GROLOGY: 117 
harmony with what we know of the Carboniferous fossils. 
The gorgeous Ferns, in great variety, the Lycopod-like 
plants, having attained the full maturity of their luxuriant 
growth after this period, give way to the Cycada and 
Conifere. The Ganoid fishes die out, their posterity, the 
Batrachia, having appeared, soon to be replaced, how- 
ever, by the Reptilia, while tlie Insects are still represented 
by the lowest orders just mentioned. Following the Car- 
boniferous rocks of the West in this country, and closely 
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resembling the Carboniferous period in its general features, 
we meet the Permian, called after the ancient kingdom of 
Permia in Russia. It is interesting to the Evolutionist as 
furnishing the remains of the simplest reptiles, the Protero- 
saurus having been found in the Permian rocks of Germany. 
By looking at the tree of the development of the Reptilia, 
it will be seen that the Proterosaurus is regarded as the 
common ancestor of that group. he Silurian, Devonian, 
Carboniferous, and Permian periods, taken together, con- 
stitute the Primary Age, or age of most ancient beings. 
ENGER POR CCYCADE CAND REPTILIA. 
The Secondary, like the Primary Age, is subdivided into 
three periods, the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. These 
three periods, while differing considerably in minor respects, 
agree essentially in their plants and animals, being princi- 
pally represented by Cycade and Reptilia. 
TRIASSIC PERIOD. 
This period derives its name from the formation in 
Germany being composed of three kinds of rock; the 
name, however, is one of only local application, the period 
being often called in England and America the New Red 
Sandstone, as distinguished from the Old Red, or Devonian. 
The absence of Lepidodendrons and Sigillarize in this period, 
