PALAEOGENE 



9920 



PALAEOLOGUS 



Tlir i>|. (mi rocks in the 

 crust contain no fonil 

 plants, (mi tin ir absence does not 

 necessarily inran tint tln-ro was 

 no vegetation \\IM-II t In- strata were 

 in |>ro(-t-sn of formation ; it is more 

 |.i..l..il.|i that both annual- and 

 plants existed, but such remains 

 as were entombed in the oldest 

 sedimentary rocks have been 

 rcndiTrd iinriTii^nizable, or com- 

 plcti-ly dr-troyi-d iii the course of 

 tin- n-|H-at-.l foldings of the earth's 

 iTiist. Tin- most am it-iit undoubted 

 plants so far discovered arc more 

 highly organized than one would 

 expect of members of a primitive 

 flora ; their advanced stage of 

 differentiation suggests that they 

 were preceded by earlier phases of 

 plant evolution. 



There were no flowering plants 

 in the forests of the carboniferous 

 epoch, but many of the trees were 

 members of the class Pteridophyta, 

 which includes the ferns, club 

 mosses (Lycopodium), and other 

 genera, horsetails (Equiaetum), and 

 other types. Many of these plants 

 had the dimensions of fairly large 

 trees, and differed considerably 

 both in size and their greater 

 complexity of structure from their 

 relatively small and herbaceous 

 descendants at the present day. 

 There were also many plants in the 

 coal-period, which in some respects 

 presented a close resemblance to 

 some existing ferns, but differed 

 from them in certain characters, 

 and, more especially, in the pro- 

 duction of true seeds ; these genera 

 are included in the class Pterido- 

 sperms instituted for palaeozoic 

 frin -like plants bearing seeds. 

 The Pteridosperms are of special 

 interest, because the production of 

 seeds is now the monopoly of 

 plants higher in the scale than the 

 ferns and their allies. See Botany. 



Palaeogene Deposits. In geo- 

 logy, name given to deposits of the 

 Older Tertiary epoch. See Tertiary. 



Palaeography (Gr. palaioa, 

 ancient ; yrnphein, to write). 

 Study of ancient handwriting. It 

 concentrates upon the forms of 

 writing in inscriptions on pliant 

 materials, such as papyrus, vellum, 

 and paper. That branch of it which 

 concerns inscriptions on hard 

 materials, such as stone, metal, and 

 wood, is called epigraphy. In the 

 case of undated MSS., palaeo- 

 graphy is often able to decide 

 problems of date by considerations 

 of style. It is also of decisive 

 importance in determining the 

 genuineness of documents. 



Ancient MSS., mostly in the 

 form of rolls, tablets, or books, 

 sometimes occur on leaves, bark, 

 linen, potsherds, and wood boards. 

 The writing implements were 



pointed, M|. lit, or frayed reeds, ntilen 

 and quills, the hairbrush being of 

 Climrsi- mvnitioii. The script* tend 

 to become running or 

 hands, as distinct from the -mi. , 

 and more formal characters de- 

 manded by the art of stone- 

 chiselling. Hence the hieroglyphic 

 characters of Egyptian ston. m 

 sri i|it ions passed, even in the lat 

 dynasty, into hieratic, and in the 

 XXVIth dynasty into demotic. 



Greek palaeography is traceable 

 through numerous examples, es- 

 pecially on papyrus and vellum, 

 from the 4th century B.C. down to 

 the introduction of printing into 

 Europe. Beginning with uncial 

 or capital letters, it passed into 

 minuscule or small-hand. Of tlii- 

 two styles were in use : book-hand, 

 which displaced papyrus by vellum 

 in the 4th century of our era, and 

 non-literary cursive, which was em- 

 ployed for the ordinary business of 

 life. Slavonic hands descend from 

 9th century Greek forms. 



Latin palaeography is of wider 

 importance, because it deals, not 

 only with Roman scripts, uncial 

 and minuscule, but also with those 

 national hands which grew out of 

 them in every part of Europe. By 

 800 there emerged the Carolingian 

 hand, greatly influenced by Alcuin 

 of York's youthful familiarity with 

 English writing. This became the 

 standard calligraphy of W. Europe, 

 as distinct from the rugged Germ- 

 anic black letter, until the dissem- 

 ination of the Italian hand during 

 the Renaissance. The non-literary 

 cursive and the court-hands, which 

 developed side by side with the 

 book-hands, are the precursors of 

 the various modern systems of 

 calligraphy, which in their turn are 

 being affected by the growing use 

 of the typewriting machine. 



The methods of European palae- 

 ography have been utilised for the 

 study of non-European hand- 

 writings. Among these the most 

 important are Hebrew, Syriac, 

 Coptic, Arabic, Persian, Indian, 

 Pali, and Chinese. See Anglo- 

 Saxon Chronicle ; Bible ; Codex ; 

 Graffito ; Ostraca ; Uncial ; Writ- 

 ing ; consult also An Introduction 

 to Greek and Latin Palaeography, 

 E. M. Thompson, 1912; History 

 of the Art of Writing, W. A. 

 Mason, 1921. 



Palaeolith (Gr. palaioa, ancient; 

 Itihos, stone). Stone implement 

 or weapon of the early Stone Age. 

 Intermediate in workmanship be- 

 tween eoliths and neoliths, they 

 were produced by chipping and 

 flaking flints and other hard stones. 

 Unpolished products were used 

 as hand-axes, hammers, scrapers, 

 borers, cutting tools, javelin heads 

 and saws. See Flint Implements. 



Palaeolithic. T<-rm introduced 



lolm l.uM>o< k, afterward* 

 Lord Avcbury, to denote the older 

 phase of the prehistoric stone-age 

 civilization win. h preceded the use 

 of nn-tals. This phase wan itaelf 

 preceded by the i-olnlu.-, charac- 

 terised by the production of still 

 cruder stone implements called 

 eohtliK, and was followed by the 



lieolitlii,- , 



In prehistoric Europe and N. 

 Africa evidence drawn from the 

 de\elo|imi-nt of style, the relative 

 |...-iti..n of -(ratified remains, and 

 their association with the bones of 

 extinct animals, has enabled the 

 palaeolithic age to be divided into 

 six consecutive periods ; Lower : 

 Chellian, Acheulian, Mousterian ; 

 Upper : Aurignacian, Solutrian, 

 Magdalcnian. Koch is marked by 

 characteristic types of flint work- 

 ing, and by an advancing growth 

 of material achievement, fine art, 

 and social organization. 



The palaeolithic culture began 

 to be disseminated to other parts 

 of the world before the neolithic- 

 phase was reached, and remnants 

 of it still survived in recent times 

 at the farthest land extremities of 

 the earth, as in Tasmania, S. Africa, 

 and Tierra del Fuego. See Anthro- 

 pology; Art: Prehistoric and 

 Primitive ; Man ; Stone Age. 



Palaeologus. Name of a By- 

 zantine family, which founded the 

 last dynasty of East Roman em- 

 perors, lasting from 1261 to 1453. 

 Michael VIII (1261-82), emperor 

 of Nicaea, overthrew the Latin 

 empire, and recovered Constanti- 

 nople from Baldwin II. A success- 

 ful soldier and administrator, he 

 in vain endeavoured to heal the 

 schism between the Eastern and 

 Western Churches. He was suc- 

 ceeded by Andronicus II and III 

 (q.v.). John V (1341-91), who 

 until 1355 had to acknowledge John 

 Cantacuzene (7.1'.) as emperor, was 

 afterwards dependent upon the 

 sultan of Turkey for his position. 

 Manuel II (1391-1425), immedi- 

 ately after his accession, became 

 engaged in hostilities against the 

 Turks. Alarmed for the safety of 

 Constantinople, which was being 

 besieged by Bayazid, Manuel 

 sought the aid of Western Christen 

 .loin. In response to his appeal, an 

 army commanded by the Roman 

 emperor Sigismund set out to help 

 him, but Bayazid gained an over- 

 whelming victory at Nicopolis in 

 1396. Manuel then came to terms, 

 but the capital was in constant 

 peril until the defeat of Bayazid at 

 Angora in 1402. From that time 

 during the reign of Mohammed I, 

 the son of Bayazid, Manuel was at 

 peace. On the accession of Murad 

 II, Constantinople was again be- 



