4 
EXTINCT MONSTERS 
or to search in coal-mines, or under cliffs at the seaside, and we 
can consult her records. As the ancient Egyptians built tombs, 
pyramids, and temples, from which we may learn their manner 
of life and partly read their history, so Nature has entombed, not 
one race only, but many races of the children of life. Her 
records are written in strange hieroglyphs, yet it is not difficult 
to interpret their meaning ; and thus many an old story, many 
an old scene, may be pictured in the mind of man. 
Shall we call this earth-drama a tragedy or a comedy ? Doubt- 
less tragic scenes occurred at times ; as, for instance, when fierce 
creatures engaged in deadly combat: and probably amusing, if 
not comic, incidents took place occasionally, such as might have 
provoked us to laughter, had we been there to see them. But 
let us simply call it a drama. Backgrounds of scenery were 
not wanting. Then, as now, the surface of the earth was clothed 
with vegetation, and strange cattle pastured on grassy plains. 
Vegetation was at times very luxuriant. The forests of the coal 
period, with their giant reeds and club-moss trees, must have 
made a strange picture. Then, as now, there rose up from the 
plains lofty ranges of mountains, reaching to the clouds, their 
summits clothed with the eternal snows. These, too, played 
their part, feeding the streams and the rivers that meandered 
over the plains, bringing life and fertility with them, as they do 
now. The sun shone and the wind blew: sometimes gently, 
so that the leaves just whispered in an evening breeze ; at other 
times so violently that the giants of the forest swayed to and 
fro, and the seas lashed themselves furiously against rocky coasts. 
Nor were the underground forces of the earth less active than 
they are now: volcanic eruptions often took place on a mag- 
nificent scale ; volcanoes poured out fiery lava-streams for leagues 
beneath their feet ; great showers of ashes and fine dust were 
