DRAGONS OF THE DEEP. 193 



of the creatures which may have given them 

 birth. The geological record is notoriously 

 incomplete, but nevertheless there is no reason 

 why many types totally undreamed of to-day 

 should not in the near future come to light, 

 and among these we may find the links we 

 require. 



CHAPTEE X. 



DRAGONS OF THE DEEP. 



NOWHERE perhaps are 



' ' The steps of Time the shocks of Chance 

 The blows of Death ..." 



more luridly manifested than in the history of 

 the rocks, and the creatures entombed therein. 

 They show, furthermore, that history repeats 

 itself, and that the world we live in, though 

 strangely changing in the nature of its in- 

 habitants, is in respect of its physical laws, a 

 world of monotonous uniformity. 



. We have seen in earlier chapters of this little 

 book, how creatures originally fashioned to live 

 on land, have, by slow degrees, become shaped 

 anew to enable them to dwell in the great deep. 

 This transformation, effected by imperceptible 

 degrees, on creatures strangely unlike, results 

 in a singular uniformity of type. But having 

 regard to the uniformity of their environment, 

 this is only what one should expect. The 

 N 



