
Oxford clay, 90.
Panopica Norwegica, 126.
Paradoxides, 37; of the Primordial
period, 41.
Paris, tertiary basin of, 92; lime-
stone in, 115; Oligocene
beds in the basin of, 119.
Patagonia, Eocene strata in, 117.
Patella, 99.
Pecopteris, 84.
Pecten lævigatus, 82; valoniensis,
89, 93; cinctus, 96, 99, 11O.
Pelecanus, 128.
Pennsylvania
coal-measures of,
Permian strata in, 76.
Pentacrinus, the, in the Jurassic
period, 100.
Perigord caves, the, 145.
Perm, province of, 74,
Oxfordshire, the Stonesfield slate Permian period, the 73-79; in the
of, 98.
Pachyderms, the, of the Miocene
British Isles, 75; in Europe
and North America, 76, 77;
distribution of land and sea
during, 77; fauna of, 78, 79;
flora of, 79.
172
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
Permo-Carboniferous period, the,
80.
Peru, Laurentian rocks in, 26;
Cretaceous strata in, 107.
Phacops, 58.
Phascolotherium, 98.
Pholadomya, 100.
LC
|
Portland, the Isle of, forest bed
in, 101.
Portugal, Archæan rocks in, 28.
Post-Pliocene period, see Glacial
period.
Potsdam Sandstone, the, of
Canada, 42.
Pickwell Down sandstone," the, Primordial period, the mineral
54.
Pictou, Carboniferous rocks in,
67.
Piedmont, Alps of, 122.
Pig, the, 118.
Pigeon, the, 141.
Pilsen, the Permian beds in, 79.
Pinna, 99.
Placodus, 87.
Placoid fishes, 51; of
the
characters of, 35, 36; in
Europe, 37; Asia, 38;
America, 39; life forms of, 41.
Prince Edward's Island, Triassic
strata in, 86, 87.
Procamelus, 128.
Productus, 66; semireticulatus, 84.
Protohippus, 128.
Protozoa, the, of the Primordial
period, 41.
Carboniferous period, 71; of Prussia during Glacial period, 136.
the Jurassic period; 98.
Plane-Tree, the, 112, 124.
Plateau, the central, of France,
Archæan rocks in, 28.
Plateau region, the, of America,
121.
Platysomus, 79.
Plesiosaurus, 98.
Pleuromya, 100.
Pleurotomaria, 99, 110.
Plicatula, 99.
in
Pliocene period, the history of,
125, 126; mineral characters
of, 126; unrepresented in
Switzerland, 126, 127;
India, 127; Mammalia of, 127,
128; in America, 128, 129;
fauna of, 129-132.
Pliohippus, 128, 129.
Pliosaurus, 98.
Plutonic rocks, origin of, 21.
Polyzoans of the Cretaceous period,
IIO.
Pomacea, 124.
"
Psamite du Condroz," the, of
Belgium, 55.
Psilophyton, 59.
Pteraspiş, 57.
Pterichthys, 57.
Pterodactylus, 95, 98.
Pteropoda, the, in the Primordial
period, 41.
Pterosaurs, 108.
Pterygotus, 51, 58.
Punjab hills,
the, cretaceous
strata in, 105.
Pupa Vetusta, 71.
Purbeck formation, the, 101.
Pyramids, the, 116.
Pyrenees, Jurassic strata in the,
93; Eocene beds in the, 116;
glaciers of the, 135.
Quadrumana, the, of the Eocene
Strata, 119; of the Miocene
strata, 123.
Pondicherry, Cretaceous beds in, Quaternary period (of man), 143.
104.
Poplar, the, 112.
Portland beds, the, 99.
Queensland, Silurian rocks in, 46;
Carboniferous strata in, 66;
Jurassic beds in, 95.
1
INDEX.
173
Radiolites, IIO.
Rainpitted sandstone of America,
of the Triassic age, 86.
Rakowitz, Permian beds in, 79.
Rauche Alb, the, Archæan rocks
in, 27.
Red sandstone,
"L
Upper" and
Lower," 54; the Old of
Scotland, 57.
Roebuck, the, 124.
| Rosacea, unrepresented in the
Miocene period, 125.´
Rosalina, 110.
Rostellaria, 106.
Rotalina, 11O.
Rothe-todte-liegende, the, of the
Permian strata in Germany,
75.
Regensburg, the Jurassic strata in, Rothliegende in Bavaria, 76.
92.
Reindeer, the, 129, 142.
Reptiles, the Thecodont, 78; the
Theromorphous, 79; of the
Cretaceous period, 108.
Rhætic passage beds, 89, 90; in
Ireland, 91.
Rhamphocephalus, 98.
128;
Rhinoceros, Sivalensis, 123, 124;
Schliermacheri, 126,
Etruscus, 129, 138, 141.
Rhizomys, 128.
Rhizopods, 103.
Rhone Valley, glaciers of the, 135,
139.
Rhynchonella, 96, 100, 110; psit-
tacea, 126.
Rhynchosaurus, 87.
Richmond, Carboniferous rocks
of, 67; coal-fields of, probably
of Triassic age, 86.
Riesen-gebirge, the Permian strata
in, 76.
Rio de la Plata, the, 117.
Rio Grande basin, the, 128.
Ripple marked sandstone, the, of
the Triassic strata of America,
86.
Rochelle, La, Jurassic strata in, 92.
Rock basins, 133.
Rock salt, 82.
Rocky Mountains, Triassic strata
in, 85; the "Mediterranean
Sea" of America in, 107.
Rodents of the Eocene period, 118;
of the Miocene period, 124;
of the Pliocene period, 128.
Ruminants of the Miocene strata,
124; of the Pliocene strata,
129.
Russia, Silurian rocks in, 44;
Devonian beds in, 55; Per-
mian period in, 74; Permian
beds of Central, 78; Jurassic
strata in, 93; during the Gla-
cial period, 136.
Saarbrück district of Prussia, the,
62; coal field of, 64.
Sagenaria, 59.
Salamanca, Archæan rocks in,
28.
Salamanders, the, 124.
Salt range, Jurassic beds in the,
94.
Salzburg, Jurassic strata in, 92.
Sand beds of the Glacial period,
134.
Sandstone of the Permian period
in England, 75; New Red
of the Triassic strata, 8I.
Saurians, marine and beaked, in
the Triassic strata, 87; the
age of (Jurassic period), 89;
the characteristic fauna of the
Jurassic period, 98.
Saxony, Devonian beds in, 55;
coal measures of, 72.
Scalaria, 110; grænlandica, 126.
Scandinavian
promontory, Ar-
chæan rocks in, 27; during the
Carboniferous period, 68;
174
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
-
during Jurassic period, 96;
during Glacial period, 136.
Scaphites, 109, 113.
Scotland, Archæan rocks in, 28;
Silurian rocks in, 44; lower
carboniferous strata contain -
ing volcanic rocks in, 70;
Jurassic strata in, 91; during
Jurassic period, 96; Miocene
strata in, 122; during the
Glacial period, 136; shell
beds in, 138.
Seir, Mount, Archæan rocks in,
31.
Semnopithecus, 127.
Sequoia, the, 112.
Seville, Archæan rocks in, 28.
Sewalik beds, the, of India, 141.
Shensi, Silurian rocks in, 46.
Sheppy, Eocene of, 119.
Siwalik hills, the, 123.
Sligo, Archæan rocks in, 29.
Solarium, 110.
Solenhofen beds, the, of Europe,
98; insects in, 100.
Soudan, the, Archæan rocks in, 29.
Spain, Archæan rocks in, 27, 28;
Devonian beds in, 55.
Speeton clay, the, 102.
Sperrin mounains, the, 138.
Spharulites, 110.
Sphenophyllum, 84.
Sphenopteris, 59, 79.
Sphinx, the, 116.
Spirifera, 66; Peilhavii, 84.
Spiriferina, 95.
Spondylus, IIO.
Sponges in the Triassic strata, 83 ;
in the Jurassic period, 100; in
the Cretaceous period, III.
Siberia, during the Glacial period, Staffordshire, Volcanic eruption in
136.
Sicily. 131, 132.
Sierra Cantabrica, the; Devonian
beds in, 55.
Sierra Morena, the, Devonian
beds in, 55.
Sigillaria, 52, 66, 72; the zone of,
72.
Silurian
age, the Laurentian
rocks below the strata of, 25;
the "Lower," 26; in Scot-
land, 36; history of, 42;
mineral characters of; differ-
ence between Upper" and
"Lower" Silurian age, 43;
in Europe and the British
Isles, 44; Asia and China, 45;
Australia and Africa, 46,
North America, 47; South
America, 48; position of sea
and land during, 49; fauna of,
50; flora of, 52.
Silurian sedimentary deposits, the
24.
Sinaitic Peninsula, the, Archæan
rock in, 31.
the coal beds of, 70.
Stag, the, 124, 129, 141.
Stegocephalous Amphibians, 79.
Stereognathus, 98.
Stigmaria, 59; ficoides, 72.
Stonesfield slate, the, of Oxford-
shire, 98; insects in the
Stonesfield beds, 100.
Strophodus, 99.
Strophomena, 45.
Struthis, 128.
Styrian alps, the Devonian beds.
in, 55.
Sub-Carboniferous series in Ame-
rica, 66.
Sung-Shan mountains, Archæan
rocks in, 32.
Sweden, the Primordial rocks in,
37; Silurian rocks in, 44.
Switzerland, the Miocene strata
in, 122, 123; Pliocene strata
unrepresented in, 126; Inter-
glacial epoch in, 138, 139;
Lakes of, 145.
Syenite in Africa, 29.
Syria, Pliocene strata in, 127.
INDEX.
175
Tanganyika, lake, 30.
Tapir, the, 124.
Tapiravus, 128.
Tapirus Priscus, 126, 128.
Tasmania, Silurian rocks in, 46;
Carboniferous strata in, 66.
Taunus, the, 82.
Taxodium disticum, 124.
Teleosaurus, 98.
{
Tellina obliqua, 126; Grænlandica,
139.
Temperature of earth, 18, 19;
creases with depth, 21, 22.
in-
Tentaculites, 45.
Terebratula, 96, 100, 110.
Tertiary strata, the, in North
America, 117; in Brazil, 117;
Tertiary deposits in America
not contemporaneous with
those in Europe, 128, 129.
Testudo, 99.
Texas, Primordial beds in, 39;
Permian beds in Western, 76,
79; the " Mediterranean Sea "
of America in, 107; lime-
stones of, 107.
Texularia, IIO.
Thecodont (socket-toothed), rep-
tiles in the Permian strata,
78.
Thibet, Silurian rocks in, 45;
Triassic strata in Western,
84; Jurassic strata in, 94;
Nummulitic beds of, 116.
Thuringer Wald, Primordial rocks
in, 37; Silurian rocks in the,
45; Permian beds in, 75.
Tides in Archæan times, 23.
Till, 134.
Toads, 124.
Tortoises, 95, 118, 124.
Trachyte, 21.
Transition series, the, in India,
31.
|
Tremadoc group of Wales, the, 41.
Trias, 75.
Triassic period, the history of,
80, 81; mineral characters of,
81, 82; in Europe, 82, 83;
Asia, 83, 84; India, 84; Afri-
ca, 84; America, 85, 86; Nova
Scotia, &c., 86, 87; fauna of,
87; flora of, 88, 89.
Trichinopoly, Cretaceous beds in,
104.
Trichomanites, 59.
Trieste. Jurassic strata in, 92.
Trigonia, 93, 100.
Trilobites in Central Asia, 32;
of the Primordial period, 37 ;
of the Silurian period, the age
of, 50; of the Devonian period,
58.
Trinidad, the Island of, Silurian
rocks in, 48.
Trionyx, 99.
Trochus, 87, 99, 110.
Tung-ting series, the 46.
Turbo, 99.
Turrilites, 109.
Turritella, 87, 109, 110.
Turtles, 109.
Umtamfuna river, the, 106.
Uinta mountains, the, 118.
Umzambane river, the, 106.
Ungulates, the, 128.
United States, coal measures of
the. 67.
Ursus, 127; spelæus, 138.
Uruguay, Carboniferous strata in,
67.
Utah, coal formation in, 62.
Utatur beds, fauna of the, 105.
Transvaal, the, Silurian rocks in, Vaginulina, 110.
47.
Valparaiso, Jurassic beds in, 95.
176
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.
Venezuela, Laurentian rocks in,
26; Cretaceous strata in, 107.
Venus, IIO.
Vertebrate type of animal life, the
introduction of, 42.
Victoria, Silurian rocks in, 46;|
Carboniferous strata in, 66.
Vienna, Jurassic strata in, 92.
Volcanic phenomena during Car-
boniferous period, 69; in
Scotland and Ireland, 70;
Volcanic action during the
Miocene period, 121.
Voltzia, 79.
Voluta, 119.
Weapons of man, 145.
Weasel, the, 141.
Wicklow, mountains of; Silurian
rocks in, 44; during the Gla-
cial period, 137.
Wight, the Isle of, Eocene strata
in, 115.
Willow, the, 112.
Wolf, the, 141.
Wyoming, Jurassic beds of, 98.
Xanthidium, III.
Xiphodon gracile, 119.
Walchia, 79.
Waldheimia, 100, 110.
Wales, New South,
Yoredale series, the 62.
Silurian
rocks in, 46; Carboniferous
strata in, 66.
Wales, North, Cambrian rocks in,
37; Silurian rocks in, 44;
during Jurassic period, 96;
during the Glacial period, 136;
mountains of, 138.
Walnut, the, 112.
Warwickshire, the Permian beds.
of, 78.
Waynesburg sandstone, the, 76.
Wealden formation, the, IOI, 102.
Zealand, New, Jurassic beds in,
96; Cretaceous strata in, 106;
the Miocene period in, 124.
Zebra, the, 142.
Zechstein, the, of the Permian
strata in Germany, 75;
Europe, 76; formed in inland
seas, 77.
in
Zoophytes of the Permian period,
79.
1
1
Į
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AUTHORS QUOTED.
LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED.
Adams, Prof. Leith, 95.
Ball, Sir R. S., 23.
Barrande, J., 27, 38.
Barrois, C., 27, 28.
Belcher, Sir E., 95.
Beyrich, Prof., 120.
Blanford, W. T., 19, 30, 31, 84, 93,
105.
Bristow, H. W., 91.
Dumont, A., 64.
Dunn, E. J., 47.
Durocher, J., 21, 37.
Dutton, C. E., 94.
Egerton, Sir. P., 82.
Etheridge, R., 41, 50, 54, 58, 81,
99, IIO.
Carruthers, W., 67.
Chamberlin, T. C., 136, 140.
Clarke, Rev. W. B., 66.
Close, Rev. M., 138.
Cope, E. D., 79, 117.
Croll, Dr. J., 136, 140.
Crosby, H., 48.
Cuvier, Baron F., 119.
Dalimier, P., 28.
Dames, W., 39.
Darwin, Prof., 23.
Dana, Prof. J. D., 39, 48, 50, 56,
66, 85, 107.
Dawson, Sir J. W., 29, 59, 64, 67,
69, 77, 87, 139.
Dechen, H. von, 62, 92.
Derby, O. A., 26, 48.
Diener, Carl, 93, 137.
Dittmar, C. von, 32.
Domeyko, Prof., 97.
Falkiner, Dr., 88.
Falsan and Chantre, M.M., 135.
Ferret and Galimier, M.M,, 30.
Fontaine, W. M., 76.
Fraas, O., 127.
Fritsch, A., 79.
Geikie, Dr. A., 34, 37, 45, 70.
Geikie, Prof. J., 140.
Geinitz, Prof., 72.
Grand'Eury, C., 72.
Griesbach, C. L., 84, 106.
Gümbel, C. W., 27.
Hardman, E. T., 66.
Hartt, Prof., 26, 48, 117.
Hayden, Dr. F. V., 39, 117.
Hector, Dr., 96, 106.
Heer, Prof. O., III, 112, 123, 138.
Hennessy, Prof., 23.
LIST
OF AUTHORS QUOTED.
Hicks, Dr. H., 52.
Hooker, Sir J. D., 137.
Huxley, Prof., 79.
Perry, J. B, 34.
Plant, N., 67.
Pomel, A., 30.
Prestwich, Prof., 20, 21, 138.
179

Jamieson, T. F., 131.
Jukes, Prof., 20, 70.
King, Clarence, 26, 61, 94.
Karsten, H., 107.
King, Prof. W., 34.
Lartet, L., 121.
Ramsay, Sir A. C., 75, 77, 144.
Richthofen, Baron V., 32, 38, 39,
45, 65.
Richardson, R., 138.
Roemer, Prof. F., 34.
Roenne, H. von, 64.
Rowney, Prof., 34.
Rütemeyer, Prof., 123.
Le Conte, Prof., 34, 50, 53, 67, 69, Schulz, G., 28.
77, 86, 94, 107, 114, 144.
Leidy, Dr. 87.
Lesquerreux, Prof., 52, 59, 67.
Lewis, Prof. H. C., 136.
Logan, Sir W., 39.
Sedgwick, Prof., 53.
Selwyn, Dr. A. C. R., 25, 46.
Schmidt, Prof., 44.
Shumard, B. F., 39.
Stache, G., 45.
Stevenson, J. J., 117.
Stoliczka, F., 38, 45.
Strachey, Col., 45.
Marcou, Prof. J., 32, 46, 95, 106,
107.
Marsh, Prof., 79, 86, 98, 108, 118,
123.
Medlicott, H. B., 19, 31, 84, 93, 105.
Tchihatcheff, Prince P. de, 33-
Thompson, Dr. T., 116.
Waagen, Dr. W., 93, 106.
McClintock, Sir L., 95.
Möbius, Prof., 33.
Mojsisovics, E. von, 83.
Mourlon, Dr., 37.
Moore, Charles, 95.
Murchison, Sir R. I., 28, 29, 53, 55, Whitney, J. D., 26.
65, 74.
Wallace, Dr. A., 130, 131.
White, J. C., 76.
Wood, Searles, 127.
Newberry, J. S., 52, 58.
Zittel, Dr. K. H., 104, 116.


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