PERMIAN SYSTEM, 163 
left their remains, and their footprints may be seen on certain sandstones 
as distinct as if made but yesterday on the soft mud. 
Scenery of the Period.—In this remarkable period there stretched wide 
shallow seas, in which sported huge sharks, and whose waters washed 
the shores of many islands, guarded by great coral reefs, where the 
beautiful encrinite spread its waving arms. By the shores lived numerous 
shells, often in immense beds, that now form the mussel-band of the 
miner; and into these seas flowed Amazonian rivers, bearing into the 
deep the spoils of their wooded and reedy shores. By their wide estuaries 
and along their banks lay extensive impassable swamps and jungles, in 
which gigantic reeds, calamites, and tree-ferns flourished in tropical luxuri- 
ance, and amidst these lurked fierce crocodiles and mighty lizards, which 
have left their footprints on the yielding mud. The whole surface of the 
land was covered with tall pines and tree-ferns; the seal-palm, the scale- 
tree, and star-leaf shot into the air in impenetrable thickets, shaking their 
numerous cones in the breeze, while the hum of insects might be heard 
in their still recesses. In the distance might be seen towering snow-peaks, 
and here and there the smoke of the volcano, the existence of which was 
felt in the numerous earthquakes that shook the ground, 
Vil.—Permian System. 
Description. Immediately above the Carboniferous strata, we find 
certain strata that used to be called, as already explained, the New Red 
Sandstone, in contrast with the rocks below them, called the Old Red 
Sandstone. This New Red Sandstone series has been of late more 
thoroughly examined, and found to consist of two distinct portions, whose 
remains are so different that the series has been formed into two distinct 
systems, known as Permian and Triassic. The name Permian has been 
given to the system we now describe, from being developed very exten- 
sively in Perm, a province in the north-east of Russia. These rocks are 
found in many parts of the world, and largely in Scotland, England, 
Germany, and Russia. They consist of red and whitish sandstones, shales, 
and limestones, containing much magnesia. The rocks are remarkably 
variegated in colour, so much so as to be called the Variegated System ; 
while the limestone receives the distinctive name of the Magnesian Lime- 
stone. As the old name suggests, the sandstone is of a reddish hue, and 
the two chief rocks, therefore, are the Red Sandstone and the Magnesian 
Limestone. The sandstones are used for building, as are also the lime- 
stones, which have been employed in the construction of the Houses of 
Parliament. Copper is also extensively obtained from one of its shales in 
Germany, and also lead and zinc, but not very abundantly. 
Organic Remains—The plants resemble greatly those of the Coal- 
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