THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



435 



resembling those of a fish, more than eight inches 

 in diaaieier ; portions o( the lemur larger than 

 those oT the elephant of the present day ; one im- 

 mense claw, weighing nearly three pounds; and 

 several pelvis, and metatarsal, and metacarpal 

 bones, vviih many others. 



In the green-sand, and in the gauli, he is ol' 

 opinion that the clin)fite was again cooler ; but in 

 the next beds, the chalk, the lemperaiure unques- 

 tionably was ho> ; the lossils ami even the strata 

 ilsell, being eniirely of marine origiti. 



At the period ol the London clay, he supposes 

 the waters gradually retiring. Then all the val- 

 leys were tidal lakes, as evidenced by the remains, 

 which consist of crocodile, nnulilus, turtles, Crus- 

 tacea, and leslacea; and as the hills were unco- 

 vered vegetation succeeded, consisting olplants, the 

 seeds and fruits ol which are analogous to those 

 growing in much warmer latiiudes than outsat 

 the present day, perhai s resembling ihal ol souih- 

 ern Africa. Thence he inlers that the evidence 

 bears out or supports the conclusions at which he 

 arrives, namely, that with the decrease of ihe level 

 of (he waters, the heat of the climate increased, 

 until in the succeeding period, when the first ol 

 mammalia, or hot-blooded animals, appeared ; 

 these are the palasoih^rium, anoplotherium, chiro- 

 pollierium, lophiodon, &c., mostly resembling the 

 tapir of (he present day. Again a change : the 

 ocean returned. Marine beings innumerable are 

 Ibund at this epoch, with the bones of the vvalius j 

 and the whale. This in legular sequence again 

 changed. The waiers receded, and we then re- 

 cognize that interesting period when the huge 

 mastodon, the noble elephant, the rhinoceros, hip- 

 popotamus, hyena, tiger, boar, bear, vvoll, deer, 

 and horse, were the inhabitants of our now north- 

 ern clime.* 



I have already illustrated in this paper the 

 change from this epocli to the present, in attempt- 

 ing to unravel the history of the iicrse. 



The remarkable change of character in the 

 British strata has lor a long period attracted great 

 attention with geologists ; but no one has brought 

 forward such an interesting and satislactory theory 

 as Mr. Saull. He considers also that, in astrono- 

 my, he has both an explanation and a proof of his 

 views, that in the northern and souihern hemi- 

 spheres there is an alternate increase and diminu- 

 tion ol the waters of the earth in successive periods 

 of 25,800 years, being those of the precession of 

 the equinoxes, and arising Irom the same cause ; 

 and lie has satisfactorily established the proof oi 

 the changes of situaiion in the pole of the earih 

 by a number of places, wliich have changed their 

 latitude and longitude within the last 200 years. 



It would be foreign to the subject to enter into 

 the asironomical calculations by which Mr. Saull 

 so easily solves enigmas ihat have lor a long time 

 embarrassed the geological world; lor it must be 

 confessed that they account lor, and are J'ully equal 

 to explain, all the geological phenomena— all the 

 formations, all the variety of strata, all the Ibssil 

 remains, and all those circumstances which are 

 inexplicable without it. 



* Mr. Saull's interesting museum, supposed to con- 

 tam the largest private collection of fossil remains in 

 the kingdom, is liberally opened to the public every 

 Thursday morning, at ] 1 o'clock : no introduction 

 whatever is required. 



The motions of the earth are eiill going on 

 silenily around us, like those that have°passed ; 

 and the fair regions which we now inhabit must' 

 in the regular course of nature, be covered atraln 

 by the ocean. New layers of marine productions, 

 of sand, gravel, and broken mountaini?, will over- 

 whelm the soil to which we now feel such lively 

 attachment; and, fiiiiiily, new countries, or ar- 

 rangements ol land, will again rise in due course 

 on ihose mundnne siie* which at present are 

 occupied by civilized Europe, and by the nonhern 

 pans of Asia and America. 



.Fur my own part, I see no moral evil to deplore 

 in these changes. iSothing is elTecied abruptly, 

 and man and animals are gradually warned to 

 seek new haliitaiions. The notices are slow, but 

 unerring; and the human race will find Iresh and 

 renovated countries prepared /or their subsistence 

 and abundantly fitted for their enjoyment, by 

 these grand operations. 



I have already adduced sufficient evidence that 

 the sea has covered the land at difleren: periods ; 

 and any .one who views the interior of our coun- 

 iry must be sensible that its swelling hills and 

 low valleys leading to the sea, must have been 

 produced by the action of the oceanic \i?aters. 

 Volcanic agency Irom below has also produced 

 many great and important changes in modilyino- 

 and re-arranging the surface of the earth. 



We will now endeavor to apply the knowledge 

 we have obtained to investigate farther the an- 

 cient history of the horse. 



Arabia has been frequently described by natu- 

 ral historians, from ihe very superior breed of 

 horses /bund theie Irom the earliest recorded 

 limes, to be the soil that gave birih to the primitive 

 horse. I confess that at one period i enteriained 

 a similar opinion, and indulged my fancy-flight 

 in imagining the first pair of horses located on 

 some verdant plain in Arabia the Happy, and 

 bearing a strong resemblance to the war horse 

 described so emphatically in the Book of Job : 

 "Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast 

 tliou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou 

 make him afraid as a grasshopper. The glory 

 of his nostrils is teirible. He paweth in the val- 

 ley, and rejoiceth in his strength : he goeth forth 

 to meet the armed men. He mockeih at lear, 

 and is not afi'righied ; neither lurneih he his back 

 fiom the sword. The quiver raitleth ogainst him, 

 the glittering spear and the shield. He swallow- 

 eth the ground with fieiceness and rage; neither 

 believeih he that it is ihe sound of the trumpet. 

 He sayeih among the trumpets, Ha, ha! and he 

 siuelleih the battle afar off', the thunder of the 

 captains, and the shouiings." 



This is a magnificent description of a war 

 charger — but, splendid as it is, it will equally suit 

 the horses harnessed to the war chariot of Queen 

 Boadicea, which spread dismay and death in the 

 breasts of the Roman legions, when Cajsar first 

 invaded the shores of Britain. I do not by this 

 reiiiark mean to throw any doubt on the supe- 

 rioriiy of the Arabian breed ol hoises, but merely 

 iniroduce it to show that Great Britain also pos- 

 sessed a very superior breed at this early period. 

 We have already seen that they existed on our 

 island long befuie man was created ; and the 

 probability is, that the breed which ihe ancient 

 Briton then possessed were descendants of the 

 olden race — modified greatly, of course, in conse- 



