38 



NATURAL niSTOHY OF THE rRIMEVAL WORLD. 



most of Ihom were ruMied down to tlie roots, but a. 

 few still retained their full length. They stood erect, are 

 stiff, and of an ashen colour, but in each bunch were 

 two or three quite black, and more rigid than the others. 



" The raost surprising fact, however, was that the skin 

 which covered the orbits of the eyes, and formed the 

 eyelids, was so well preserved and so healthy that the 

 openings of the eyelids could be seen, though deformed 

 and scarcely penetrable to the finger; the skin which 

 Bin-rounded the orbits, though desiccated, formed cir- 

 cular furrows. The cavities of the eyes were filled with 

 matter, cither argillaceous or animal, such as still par- 

 tially filled the cranium. Under the skin the fibres and 

 tendons still remained, and, above all, the remains of the 

 temporal muscles; finally, in the throat hung some 

 great bundles of muscular fibres. The denuded bones 

 were 3'oung, and not so solid as in other fossil crania of 

 the same species. The extremities of the jaws pre- 

 served no trace either of teeth or sockets, but were 

 covered here and there with the remains of the integu- 

 ment. The first molar was distant about four inches 

 from the e.'iterior edge of the jaw." 



Contemporaneous with these large mammals were 

 great numbers of reptiles, of which the most remark- 

 able was the Salamander. The Salamanders of the 

 present epoch are amphibious Bafrachians, with smooth 

 skins, and rarely attain the length of twenty inches; 

 but the Salamander of the upper tertiaries was as large 

 as a crocodile. When first discovered, and for some 

 time afterwards, until Cuvier and Camper showed its 

 true character, it was supposed to be a human victim 

 of tlie Deluge, and christened, "homo diluvii testis." 



" It is certain," wrote the learned Scheuchzer, in his 

 "Physica Sacra," "that this schist" — he referred to the 

 schistose limestone quarries of CEiu'ngen, in Switzerland 

 — " contains the half, or nearly the half, of the skeleton 

 of a man ; that the substance even of the bones, and 

 wdiat is more, of the flesh and of parts still softer than 

 the flesh, are there incorporated in the stone : in a word, 

 it is one of the rarest relics which we have of that 

 accursed race which was buried under the waters. 

 The figure shows us the contour of the frontal bone, 

 the orbits with the openings which give passage to the 

 great nerves of the fifth pair. We see there the remains 

 of the brain, of the sphenoidal bone, of the roots of the 

 nose, a notable fragment of the nia.\illary bone, and 

 some vestiges of the liver." And our enthusiastic 

 author exclaims, in bad rhyme and rhythm — 



" Bctiiiljtes Beingeriist von einem altem Sunder 

 Erweiclie, Stein, das Herz der neuc-n Bosbeitskinder !' 



which has been thus Englished : — 



'■ Oil deplorable skeleton of an accursed ancient. 

 May tlie sinner on bellolJing tliee repent!" 



An examination of any engraving of this ancient 

 animal will show the reader how utterly fanciful was 

 the resemblance which Scheuchzer's heated brain pro- 

 fessed to discover between the Pleiocene fossil and the 

 human skeleton. Cuvier convincingly exposed the 

 absurd error, and restored the primeval animal to 

 its proper place in creation, as an amphibious Batra- 

 cbian of the order Salamander. 



Birds were also very numerous during the Pleiocene 

 period, cheering the solitudes with their songs, and 

 enlivening them with their brilliant plumage. Among 

 the most conspicuous genera were eagles, vultures, 

 gulls, swallows, pies, parroquets, jungle-fowl, ducks, 

 and pheasants. 



We have now arrived at the last period of the 

 primeval world, and we find the characters of its 

 vegetation and the general features of its landscapes, as 

 may be seen in our illustration (Plate 9), more and 

 more closely approximating to those which now obtain. 

 Vast physical changes have taken place in the physical 

 relations of the globe, corresponding to the mutations 

 we have described as being effected in the organization 

 and disposition of animal life. The dinornis and 

 palffipteryx, the megathere, the toxodon, and the mylo- 

 don, the camel, the girafle,therhinoceros — these animals 

 could not have existed on the earth of the Cretaceous 

 or Oolitic ages ; our planet had to be fitted for their 

 reception, preparatory to the appearance of humanity 

 on the wondrous theatre designed by Almighty Power. 

 In the northern hemisphere, therefore, a cooler tem- 

 perature prevailed ; many of the principal mountain- 

 chains, the Himalayas, the Alps, the Apennines, 

 having been elevated into their present position, and 

 the large inland seas wdiich had occupied the central 

 plains of Europe, Asia and Africa, having gradually 

 been transformed into lake, swamp, and dry land. 



In the Pleiocene period, therefore, though the tem- 

 perate zones are still adorned by tropical forms of 

 vegetation, we find them slowly declining before the 

 influences of a colder climate and the encroachments 

 of hardier species. We find everywhere the signs 

 of great terrestrial commotions ; the continents now 

 assume their final configuration ; the great rivers are 

 confined within well-marked channels ; and loflj' 

 mountain peaks, crowned with eternal snow, tower far 

 above the clouds. 



Two hundred and twelve species, we are told, com- 

 pose the rich Pleiocene flora. Tlie huge ferny growth 

 of the earlier ages is scarcely indicated ; many of the 

 varieties of Palmacere have whollj' passed away; and 

 the forms generally prevailing are absolutely identical 

 with the species which now embellish our forests, 

 meadows, and smiling valleys. The Culmites arwidi- 

 naccus abounds near the water's edge, where also 

 flourishes the Cypcrites tertieirius ; on the surface of 

 the stream floats the Dotamogeion, and beneath it waves 

 the Isoeles Braunii. Stately conifers still compose the 

 dense, shadowy, pathless forests. This noble family 

 has passed, as we have seen, through every epoch, 

 every chance and change of the history of the primeval 

 world, and still enriches the landscape with its graceful 

 forms and evergreen foliage ; Taxoelites, Tluiyoa-i/hun, 

 Abietiles, Elco.rylon, Taxilcs, and Pinttes, be'ng still 

 the most abundant forms in our natural forests. 



" The predominating character of this period," sa3'3 

 Lewy, "is the prevalence of the group of the Amen- 

 tacea^. AVliile the Conifers are only thirty-two in num- 

 ber, we reckon of the other two and fifty species, and 

 among these many European genera, such as Ahuis; 

 Q'lerciis, the oak ; Salix, the willow ; Fagus, the beech ; 

 Belida, the birch. 



