390 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



widely distributed and more nearly cosmopolitan. 

 On our own coast, again, we should find buried at 

 moderate depths, and at no great distance from the 

 coast-line, a multitude of animals, exhibiting pro- 

 bably but few decided indications of the vicinity of 

 land except within the range of comparatively shoal 

 water. On the coast of America, on the contrary, 

 there would be extensive deposits in the open sea, 

 at a distance of several hundred miles from the coast, 

 containing occasionally plants and animals floated 

 down by the vast rivers of that continent, and con- 

 veyed along on the surface by the river stream and 

 the marine currents. On the coast of Asia we 

 should probably have striking indications of the ex- 

 istence of animals of high organization; while on 

 the coast of Australia there would be scarcely any 

 mark of higher conditions than those which are 

 known in the oolitic rocks. Lastly, in those distant 

 parts where the ocean is broad and deep, and the 

 islands small and scattered, there might only be seen 

 the remains of imperfectly organized Foraminifera, 

 mixed perhaps with a few Radiata, such as the deep- 

 sea urchins, and fragments of some free-swimming 

 animals. 



Now it is important to consider these great differ- 

 ences, because they lead us to the only true means 

 of judging with regard to geological phenomena. 

 Any one visiting in succession Australia, South Ame- 

 rica, Europe, South Africa, and Asia, and looking 

 at the animal kingdom without taking man into ac- 

 count, might come to the conclusion, that, in point 

 of development and complexity of organization, there 

 was on the whole a distinct advance in the scale 



