122 Geological Gleanings, 



that they appeared to me more abundant in the upper part of 

 the island than in the lower, and that proceeding down the valley 

 of the St. Lawrence they ceased altogether not many miles below 

 the island in question : and it may be further remarked, that they 

 did not seem of less weight at the limit of their range than else- 

 where. 



ARTICLE XIV. — Geological Gleanings. 



Prof. Wyman on Carboniferous Reptiles. — Silliman's Journal, 

 No. 74. — One result of the progress of geological inquiry is that 

 of carrying back the higher forms of life farther and farther into 

 geological time. Mammals are now represented by a number of 

 secondary species, and the reptiles, in their amphibian forms, 

 occur in the, Palaeozoic series as far back as the upper Devonian. 

 Still the multiplication of such instances serves only farther to 

 convince us that we are nearing the periods of the introduction of 

 these forms, for the reptiles of the coal period are all amphibian, 

 and therefore among the lower members of the class, though high 

 among these lower members, while the Mesozoic mammals are 

 chiefly marsupial, and otherwise deficient in the more special- 

 ized characters of the higher members of that group. 



" One of the most interesting subjects presented to the palaeon- 

 tologist for investigation, is that relating to the determination of 

 the period when the Creator gave forms to organized beings, and 

 placed them in definite relations with the earth and its atmo- 

 sphere, and made them living things. But the history of geology 

 shows, that generalizations as to the time and circumstances of the 

 creation of given animal forms have approached precision, only as 

 the depths of the ancient lakes and oceans have been faithfully 

 explored, and the shores and dry lands which co-existed with them 

 have been accurately examined. 



"It was during the deposition of the Oolite that reptilian life 

 reached its culminating point ; below this, the deeper explorations 

 are carried, the less numerous are the remains of reptiles found to 

 be, and it has been assumed within a few years even, that their 

 creation took place during the triassic period. The coal forma- 

 tions had been largely examined, thousands of fishes and still lower 

 animals had been discovered, before the first traces of reptiles came 



