136 
APPENDIX. 
sive continents. Indeed, there are, in the coal strata 
of Great Britain, France, and other countries, indica¬ 
tions of there having been groups of small islands, 
gradually increasing by successive deposits, and com¬ 
bining to form continents. In what is usually called 
the Old World , there are no indications of large 
islands in the earliest periods. America, so far from 
being a New World, is the oldest continent. Even 
before the deposition of the coal, North America had 
nearly its present outline,— the coal basins being 
great inland seas ; while it is probable, that, at this 
time, the whole of the Old World was only a group 
of small islands. 
“ A number of interesting facts have been 
ascertained in regard to the animals and plants 
which exist in different portions of the globe; these 
differing considerably, according to their latitude and 
longitude. In the arctic regions of Asia, Europe, 
and America, there is an astonishing uniformity in 
the plants and animals. As we proceed toward the 
temperate zone, there is a greater diversity. In the 
tropics, we find the animals and plants of different 
countries to be entirely of a different character; and 
as we proceed towards the southern pole, we do not 
find that they resume their uniformity. We find 
also various countries characterized by peculiar spe¬ 
cies of animals as well as plants; a very remarkable 
peculiarity in this distribution is the fact that both 
the animals and plants now found in this country 
are related to those belonging to earlier geologi- 
ical periods of Europe. The walnut, cypress, and 
other trees of this country, are only found in a 
fossil state in Europe. Among animals also, the 
snapping-turtle, the large frogs and salamanders of 
this country occur only . as fossils in Europe. 
Again, the genus of fish called Lepidostas, of which 
the gar-pike found in America is a species, does 
not resemble the recent European fossils, but those 
