502 THE CAT. [CHAP. xiv. 



The second, or next deeper and more ancient group, is formed 

 of strata, termed the secondary or mesozoic strata. 



The third, or deepest and most ancient group, comprises the 

 strata named the primary or palceozoic. 



The PALAEOZOIC, or primary rocks, are made up of the following 

 groups of strata, or " formations : " beginning with the oldest 1, 

 the Laurentian; 2, the Cambrian; 3, the Silurian; 4, the Devonian 

 and Old Red Sandstone ; 5, the Carboniferous (including the Coal 

 Measures), and 6, the Permian. 



The MESOZOIC, or secondary rocks, are made up of: 7, the Triassic 

 formation or Trias, including the New Bed Sandstone and the 

 Rhcetic beds ; 8, the Jurassic formation, including the Lias, the 

 Oolite, and the Purbeck beds, with the Solenhofen slates of Bavaria, 

 and 9, the Cretaceous formation, including the "Wealden, the 

 Greensand, and the Chalk. 



The CAINOZOIC, or tertiary rocks, consist of the three forma- 

 tions known as : 10, the Eocene ; 11, the Miocene, and 12, the 

 Pliocene, and these three last formations are each subdivisible 

 into a lower, or more ancient, and an upper, or more recent, 

 portion. Deposits of the most recent pliocene times are distinguished 

 as Pleistocene. 



The Eocene rocks in the form of gravels, sands, clays, and lime- 

 stones, are widely distributed, and vary considerably in thickness. 

 They form the areas which underlie both Paris and London. They 

 constitute deposits known in France as the " Phosphorites de 

 Quercy " and the " Lignites of Soissonais," * also the Wasatch 

 beds of Mexico, those of Fort Bridges in the south-west corner of 

 Wyoming territory, of Colorado, &c. 



The Miocene beds are widely distributed in Europe and North 

 America, but are very slightly represented in England. They include 

 the deposits at White River, Dakota, and the white rivers of Nebraska 

 and Oregon in America, and the deposits of Sansan and Simorre 

 (Gers) in France, f The deposits of Pikermi, in Greece, were 

 thought to be certainly miocene, but it is doubtful now if they are 

 not really of somewhat later date. 



The Pliocene formation is an extensive one in Europe, Asia, and 

 the United States, as e.g., between the Rocky Mountains and the 

 Missouri, and Loup River, Nebraska. It may (as just observed) 

 include the reputed miocene beds of Pikermi. 



Posterior to the pleistocene deposits are those found in caves and 

 other localities associated with the remains of early man, and known 

 as "Prehistoric" 



7. Such being the " great groups," the " formations," and the 

 several " strata " in which fossils are found, those of the CAT FAMILY 

 occur as follows : 



The genus Felis is found in Greece and India, in strata of the 



* The "Phosphorites" are upper 



eocene, the "Lignites" are lower eocene. 



f The Sansan beds are middle mio- 



cene ; the White Elvers of Nebraska and 

 Oregon, and the John Day region et 

 Oregon, are lower miocene. 



