NEBULA TO MAN 
Amid pro- Sturgeon forms, new types akin 
To Carp and Barbel now enlife the scene. 
And forms are here to Bony pike allied, 
Whose gristly backbones, partly ossified, 125 
Foretell the bony groups, that soon will rise 
And far outstrip their gristly framed allies. 
Browsing on weeds in shallow streams and bays 
Lung-fishes roam, as in Devonian days 
A dwindling race, from whose depleted ranks 130 
Had come the amphibian life along the banks 
Of Carbon seas and streams. But though they wane 
A place in fish-life long will they retain. 
As see the mud-fish, in the Gambia living, 
And in the Amazon and its affluents thriving ; 135 
And barramundi that pursue their way 
Along the banks of Queensland's streams to-day. 
Amphibian life that groped through Carbon slimes, 
And grew abundant in the Permian times, 
With more developed forms slow onward presses, 140 
And many giants Newt-like now possesses. 
Creatures it counts full twice three feet in length, 
With broad and flattened skulls of bony strength, 
And jaws with teeth in mazy patterns wrought, 
And limbs with increased power of support. 145 
Truly old fishes of Silurian seas 
Have here revealed their capabilities. 
4 8 
