Marvels of the Universe 



173 



consequent immediate drop into the sea, or a short slow-down into visibility previous to such 

 drop. 



And yet, in spite of this clear and apparently conclusive statement, we are told in a recent work, 

 purporting to be up to date, that flying fish fly in aeroplane fashion without any movement of 

 their \\-ings. 



Very different are the fl^dng gurnards, of which the common species is shown in the illustration. 

 These fishes, which run to about eighteen inches in length, differ from the ordinary red gurnards 

 of the fishmongers' shops mainly by the elongation of the pectoral fins into wings. They inhabit 

 most of the warmer seas, and their habits are verj' similar to those of ordinary flying fishes, with 

 which they probably agree in their mode of flight. 



In addition to the above, there is a small fish, known as Pantodon, inhabiting the rivers of 

 West Africa, and a second, Gastropelecus , from South American rivers, both of which likewise 

 enjoy the power of flight. 



Pholo bll [Russell F. UwiimdI. 



FOSSIL SUNSHINE. 



This stone was once part of the shore of a salt laUe. The climate was tropical, and the scorching sun dried up the briny 

 waters at the edge of the lake, so that the salt deposit formed into little crystal pyramids. 



FOSSIL WEATHER 



BY RUSSELL F. GWINNELL, B.SC, A.R.C.SC, F.G.S. 



There is perhaps no feature in connection with the study of rocks that is more wonderful than 

 this : it is possible to determine the climate 0/ past ages. Thus the fossils — the buried remains of 

 animals and plants once living above ground — clearly indicate that London (or, rather, the site on 

 which London now stands) once basked in tropical sunshine. Palms and fig-trees flourished, with 

 here and there a prickly cactus, while turtles and snakes abounded, and in the sea dwelt crocodiles 

 and sharks, besides such tropical shellfish as the cowry, now abundant on African coasts and 

 used there as money. Temperate and, later, Arctic conditions set in, until the few plants were 

 mosses and dwarfed trees, like the Arctic birch and dwarf willow, while Baltic and Icelandic kinds 

 of shellfish lived in the adjacent sea, with the staircase-sheU of Greenland. All of these variations 



