56 POPULAR ILLUSTRATIONS OF 



as they are found along the entire line of mountain chains from the 

 Pyrenees to Thibet, and occur at all altitudes, from 8000ft. and 

 10,000ft. in the Pyrenees and Alps, to 15,000ft. in the Himalaya 

 Mountains ; they form a geological zone, stretching W.N.W. to 

 E.S.E. from 10 P W. long, to 55 E. long., having a width of 1800 

 miles. Further to the east it narrows considerably, but the entire 

 length from W. to E. embraces 98 Q long., and its breadth from 

 N. to S. ranges from the 16th to the 55th degree of north latitude. 



" The Nummulitic limestone surrounds the entire border of the 

 Mediterranean Sea and of the Black Sea. It constitutes a large 



portion of Egypt and of Asia Minor It is found in the 



elevated regions of the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, and 

 extends from Upper Armenia to the Persian Gulf. It also stretches 

 eastward from Armenia, along the valley of the Araxes, by the 

 chain of Elburz and the plateau of Iran, as far as the mountains of 

 Cabul and the Punjaub. It completely surrounds the valley of 

 Cashmere, and rises in the chain of the Himalayas to a height of 

 15,996ft., from which altitude it descends on the south-east of the 

 chain along the right bank of the Indus, forming the lower hills of 

 Beloochistan. Still further to the east it is found in the mountains 

 of Kossya, between the Brahmapootra and the plains of Bengal." 



Professor Haughton says that Nummulites are not found in 

 America or in the southern hemisphere ; but this statement is not 

 quite correct. The species of Foraminifera are not well defined ; 

 and a closely-allied form, Orbitoides which may be taken as not 

 differing more from Nummulites than species of the New World do 

 in general differ from those of the Old forms an immense bed of 

 rock in Alabama, which is called in America "Nummulitic lime- 

 stone." 



I need say but little more to prove the important agency assigned 

 to the Amoeba in building up the crust of the earth. In all this 

 there is a vast proof of the Design with which this lowly organism 

 was created. Take away the Laurentian rocks, and the chalk, and 

 the Nummulitic limestone, and the crust of the earth would tumble 

 to pieces. And yet they were formed by a lump of jelly that could 

 only have the blind instinct of self-support and self-preservation. 



And the same Design is being carried out in our time for the 

 probable creation of a future world, in which Man himself may be 

 the most important fossil. 



The bed of the Atlantic Ocean, even at a depth of two miles, is 

 covered by ooze teeming with Foraminifera, ninety-seven per cent, 

 of the soundings at the above depth being found by Capt. Dayman 

 to consist of Globigerina. They are principally found in the Gulf 

 Stream, and follow it in its course. Does this indicate a future 



