THE PRE-ADAM1TE EARTH. 



serpents. The forests of France and England abounded in generic 

 forms, of which baboons, rattlesnakes, and opossums are the living 

 types. 



The plains nourished Pachydermatous animals, called Paleo- 

 therium, Anaplotherium, &c. (fig. 189). 



Fig. 189. Common Auaplotheriurn. 



487. The gigantic saurians of former periods had altogether 

 disappeared in the Cretaceous age, but a large race of crocodiles 

 and land and sea tortoises succeeded them. The Belemnites and 

 their chambered shells had disappeared from the seas, the Nautilus 

 alone remaining. 



The cicadece totally disappeared from the flora, and new conifers, 

 with dicotyledonous plants and palms, appeared in the centre of 

 Europe, -plants which at present have receded into Africa, show- 

 ing that the mean temperature of the continent then corresponded 

 to that which at present prevails in Lower Egypt. 



488. The outlines of land and water underwent important 

 changes in consequence of the convulsions which preceded this 

 period. The Anglo-Parisian basin was divided into two gulfs, 

 completely separated, by a tract passing through its middle in a 

 direction nearly east and west. The two separate basins thus 

 formed are marked on the map by the shading 25. The northern 

 basin in France covered part of Belgium, including Brussels and 

 Ghent, with an angle of France, which included Dunkirk. In 

 England it included London and the mouths of the Thames. 



The southern basin was limited in France on the north by Laon, 

 and extended east and west between Havre and Epernay, being 

 bounded by an irregular line. It may be considered as highly 

 probable, if not certain, that the northern gulfs in England and 

 France communicated with each other by a tract of water included 

 within the dotted lines on the map, and that in like manner the 

 southern gulfs were united by a tract of water extending from 

 Havre to the Isle of Wight. 

 128 



