338 THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING CREATURES. 



with reference to the great subject of the earth's 

 antiquity; these will be found fully discussed in all 

 the leading works of authority on geology. In this 

 chapter, however, we have spoken of the antiquity of 

 certain great trees and we shall therefore add a few 

 words as regards the antiquity of plant life. 



Of course it goes without saying that plant life 

 preceded animal life in point of time; seeing that 

 animals for the most part live upon products of the 

 vegetable kingdom, and those that do not live by 

 preying upon those that do. 



That being so, the tree-feeders and other herbivorous 

 quadrupeds were probably evolved long subsequently 

 to vegetation, in geological time: in other words, 

 they first appeared upon the face of nature, it may 

 be, millions of years afterwards. 



And then again, there is reason to believe that a 

 vast ancestry of the lower forms of organic beings, 

 preceded by immense periods of time any of the 

 more highly organized forms of animals such as we 

 are familiar with. It seems also almost certain that 

 members of the insect creation were among the earliest 

 living creatures that came into existence; without 

 their existence there is reason to believe that vegetable 

 life must to a great extent have failed, inasmuch 

 as it is by the visits of insects that many of their 

 flowers are fertilized. This, however, is a subject that 

 literally bristles with technicalities, which must be 

 taken into consideration, in order to weigh the pro- 

 babilities of what may or may not have taken place. 

 It is also certain that among the enormous range of the 

 insect creation there are many species whose eggs 

 and larvae would be peculiarly fitted to survive the 



