URETA'CEOUS EPOCH. 199 



The flora was not the same as that which furnished so many 

 remains to the coal formation; the lycopodia'ceae, and the gigantic 

 ferns had disappeared ; and it seems that many new species had 

 been created after the penine and tria'ssic epochs. Then the 

 cyca'deae and co'nifers considerably exceeded all other families ; 

 and probably some palms were already in existence, the fruits of 

 which are found in the lias. Also the carbona'ceous combustible 

 formed in this epoch, is very different from that of the great coai 

 formation. They were at the same time much less abundant, 

 which indicates a great difference in the extent of lands. 



Creta'ceous epoch. After the system of upheaval of Cote-d'Or, 

 which elevated a part of the Jurassic deposits above the sea, the 

 form and disposition of continents were considerably changed. 

 The inferior limits of the chalk mark the shape of lands which 

 then existed, and determine the extent of the seas of the epoch. 



The three islands of the preceding epoch were now united, but 

 without any change of shape. Brussels, which was inland, was 

 now found on the coast ; Arras, Dunkirk, Maastricht, Wesel, Bres- 

 law, and Vienna, were sunk under water. A lake was formed 

 between Dresden, Brunna, and Prague ; a strait was found in the 

 place of Perpignan and Carcasonne ; and, what existed previously 

 to the Pyrenees:, was in part submerged. 



By compensation, the Vosges, washed by the sea in preceding 

 ages, was then found in the middle of the continent which joined 

 the central island of France. The space of sea which separated 

 them was filled up. Langres, Nevers, Lyons, Toulouse, and Ox- 

 ford, were on terra firrna, and an isthmus was formed about Poic- 

 tiers, to join the great island that existed to the west. A shore 

 extended from the environs of Craco'via, to about Perpignan, by 

 Ratisbonne, the position of which was not changed, and to Zurich 

 and Lyons. An immense gulf was formed between Brussels and 

 Oxford, extending to Poictiers. 



Between Salzbourg and Avignon, a new island was formed, 

 which marked the future site of the A-lps : Brian^on, Turin, Trente, 

 and Inspruck, might have been already placed there ; but Switzer- 

 land was then a channel which separated this island from terra 

 firma. The island of Toulon was at the time limited, and some 

 small islands marked the environs of Marseilles. 



Little change, however, had taken place in living creatures. At 

 the same time divers species of ferns and cyca'deae vegetated on 

 the soil ; co'nifers, especially, became more and more abundant, and 

 gave origin to masses of lignite found at the base of the chalky 

 formations ; but there were few terrestrial mammals, for no remains 

 of them are found in the chalk, although they were met with in 

 jura 'ssic deposits. There existed, however, divers ceta'ceae, such 

 as lamantins and dolphins, some of which had already appeared in 

 the jura'ssic seas. Reptiles were, among the animals capable of 



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