14 A Period in the History of our Planet. 



of mammalia wero represented by anomalous species— the 

 Cctacea, the giants of the sea, by species similar to the exist- 

 ing Manati ; and the Pachydermata, inhabitants of the marshes 

 and plains, by the strange forms of the PcUceotherium and 

 Anoplotherium^ which stand half-way between the horse and 

 the tapir, and the forms of which, as restored by Cuvier, have 

 passed into all penny magazines and family journals, and are 

 known to every body. 



However, the Molasse and Diluvial periods were richer in 

 forms than that of the Calcaire grassier. Apes of considerable 

 size peopled the forests of Europe as at present those of the 

 warmer zones ; nimble deer and elks scoured through the thick- 

 ets of the plains ; huge rhinoceroses and hippopotami wallowed 

 in the marshy lakes or on the banks of rivers ; the uncultivated 

 meadows were trodden down by herds of wild elephants ; ba- 

 biroussas and swine of different species grubbed through the 

 mire of the waters ; the huge Dinotherium, with its downward- 

 turned tusks, scraped up the banks of the rivers to provide it- 

 self the masses of vegetable nourishment which its gigantic body 

 daily required ; timid hares squatted in their forms to avoid 

 the foxes and martins, which occupied the same ground that 

 they did. But, if the peaceful race of the Graminivora was de- 

 veloped in the gigantic forms of pachydermata and ruminants, 

 their enemies were neither less numerous, nor less on a par 

 with them in strength and force. The caverns of the mountains 

 are filled with bones which their inhabitants dragged in and 

 gnawed there ; ravenous hyaenas, clumsy bears, lions, tigers, 

 dogs, and cats of every species, were the rapacious extermina- 

 tors of the elephants and rhinoceroses, as of the defenceless deer 

 and antelopes. And it was not only in the warmer situations 

 which their congeners now inhabit ; no, under our own lati- 

 tude, on to the steppes of Siberia, did all these creatures of 

 a milder climate exist. And where, formerly, elephants found 

 their nutriment, and hippopotami sufficient pasturage, there 

 are now extensive plains which scarcely support the nimble 

 rein-deer, where the surface thaws but a few weeks in the 

 year, and scarcely affords existence to the Iceland moss ! 

 The earth was warmer where it has now become cold, and its 

 heat was more equally distributed. Yet, on a comparison of 



