shorter as its highest terminus is lower. Thus the croc- 

 odile passes through the stage of the lamprey, the fish, 

 the batrachian and the reptile proper. 



b. In Time, We have thus a scale of relations of 

 existing forms of animals and plants of a remarkable 

 kind, and such as to stimulate greatly our inquiries as 

 to its significance. When we turn to the remains of the 

 past creation preserved to us in the deposits continued 

 throughout geologic time, we are not disappointed, for 

 great light is at once thrown upon the subject. 



We find, in brief, that the lowest division of the ani- 

 mal kingdom appeared first, and long before any type 

 of a higher character was created. The Protozoon, 

 Eozoon, is the earliest of animals in geologic time, and 

 represents the lowest type of animal life now existing. 

 We learn also that the highest branch appeared last. 

 No remains of Vertebrates have been found below the 

 lower Devonian period, or not until the Echinoderms 

 and Molluscs had reached a great preeminence. It is 

 difficult to be sure whether the Protozoa had a greater 

 numerical extent in the earliest periods than now, but 

 there can be no doubt that the Ccelenterata (corals) and 

 Echinoderms (crinoids) greatly exceeded their present 

 bounds, in Paleozoic time, so that those at present ex- 

 isting are but a feeble remnant. If we examine the 

 subdivisions known as classes, evidence of the nature 

 of the succession of creation is still more conclusive. 

 The most polyp-like of the Molluscs (brachiopoda) con- 

 stituted the great mass of its representatives during 

 Paleozic time. Among Vertebrates the fishes appear 

 first, and had their greatest development in size and 

 numbers during the earliest periods of the existence of 

 the division. Batrachia were much the largest and 



