C()2 THE UNIVERSE. 



has again shown on what one of the most ancient crea- 

 tures of the globe used to feed ! 



Towards the same time we find the Glyptodons, huge 

 armadilloes which Avere more than double the size of those 

 living in our days; and then the Megatheria, a kind of 

 monstrous sloths which were as large as elephants, Avhile 

 those of our epoch are scarcely the size of a clog. 



Lastly came the frightful Sivatherium, found in India, 

 and to which this name, derived from that of the goddess 

 Siva worshipped there, has been given in consequence. 

 This animal, as Owen tells us, is certainly one of the 

 most gigantic and extraordinary of the extinct races 

 known to us. It was a stag as large as an elephant, its 

 head being surmounted with four horns. 



In the tertiary epoch we meet Avith few reptiles, but 

 one of them enjoys a great celebrit)^ It Avas a gigantic 

 salamander, Avhicli the dictum of a theological naturalist 

 caused to be long considered as an incontestable relic from 

 the hecatomb of the biblical deluge. 



During this phase of creation of Avhich Ave have sketched 

 the history, new races of molluscs arose on all sides, Avhile 

 the ancient ones perished to return no more. The am- 

 monites, formerly so numerous, disappeared altogether, 

 Avhilst tiny nummulites, the size of lentils, Avere forming 

 imposing chains of mountains in different parts of the 

 globe. The miliolites, infinitely smaller, multiplied at 

 such a prodigious rate that they deposited vast strata, 

 Avhich, as we have seen, are noAV-a-days quarried to build 

 our dwellings Avitli.^ It Avas also during this period of 

 organic evolution that the seas of the Paris basin abounded 

 in such rich conchylic deposits, in those places Avhere the 

 great city was one day to parade its splendour. It is 



^ See page 35. 



