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aceous, argillaceous, and calcareous 

 rocks form the principal masses, 

 and are associated with beds of 

 chert, iron-stone, and coal. 



It is in the strata belonging to 

 the secondary formations that the 

 bones of enormous reptiles are first 

 discovered. The peculiar feature 

 in the population of the whole series 

 of secondary strata, was the pre- 

 valence of numerous and gigantic 

 forms of Saurian reptiles. 



"From the examination," says 

 Mantell, "of the organic remains 

 of the secondary formations, we 

 arrive at the following results : 

 that the seas, lakes, and rivers, 

 during the geological epoch termed 

 secondary, were peopled by fishes, 

 mollusca, Crustacea, radiaria, poly- 

 paria, and other zoophites; all of 

 extinct species, and presenting as 

 a whole, a greater discrepancy with 

 existing forms, than those of the 

 tertiary." 



The commencement of the secon- 

 dary epoch is a marked one, depend- 

 ing on a great change having taken 

 place in the character of animal 

 and vegetable life, in the interval 

 between the formation of the last 

 of the primary, or paleozoic rocks, 

 and the first of the secondary. 

 The discovery, however, of the St. 

 Cassian beds, in the Austrian Alps, 

 has tended to lessen that great 

 interval, and to diminish the extent 

 of the change ; those beds having 

 been found to contain fossils of an 

 intermediate character. 



With the cretaceous system ends 

 the long series of deposits which 

 are, by general consent, ranked 

 as strata of the secondary periods 

 of geology. Prof. Phillips says, 

 " turning to the organic remains of 

 the several secondary systems, it is 

 apparent that, within the period of 

 time which elapsed between the 

 deposition of the primary and ter- 

 tiary strata, two very distinct as- 

 semblages of terrestrial plants had 



flourished, and become extinct. The 

 ancient and abundant flora of the 

 carboniferous era, with its lepido- 

 dendrae, sigillaria3, and calamites, 

 had been replaced by new races of 

 zamiaa and cycadse, which, in their 

 turn, vanished from the northern 

 zones of the globe before the cre- 

 taceous system. The marine zoo- 

 phyta were changed. One total 

 change had come over the Crustacea, 

 not a single trilobite being known 

 in the strata more recent than coal : 

 the brachopodus conchifera, the 

 gasteropodous and cephalopous 

 mollusca were equally altered. 

 Two large assemblages of fishes 

 had vanished before the deposition 

 of the chalk ; and both on the land, 

 and in the sea, gigantic reptile 

 forms had come into being, re- 

 produced themselves to a marvel- 

 lous extent, and then all perished 

 with the close of the secondary 

 period." 



" How, then, can they, by whom 

 the magnificent truths of elapsed 

 time and successive creations have 

 been put in clear and strong evi- 

 dence, how can they be expected 

 to yield to false notions of philo- 

 sophy, and narrow views of religion, 

 the secure conviction that, in the 

 formation of the crust of the earth, 

 Almighty "Wisdom was glorified, 

 the permitted laws of nature were 

 in beneficent operation, and thou- 

 sands of beautiful and active things 

 enjoyed their appointed life, long 

 before man was formed of the dust 

 of the ancient earth, and endowed 

 with a divine power of compre- 

 hending the wonders of its con- 

 struction ? It is something worse 

 than philosophical prejudice, to 

 close the eyes of reason on the 

 evidence which the earth offers to 

 the eyes of sense ; it is a dangerous 

 theological error to put in unequal 

 conflict a few ill- understood words 

 of the Pentateuch, and the thousands 

 of facts which the finger of God 



