}Y SUPERPOSITION AND IN CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE. By Professor William King. 



if Time, the Laureotian being the Oldest. 



ecords of our Earth : with a few exceptions (Miocene) it contains all the Eock-systems occurring, often widely separated. 

 Systems appear to be incompletely developed. 



Fkeshwatek Types. 



Lif£-ChaEACTEEISTICS of the DIEFEEEIST SYSTEMS 

 OE PEEIODS.t 



Peat, Marl, and other deposits now forming in Lakes, 

 Rivers, etc. 



Cornish Submarine Forests with Human Eemains. 

 p Irish Megaceros Marls and Peat. 



Of Pleistocene Euminauts, the Scotch gigantic Fossil Ox {Bos 

 pviiYticje iin-is) J and small tossil Ox {Sos lo)igv^roHS — probably 

 original of our domestic breeds), lived on to latest (Histo- 

 ric ) division of this Period. ? Same may be said of the Irish 

 Megaceros. The great Aurochs {Bison prisms) is stiU living 

 in Lithuanian Russia, but preserved by strict protective 



? Special Organisms : — Shells — Lima excavata, HaJiotis tuber- 

 ciilata, Natica Kingii, Litorina litoralis, Fusus Berniciensis, 

 and F. Norvegicus. 



Eiver Air (Yorkshire) Hippopotamus, AUuvium. Thames 

 Valley, Elephas prirrdgenius, and Hoxne Flint-imple- 

 ments Gravels. 



? Maidenhead (Berkshire) "High-level Gravel" (Prest- 

 vrich). West of Ireland Escar Drift, and (? iceberg- 

 transported) granite erratics. 



North of England Boulder-drift. West of Ireland (? field 

 and mountain glacier) Limestone-drift, 



British Spec. Org. ! — Shells — Mga Uddeoallensis, Rhgnchonella 

 psittaceti, Natica clausa, Pecten Islandicus, etc. ; Mam- 

 mals — Reindeer, Musk-bviffalo (all the foregoing are now 

 only living in Arctic regions !), — Elephas prindgenius (Mam- 

 motli), E, aHficj^iii(i>, l'tlii)iocevos tichorhiniis, Hippopotamus 

 major, gigantic Irish Deer {Megaceros Jliberiiicus), Cave 

 Bear, Cave Lion (these have all died out!), and certain 

 bovine Euminants. The genus Homo characterizes this and 

 the following (Post-Pleistocene) Period ; manufactured 

 flint implements having been found at Hoxne (Suffolk) and 

 other places (also in France), under circmnstances pi'oving 

 that a low (? extinct species) tribe Uved coevally with the 

 extinct Mammals last-named. 



Happisburgh (liTorfolk) Elephas meridionalis bed. 

 Fehxstow {Mastodon) detrital bed. 



Monkeys {Macaciis plioce)ius) stiU existing. A large increase 

 of TGCGiit' sIigIIs J SuHolli Crs^ coiitSjiniDg 50j TVciltoii 0r3i^ 

 57, and Norwich 85 per cent. ! Spec. Org, : — Mammals — 

 Elephas meridionalis (? one of the earliest British species of 

 true Elephants), J/«sfocfo?j Arvernensis (? existing not later 

 than Red Crag), Ehinoceros Etruscus ; Shells — Astarte 

 Omalii, Nucida Cobholdix, Cassidaria bicatenata, Natica 

 catenoides, Nassa reticosa, Vobda Lamberti. Earliest (Suf- 

 folk) Crag species, Southern forms; latest (Norwich), 

 northern ! 



Bovey Tracey (Devonshire) Lignite. 



Lough Neagh Lignite. ? Isle of Mull Lignite. 



? Hempstead (Isle of Wight) beds. 



Elephantine {Mastodon angustidens) and other Pachyderms, 

 as Acerotherinm {R\i\nocQros-Y\ke) , Dinotherium (allied to 

 Dugong), exist; also a large Ape {Drgopithecus) , exceed- 

 ing in size the Gorilla . Recent shells mostly of sub-tro- 

 pical forms, increase to 25 per cent. ; — Special species — 

 Leda Deshayesiana, Pectuncidus crassus, Oliva Dufresnii, 

 Frofo cathedralis, Cerithium plicatum. None of these occur 

 in British Islands ; only in France, Belgium, and Germany, 



Eembridge Marls, 

 Hordweli Marls and Sands, 

 Sheppey Clay (Estuarine). 



Mammals of high types now abound {Palwotherium, Cory- 

 phodon , DichobuHc) , all belonging to extinct genera East 

 Indian-like Monkeys {Macacus eocemis) ; also reptiles seve- 

 rally resembling the Gavial of India, the Crocodile of Borneo, 

 and the AUigator of America , living in England ! Vegetation 

 that of the Indian Islands. Shells mostly of tropical types — 

 under 5 per cenc. identical with recent species : special — 

 Cerithium giganteum, Volutilithes spinosus, Venericardiapla- 

 nicosta, Axinus angulatus, Nautilus imperialis, Atnria zic- 

 zac. Nummulites (Protozooins) characterize this period. 



\ 



In the British Isles there is a great Life-break between the Eocene and the Cretaceous System ; the 

 former rarely contains any species of plants and animals characterizing the Secondary periods : pro- 

 bably, in other regions there may be a closer fossil agreement between the two Systems, caused by 

 their containing other coterminous Formations ; or there may exist an intermediate System. 





True dicotyledonous Plants ( Credneria) appear. Horn-scaled 

 Fishes {Beryx, Osmeroides) replace early enamel-scaled 

 kinds- Ammonites much reduced in numbers, giving way to 

 singular forms allied to them, as Turrilites, Scaphites, Bacu- 

 lites, etc. Spec. Org, : — Shells — Hippurites, Magas, King- 

 ena, Ostrea vesicularis, Tnoceramus, Spondghis spinosus, 

 Ammonites Sussexiensis, Belemnitella ; Echinodernis — Ga- 

 lerites, Micraster, Ananchytes, Marsupites. Many shells ap- 

 proach to recent forms. Marine Lizards, few — Mosasaurus, 

 etc. ; Flying Lizards, still living, and of large size. 



Weald Clay and Hastings Sand. 



? Portland Dirt-bed and Purbeck Marlstone. 



Enormous Land Lizards {Iguajiodon, Ilylceosaurus) inhabiting 

 the Palm {Clathraria) , Cycas {Mantellia) , and Pine {Abie- 

 tites) forests of the region of Kent, Several small Insecti- 

 vorous Mammals and Marsupials exist (Purbeck Marl) — 

 SpalacotJierium, Triconodon, etc. Spec. Org.: — Shells — 

 Corhis corrugata, Persia Mulleti, Exogyra, Pterocera Bec- 

 klesii, Ammordfes Deshayesii, Anryloceras, Crioceras ; 

 Fishes — Lepidotus Fittoni, Macropoma Egertoni. 



t In reading this column, the student should begin with the bottom System, the Laurentian, 



