THE FEE-ADAMITE EARTH. 



branch of the animal kingdom, six genera being created and 

 named as follows : 



Anthracotherium, a genera of Pachydermatous animals, found 

 in the lignite or brown coal in Italy, the name being a Greek 

 compound, signifying coal beast. 



Lophiodon, another Pachydermatous animal, allied to the 

 Rhinoceros or Tapir, taking its name from a Greek compound, 

 signifying teeth, formed like the hairs of a mane. 



Lutra, a generic form of which the otter is the type. 



Cams, a generic form of which the dog is the type. 



Viverra, a generic form of which the ferret is the type. 



Sciurus, a generic form of which the squirrel is the type. 



470. The seas were enriched with a great number of animals 

 hitherto unknown. The shores were animated by innumerable 

 fishes, including many Pleuronectoids, or flat fish, which now 

 appeared for the first time (fig. 184). 



471. Among the multitude of Mollusca new to the world at 

 this epoch, may be mentioned the Beloptera, Oliva, Tritons, 

 Terebratulse, &c. The Zoophytes and Foraminifera abounded, 

 compensating by their prodigious numbers for the minuteness of 

 their dimensions ; but the class from which the period took its 

 most prominent character was that of the Nummulites, an animal 

 of a round flat form, resembling that of a coin, from which the 

 name of the class is taken (figs. 185, 186, 187). These animals 

 are technically described as chambered spiral univalve shells. 



Fig. 185. Pip- 186. Fig. 187. 



Kummulites planulata. 



These Nummulites lived far from the coast, and their shells 

 were deposited in layers of prodigious thickness upon the deepest 

 bottoms of the seas. 



472. At subsequent periods geological convulsions occurred, by 

 which the conchiferous strata thus formed were forced upwards, 

 so as to form mountain ranges. An example of such chains is 

 presented in the Pyrenees, where entire mountains are found 

 consisting of little else than the fossilised remains of these minute 

 animals. It is a striking fact also, that it was of like materials 

 that the Pyramids of Egypt were built. 

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