THE THIRD EPOCH. 319 



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CHAPTER XV. 



T/ie Tertiary Period. 



"Yes ! Where the huntsman winds his matin horn, 

 And thecouch'd hare beneath the covert trembles; 

 Where shepherds tend their flocks, and grows the corn; 

 Where Fashion on onr gay Parade assembles 

 Wild Horses, Deer, and Elephants have strayed, 

 Treading beneath their feet old Ocean's races." 



Horace Smith. 



WE are now to consider the last great epoch, called the tertiary 

 period, commencing immediately aftei the deposit of the chalk, 

 and ending with the appearance of man. The tertiary strata 

 consist of a vast and varied series of deposits, fluviatile, lacrus- 

 tine, marine and volcanic, but they are all deposited in hollows 

 or depressions, usually of the chalk, and occasionally cf the older 

 rocks, a,nd afford distinct evidence of important changes in the 

 relative level of land and sea, during the period in which they 

 were deposited, and they likewise show that volcanic agency was 

 developed at this period on a vast and magnificent scale. From 

 the remains entombed during this epoch, it is pretty evident 

 that the climate of the ancient world was much milder than at 

 present. Be this as it may, it is a fact indisputable, that not only 

 the bones of hyenas, bears, lions, and tigers, are found in coun- 

 tries where now they could not live, but also several varieties of 

 palms and pines ; and even as far north as the 70 of latitude, 

 the remains of the elephant and rhinoceros are found imbedded 

 ij^he ice. During the tertiary epoch, the Ganoid and Placoid 

 groups of fishes, so characteristic of the earlier deposits, were al- 

 most extinct, the latter class being represented by a few sharks 

 and rays, while by far the greater number were allied to existing 

 species. The remains of birds; skeletons, feathers, and even their 



