CONTEMPORANEITY OF STRATA. 43 



contain many of exactly the same specific forms in parts 

 of the globe very widely removed from one another. It is 

 the very identity of the fossils, however, which proves that 

 the beds in question, from their geographical position, can- 

 not have been deposited at exactly the same time, though 

 they doubtless belong to the same period, and may even 

 be said to be related to one another, as far as the identical 

 fossils are concerned, by lineal descent. Similar remarks 

 might be made about the Devonian, Permian, Triassic, 

 Jurassic, Cretaceous, and other formations ; but it is not 

 necessary further to multiply examples. 



If we consider the present state of things upon the globe, 

 we shall be further convinced of the justice of these views, 

 which were first prominently brought forward in Britain by 

 Professor Huxley. If we could suddenly remove the sea 

 from the earth, we should find at various points of the 

 earth's surface deposits of different kinds, now concealed 

 from us by the ocean, or only partially known by dredgings 

 or soundings. Thus we should find vast accumulations of 

 calcareous matter, in the form of coral-rock and coral-reef, 

 where now rolls the Pacific Ocean. In high northern and 

 low southern latitudes we should find great deposits of sand 

 and mud, with angular blocks of stone, the whole derived 

 from the ice-clad regions of the poles. Over vast areas, 

 again, in the deep Atlantic, we should find an impalpable 

 chalky mud, or " ooze." All these different deposits are 

 obviously and necessarily " contemporaneous," not only in 

 the geological acceptation of the word, but in its most 

 literal sense. In spite of this fact they would not contain 

 the same fossils; and, indeed, they would be characterised 

 by organic remains which would be wholly different in each 

 case. The coral-reefs of the Pacific would be essentially 

 characterised by the abundance of the remains of reef- 

 building corals, though they would also present other trop- 

 ical forms of life, especially Brachiopods and Echinoderms. 

 The glacial mud of the Polar regions would contain the 

 remains of Arctic molluscs, along with such other animals 

 as delight in severe cold. Lastly, the ooze of the deep 

 Atlantic would contain innumerable Foraminifera, along 



