﻿E. 
  W. 
  Berry 
  — 
  Evolution 
  of 
  Plants 
  and 
  Animals. 
  211 
  

  

  land 
  surfaces 
  were 
  much 
  extended. 
  This 
  also 
  was 
  possi- 
  

   bly 
  an 
  evolutionary 
  factor 
  in 
  both 
  kingdoms 
  as 
  were 
  any 
  

   climatic 
  changes 
  that 
  may 
  have 
  taken 
  place. 
  It 
  is 
  clear 
  

   that 
  the 
  long 
  period 
  of 
  land 
  emergence 
  that 
  intervened 
  

   between 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  deposition 
  of 
  the 
  latest 
  Cretaceous 
  

   and 
  the 
  earliest 
  Eocene 
  marine 
  sediments 
  in 
  most 
  regions 
  

   was 
  the 
  theater 
  of 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  modernized 
  plants 
  and 
  

   animals 
  of 
  the 
  Eocene 
  record. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  considerable 
  misapprehension 
  of 
  the 
  known 
  

   earlier 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  flowering 
  plants 
  and 
  the 
  statement 
  

   is 
  frequently 
  made 
  that 
  the 
  mid-Cretaceous 
  marks 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  of 
  Cenozoic 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  plants 
  are 
  concerned. 
  

   Although 
  it 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  they 
  appeared 
  in 
  considerable 
  

   numbers 
  during 
  the 
  Upper 
  Cretaceous 
  the 
  change 
  in 
  

   floras 
  from 
  Cretaceous 
  to 
  Eocene 
  times 
  was 
  fully 
  as 
  great 
  

   as 
  among 
  other 
  groups 
  of 
  organisms 
  and 
  is 
  similarly 
  

   marked 
  by 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  archaic 
  types 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  Mesozoic 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  modern- 
  

   ization 
  such 
  as 
  also 
  occurred 
  among 
  the 
  mammalia. 
  

  

  It 
  requires 
  but 
  little 
  argument 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  human 
  

   civilization 
  could 
  scarcely 
  have 
  been 
  attained 
  but 
  for 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  the 
  flowering 
  plants. 
  Although 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   human 
  and 
  eohuman 
  races 
  were 
  largely 
  carnivorous 
  and 
  

   supplemented 
  a 
  diet 
  of 
  flesh, 
  fish 
  and 
  fowl 
  (including 
  

   shellfish) 
  by 
  such 
  fruits 
  and 
  seeds 
  as 
  nature 
  furnished 
  

   them, 
  and 
  although 
  certain 
  existing 
  races, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  

   Esquimaux, 
  maintain 
  themselves 
  without 
  agriculture, 
  the 
  

   civilizations 
  of 
  history 
  have 
  all 
  had 
  their 
  basis 
  in 
  an 
  agri- 
  

   cultural 
  society, 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  recall 
  all 
  crop 
  plants 
  

   (except 
  such 
  unimportant 
  foods 
  as 
  fungi, 
  seaweed, 
  etc.) 
  

   of 
  all 
  races, 
  ancient 
  or 
  modern, 
  are 
  angiosperms 
  or 
  

   flowering 
  plants. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  only 
  by 
  agriculture 
  that 
  large 
  numbers 
  in 
  settled 
  

   communities 
  can 
  be 
  sustained 
  and 
  the 
  flower 
  of 
  progress 
  

   can 
  bloom. 
  Instances 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  production 
  of 
  con- 
  

   centrated 
  energy 
  are 
  furnished 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  grains, 
  

   one 
  third 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  plant 
  being 
  rep- 
  

   resented 
  by 
  the 
  concentrated 
  food 
  stuffs 
  of 
  the 
  seeds. 
  

   Game, 
  even 
  as 
  abundant 
  and 
  as 
  stupid 
  as 
  was 
  the 
  bison 
  

   of 
  our 
  western 
  prairies, 
  could 
  not 
  afford 
  a 
  basis 
  for 
  a 
  

   civilization, 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  this 
  instance 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  recalled 
  

   that 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  was 
  the 
  fod- 
  

   der 
  furnished 
  by 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  angiosperm 
  alliance. 
  

   Similarly 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  camels, 
  sheep, 
  goats 
  and 
  horses 
  

   of 
  the 
  nomadic 
  races 
  was 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  plant. 
  

  

  