A Brief General Account of Fossil Fishes. 



BY C. R. EASTMAN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 



SUMMARY. 



1. Province of palaeontology and its relations to other natural sciences. 



2. General notions of palseichthyology ; some generalizations resulting from 



its study. 



3. Geological time-scale. 



4. Introduction and succession of the class of fishes. 



5. Characteristic forms of fish life in the Devonian system. 



6. Geological history of Elasmobranchs, Lung-fishes and Ganoids. 



7. General nature of the Boonton Triassic fish fauna. 



8. Discussion of probable physical conditions and causes of destruction of 



fish life in the Newark beds. 



9. Brief survey of the progress of palseichthyology. 



10. Progress of our knowledge of American Triassic fishes. 



Province of Paleontology. — It having been suggested by the 

 State Geologist that a presentation in untecbnical language of 

 the leading facts brought to light by the study of fossil fishes of 

 New Jersey, together with some statement of their relations to the 

 science of palaeontology in general, would be of interest to a 

 wide class of readers, the following section of the report has 

 been prepared in accordance with that idea, detailed systematic 

 descriptions being reserved for a separate chapter. Owing to 

 the large number of persons whose attention has been attracted 

 in one way or another to the remarkable fish remains found at 

 Boonton and elsewhere, it is taken for granted that a lively 

 interest exists in questions concerning their origin, their rela- 

 tions to extinct and modern forms, and the conditions under 

 which they met their death and became preserved in the rocks. 

 These and kindred topics it is our purpose to examine into in the 

 following pages. 



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