— 182 — 



of the Life of the Globe. The Permian Era may be 

 regarded as the continuation and close of the Car- 

 boniferous : in the Two we notice that the Invertebra- 

 tes ( the trilobities ) are becoming extinct and that 

 the fishes ( the Vertebrates ) bear the ancestral form 

 of our present fishes — also that the reptiles are more 

 fully developed, although the ossification of their 

 vertebrae is not entire. In the Permian Era we find 

 that Mammalian life in its lowly Marsupial form 

 appears for the first time. 



We take leave of the Palaeozoic Series of the 

 Ancient Life Period, and enter into the Mesozoic 

 Series or the Middle Life Period a subdivision of 

 which, vizt, the Cretaceous Era, forms the principal 

 part of this Paper. In the preceding great Epoch 

 namely the Palaeozoic, the Animal Life belonging to 

 it was mainly composed of fishes and crustacEe, this 

 Secondary Epoch or the Mesozoic is chiefly the Epoch 

 of Eeptiles which will be of extraordinary size and 

 strength, while Animal Life in this special section will 

 have a wonderful development. Botanical Life on the 

 other hand will not make much progress. 



The Triassic Era, which is the first division of 

 the Mesozoic, consists of the " triple" series of 

 various coloured sandstones, shelly limestones and 

 saliferous, gypseous shales ; in this Era the reign of 

 the Ammonites begins, which will reach its full 

 development in the next Era. Beside the reptiles, 

 which as alrendy noted, have in this Era the ossifi- 



