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OIANT»* AND PIGMIES. 



25 



Although wo liave not previously alluded to the occurrence 

 of Crinoids (like lilies), it is by no means their earliest appear 

 anco. In the Silurian of Arisaig they abound, and even in 

 earlier periods. In periods later than the Silurian, e. g., in 

 the Mountain Limestone of Great Britain they are in very 

 great abundance — giving character and beauty to many marbles. 



Some of the most beautiful forms brought up from the 

 depths of the sea by II. M. S. Challenger expedition and 

 others, are the Crinoids. See the plates in publications of 

 Expedition. Our guide introduces us also to the Foramenifer 

 and the Saurian. 



15. In my last I introduced the Ammonite. "We found 

 Ammonites 2-)lanorhU at the Mendips and Ammonites communis 

 and others in Poetry and Nature, at Whitby on the north-east 

 coast of England and County of Yorkshire. This is the 

 northern terminus of the Liassic formation in England. At 

 Lyme Regis in the west of the south coast is the southern 

 terminus. The Mendips are an intermediate locality. All 

 along the line Ammonites may be collected. We now propose 

 a trip along the south coast from Lyme Regis to Dover. 



At our starting point we find abundance of Ammonites, 

 similar to those of Whitby, the Mendips and other intermediate 

 localities, especially in rail way cuttings. When we reach 

 Portland we come to a notable locality, a region of Giants. 

 Here Ammonites giganteus abounds. Col. Akers (Major- 

 General), R. E., tells me that when he was superintending the 

 work of fortification there, he saw Ammonites disentombed, 

 having a diameter of from 3 to 4 feet — being as large as a 

 cart-wheel. In the Natural History Museum, South Kensing- 

 ton, in the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn street, and 

 in the Museum of the Geological Society, London, magnificent 

 specimens are readily seen. In our own Provincial Museum 

 there is a young and portable specimen which is 1 foot in its 

 gr'eatest diameter and 2 feet 9 inches in circumference. The 

 enormous size of these Cephalopods again reminds us of the 

 great squids of Newfoundland. One of the latter, on its way to 

 New York Aquarium, was examined by us some years ago on 



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