NATURAL HISTORY OK THE PRIMEVAL WORLD. 



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Aiul, thirdly, the transverse partitions which formed 

 tlie air-cliambers provided also a continuous succession 

 of supports, extending their ramifications, with many 

 mechanical advantages, beneath the weakest portions 

 of the shell. 



The Cerolites, which were very abundant in the 

 Triassic ocean, formed a genus closely allied to the 

 Ammonites. 



In the JIuschelkalk, the formation we are now 

 considering, are found the teeth and skull of the Pla- 

 codus gigas, a saurian reptile of peculiar character. 



Another reptile of great dimensions, which may be 

 regarded as a kind of fore-shadowing, or antctype, of 

 the huge Saurians of the Jurassic period, was a marine 

 crocodile, named the Nothosaurus. 



To this period also belonged the Telcrjieton, so called 

 by Dr. Jlantell, but referred by Professor Owen to a 

 genus which he denominates Lejitopleuron. Its charac- 

 teristic is the slenderness of its ribs, of which there are 

 four and twenty pairs, and which seem to have been 

 attached by a simple head, as in the lizards. It was 

 lirobably amphibious in its habits, though exhibiting its 

 alifinity to our existing land-lizards in the development 

 of its limbs, the situation of its pelvis, and other general 

 features. 



Among Triassic reptiles of a sauroid character we 

 may also name the Phytosaurus, the Thecodontosmirus, 

 the Ilypcrodupedon, and the crocodile-like Staganolepis. 



Among the Triassic Echinoderms may be mentioned 

 the Encrinus nioniliformis and Encrimis lilifurmis, the 

 latter a wonderfully beautiful imitation of the lily, 

 whose remains in some districts compose whole masses 

 of rock, and illustrate the slow progress with which this 

 zoophyte developed the limestone beds in the bright 

 transparent Triassic seas. 



lu the keuper formation of the Triassic there do 

 not occur any new forms of organic life. Cephalo- 

 pods, Ceratites and Ammonites, Gasteropods, Lanielli- 

 branchs, Echinoderms, were singularly abundant ; the 

 Labyrinthodonts crawled on the sandy shore; and the 

 great Saurians wallowed among the slime and sedge. 



The accompanying engraving (Plate 2) is an attempt 

 to reproduce the characteristic scenery of the Muschel- 

 kalk sub-period. This belongs to the Triassic, or New 

 Red Sandstone period, but is a group of strata wholly 

 wanting in England. German writers divide the 

 Triassic (trias, or triple) into three groups, as follows, 

 in descending order: — Keuper, answering to the French 

 Marne irisee, and our English " gypseous shales and 

 sandstone ;" Muschelkalk, answering to the French 

 Calcaire coquilier; and Bunter sandstone, answering 

 to the French Grcs higarre, and our English " sand- 

 stone and quartzose conglomerate." 



The Muschelkalk, it is necessary to explain, con- 

 sists of beds of compact limestone, often greyish, 

 sometimes black, alternating with marl and clay, and 

 generally containing such numbers of shells that it 

 has received from the Germans the name of shelly 

 limestone (Muschelkalk). 



The seas of this sub-period included, not only hosts 

 of molluscs, but twelve difterent genera of saurian 

 reptiles, some turtles, and six new genera of cuirassed 

 or armour-clad fishes. We have already indicated 



some of the more remarkable species — the Ccmtites, the 

 Mytilus or mussel, the Lima lineotci, the Sphivrodiis, 

 and the Pycnodus. The vegetation had also its dis- 

 tinctive characters : large-leaved Haidingereis, not 

 unlike our New Zealand araucarias, but more closely 

 resembling the damara ; cone-pointed Voltzias, a 

 genus of CupressinaceiB, now extinct. In his "Botanic 

 Geography " M. Lecoq observes : — ■ 



"While the variegated sandstones and mottled clays 

 were being slowly deposited in regular beds by the 

 waters, magnificent ferns still exhibiteil their light 

 and elegantly-carved leaves. Divers Protopteris and 

 majestic Neuropleris mingled in vast forest-like masses, 

 where also flourished the Cremntoptcris typica of 

 Schimper, the Anomoptcris Mougeotii of Brongniart, 

 and the pretty Trichomanitcs nigrophyUum. The 

 conifers of this epoch attain a very considerable devel- 

 opment, and would form graceful forests of verdurous 

 trees. Elegant monocotyledons, representing the forms 

 now prevalent in tropical dimes, seem to appear for 

 the first time. The Yuecitcs Vogesiacus of Schimper 

 constituted groups at once very extensive, and ranged 

 in densest order. 



" A family, hitherto duubtfiil, shows itself under the 

 elegant form of Xilssonia Hogardi. It is still recog- 

 nizable in the Zamites Vogesiacus; and the varied 

 groups of the cycads, organized like conifers and beau- 

 tiful as palms, now decorate the earth, whicli in these 

 new types manifests its inexhaustible fecundity. 



"The most remarkable of the herbaceous plants 

 which then composed the forest undergrowth, or luxuri- 

 antly overspread its tepid marshes, is the ^Ethophyllum 

 speciosiim. In organization it approximates to the 

 lycopods and Thyphaceoe, the yEthophyllum stijmlare, 

 and the curious Sc/iizoncura jmradoxa. Thus we can 

 trace the commencement of the reign of the dicoty- 

 ledonous plants, with n^iked seeds, which afterwards 

 became so w^idely distributed. A few angiosperms, 

 belonging principally to the families of the conifers 

 and Cycadeaceas, were still represented in the vegeta- 

 tion of this sub period. The first, very abundant at 

 the outset, associated themselves with the cellular 

 cryptogams, which, though decreasing, were still 

 numerous ; and, at a later date, with the Cycadeacesc, 

 which present themselves but slowly, though in due 

 time taking no unimportant share in the great work of 

 harmonizing the vegetable kingdom." 



These details will enable the reader more easily to 

 understand our ideal landscape. 



A violent but transient storm has convulsed the sea 

 of the Muschelkalk, and its waters break on the shore 

 in clouds of foam and spray. As they recede into the 

 depths, we catch sight of numerous aquatic animals. 

 These are the Encrinites, with their long flexible stems, 

 like coils of rope ; some few Mytili and Terebratula;. 

 In search of prey the Nothosaurus has dragged his 

 huge bulk to the beach, and on the same surf-beaten 

 rock crawl several of his congeners, but of a smaller 

 species. The sandy dome is crowned with a vigorous 

 group of Haidingeras, whose large trunks, drooping 

 branches, and inclined foliage remind us of our modern 

 cedars. The elegant Voltzias enhance with their 

 beauty the charms of tliis striking vegetation. The 



