I20 EVOLUTION QE LIE. 
CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 
This name is given to rocks occurring in various parts 
of the world, which contain well-marked and characteristic 
forms of animal and vegetal life, though the rocks them- 
selves may be composed of very different minerals. Thus, 
the chalk-cliffs of England are so striking as to give her 
the name of Albion, while up to the present time no chalk 
has been found in America. The formation in New Jersey, 
etc., supposed to correspond to the Cretaceous of England, 
consists principally of marl, much used for fertilizing 
purposes. The apparently simple and generally unobserved 
phenomena of one's fireside are often really so complex 
that lives have been spent in investigating, volumes written 
in explaining them. The burning of a candle forms the 
subject of an interesting little book by the late Prof. Fara- 
day; while Prof. Huxley observes, “The man who should 
know the true history of the bit of chalk which every 
carpenter carries about in his breeches-pocket, though 
ignorant of all other history, is likely to have a better con- 
ception of this wonderful universe, and of a man's relation 
to it, than the most learned student who is deep-read in the 
records of humanity and ignorant of those of Nature.” It 
would be superfluous to attempt to show the justice of this 
profound remark, as those who care to follow the reason- 
ings by which such a conclusion is reached can find them 
in the essay on a “Piece of Chalk," from which the above 
quotation is taken. While the Reptiles of the Cretaceous 
period still include huge creatures like the Hadrosaurus 
and Mososaurus, the Fishes and Plants are becoming more 
modern in their appearance, Bony Fishes first appearing in 
this period, among which are to be mentioned the Herring, 
Salmon, etc., and the vegetal kingdom being represented 
ky modern trees, like the Palms, Oaks, and Poplars, ac- 
companied by a marked decline in the Cycade. With the 
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