Chapter XIX: Fossil Mammalia (2)

[766] For a general description of the cave at Kirkdale, see _Wond._ p. 179; and for details, _Reliq. Diluv._ pp. 1-19. The ossiferous caves at Kirkdale, Torquay, and Banwell are noticed, _Petrif._ p. 482.

Kent’s Cave, near Torquay, Oreston Cave, near Plymouth, and several other caves in Devonshire, have yielded great numbers of bones and teeth of Carnivora and Pachydermata (see _Reliq. Diluv._ p. 67).

Kent’s Hole is the most productive ossiferous cavern in England, and its vicinity to Torquay renders it of easy access. An extensive collection of teeth and bones was obtained from this cave by the late Rev. J. MacEnery, comprising, in addition to the usual extinct Carnivora, skulls and teeth of Badger (_Meles taxus_), Otter (_Lutra vulgaris_), Pole-cat (_Putorius vulgaris_), Stoat or Ermine (_P. erminius_), &c. A selection of the choicest specimens in this collection is deposited in the British Museum.

In Glamorganshire, two large caverns, called Goat’s Hole, and Paviland Cave, containing numerous bones of Bear, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Rhinoceros, Elephant, &c., are situated in a lofty cliff of limestone, between Oxwich Bay and the Worm’s Head, on the property of Earl Talbot, fifteen miles west of Swansea (_Reliq. Diluv._ p. 82).

[Sidenote: FOSSIL CARNIVORA.]

In the western district of the Mendip Hills, in Somersetshire, there are several ossiferous fissures and caves. The most interesting are those of Hutton, on the northern escarpment of Bleadon Hill; and of Banwell, lying about a mile to the east of Hutton. They contain remains of two species of bear, one (_Ursus spelæus_) of immense size and strength; and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Deer, Ox, and Elephant.[767]

[767] See a Memoir "On the Caverns and Fissures in the Western District of the Mendip Hills," by the late Rev. D. Williams. Proc. Royal Society, June 2, 1831, p. 55.

From the caves at Hutton, the Rev. D. Williams obtained the milk-teeth and other remains of a calf-elephant, about two years old, and those of a young tiger, just shedding its milk-teeth; also the grinders of a young horse, that were casting their coronary surfaces; and remains of two species of hyæna.

But one instance of the fossil bones of Carnivora has been observed in the south-east of England. It occurred in a fissure in a quarry of sandstone at Boughton, near Maidstone; among other bones, the lower jaw of a Hyæna (see Frontispiece of Vol. I.), with the teeth, was obtained.[768]

[768] See _Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1836, vol. ix. p. 593; and _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._ vol. vii. p. 383.

In the modern silt of our alluvial districts, the remains of carnivorous animals, formerly indigenous to this island, are occasionally met with; and the skeleton of the Brown Bear (a species which inhabited Scotland eight centuries ago), and of the Wolf, whose extinction is of a yet later date, have been discovered. The Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge contains an entire skull of the Brown Bear (_Ursus arctos_), found in the Manea Fen of Cambridgeshire;[769] in an ancient fresh-water deposit, near Bacton, in Norfolk, the right lower jaw of the Bear of the Caverns (_Ursus spelæus_), has been discovered;[770] and the phalangeal bone of a large Bear has been found by Mr. J. Brown in the pleistocene deposits at Copford, Essex, with the remains of Beaver, Elephant, Stag, &c. (_Geol. Journ._ vol. viii. p. 187.)

[769] A beautiful lignograph of this specimen is given in _Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 77, _fig._ 24.

[770] Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 89.

Thus the remains of fossil Carnivora discovered in England comprise several kinds of Bear[771] (including the two species of the caverns of Germany, _U. priscus_ and _U. spelæus_), and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, &c.

[771] _Petrif._ p. 398. In the _Pict. Atlas_, pl. lxxiii., is a good figure of a large Bear’s tooth. Teeth of Bear, Tiger, Hyæna, and Arvicola, are figured in _Ly._ p. 161.

Although we cannot dwell on foreign localities of Carnivora, I may mention that the lacustrine pliocene formation of Œningen occasionally yields fine remains. A splendid specimen, obtained from that locality by Sir R. I. Murchison, displays almost the entire skeleton of a Fox-like animal, the _Galecynus Œningensis_ of Prof. Owen.[772]

[772] See _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. iii. pl. xxxiii.; and _Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol. iii. p. 55.

The Seal, which is one of the marine carnivorous mammalia, also occurs in a fossil state in England. A femur of a species of _Phoca_ has been found, with the remains of a Monkey and Bat, in a tertiary deposit in Suffolk. In the tertiary strata of Malta an extinct species of Seal has also been discovered. In the bone-beds of New Zealand my son frequently found bones and teeth of Seals, probably of the species now inhabiting the South Pacific. (_Petrif._ p. 130.)

Of the Insectivora, the fossil remains of several genera occur. In England, the jaw with teeth of a large species of Mole (named Palæospalax,[773] _ancient mole_), has been discovered in a lacustrine deposit at Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk, associated with bones of Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, and Beaver. This animal must have been as large as a hedgehog. The only part of the skeleton hitherto obtained is a portion of the left side of the lower jaw, containing six molars; its natural affinities have therefore been inferred from the characters of the crowns of the teeth.

[773] _Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 25.

[Sidenote: FOSSIL CHEIROPTERA AND QUADRUMANA.]

The Cheiroptera (_hand-wings_) or Bats, are mammalia which have the power of flight, from the bones of the phalanges or fingers being enormously elongated and giving support to a fine membranous expansion; they are rarely found fossil, although, from their habits of haunting and hybernating in fissures and caves, their skeletons often occur mingled in the earth of the floor of caverns, and imbedded in crannies of rocks, with bones of extinct animals.

The remains of a considerable portion of the skeleton of one species of Bat was discovered by Cuvier in the gypsum of Montmartre,[774] and another example in a gypseous deposit, at Köstritz, in Germany, with remains of extinct species of other mammalia. Two instances of British fossil Bats are recorded;[775] the one from Kent’s Cavern, collocated with the extinct Carnivora, and referred to the Horse-shoe Bat (_Rhinolophus_); the other from Kyson, in Suffolk, found in the same deposit with the remains of the Monkey, presently to be noticed.

[774] Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, par Baron G. Cuvier, 4to. 1826, pl. ii. _fig._ 1.

[775] _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1842, and _Brit. Foss. Mam._ pp. 11-18.

VIII. Fossil Quadrumana, or Monkeys.--The illustrious Cuvier, when commenting on the extraordinary fact, that among the innumerable fossil relics of the mammalia which peopled the continents and islands of our planet, through the vast periods comprehended in the tertiary formations, no traces of Man or of his works occur, emphatically remarked, that it was a phenomenon not less surprising, that no remains of the quadrumanous races, which rank next to Man in physical conformation, should have been found in a fossil state; and that the circumstance was the more remarkable, because the majority of the mammalia found in the younger and older tertiary strata have their congeners at the present time in the warmest regions of the globe; in those intertropical climates where the existing quadrumana are almost exclusively located.[776]

[776] Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, p. 171.

Fossil Ape of France.--But the remains of this order have at length been discovered in the most ancient of the tertiary deposits, and under circumstances which admit of no doubt as to the antiquity of the fossils or the strata in which they were imbedded; and almost at the same time in France and in the Sub-Himalayas; and very recently in the Brazils and in England. The first European specimen was discovered at Sansan, near Auch, about forty miles west of Toulouse, by M. Lartet, with remains of the Rhinoceros, Deer, Antelope, Palæotherium, &c. It consists of the lower jaw, almost complete, with all the teeth, of an adult animal, of an extinct species, related to the long-limbed and tailed monkey, called _Semnopithecus_, of which the Negro Monkey is an example. A fragment of another jaw has been found in the same locality.

Fossil Monkey of the Sub-Himalayas.--In the inexhaustible mine of fossil bones, discovered by British Officers in India, the upper jaw of an Ape was found by Messrs. Baker and Durand, and fragments of other jaws and some bones were subsequently collected by Dr. Falconer and Captain Cautley. These relics conjointly established the existence of a gigantic quadrumanous animal in the groves of India at the Eocene epoch, when the gigantic Tortoise, the lofty Sivatherium, and the colossal Mastodon tenanted the plains, and Hippopotami frequented the marshes and rivers. This fossil Ape also is related to the _Semnopithecus_.

Fossil Monkey of South America.--Dr. Lund, the eminent Danish naturalist, to whose indefatigable researches, and successful determination of the colossal Edentata, we have previously alluded, has discovered the bones of a gigantic Ape, four feet in height, related to the Capuchin Monkey, in the ossiferous breccia of the caves of Brazil.

British Fossil Monkeys, _Ly._ p. 202.--The first fossil relic of a quadrumanous animal from the British strata was obtained in 1839, from a bed of Eocene sand, at Kyson, a few miles east of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, by W. Colchester, Esq. The first specimen found consisted of a small fragment of the right side of the lower jaw, with the last molar tooth entire in its socket; another relic is the crown of one fang of the first molar tooth, of the same species. These relics have been referred to an extinct species of Monkey, related to the _Macacus_, which has been named _Macacus eocænus_, in allusion to the geological age of the stratum in which the remains were discovered.[777] In this Eocene sand have also been discovered the remains of a Bat (p. 813), and of a Marsupial (_Didelphys_, p. 805), and numerous fish-teeth (_Lamna_, p. 594); whilst in the clay overlying this sand were found the vertebra of a Serpent (_Palæophis_, p. 738) and several teeth of a Pachyderm (_Hyracotherium_, p. 791). Prof. Owen in the _Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. xlvi. figures and briefly notices the relics of another species of _Macacus_, from the newer pliocene, or pleistocene, brick earth at Grays, Essex.

[777] Owen, British Fossil Mammalia, p. 1, figs. 1, 3.

Fossil Human Bones.--In the Swabian Alps, human teeth and several perfect human skulls are said to have been found in deposits in which elephantine remains also occur. This subject was brought before the meeting of the German Association for the Advancement of Science at Tubingen, by Fraas and Jäger, and, if correctly reported, naturally leads to the conclusion that human beings were contemporaneous with the extinct elephants and some of the other large pachydermata in the regions referred to.

[Sidenote: ON COLLECTING FOSSIL MAMMALIA.]

On Collecting and Developing the Fossil Remains of Mammalia.--But few directions for the developing and repairing of the fossil remains of mammalia will be required in this place, the suggestions already offered, and particularly those in vol. i. pp. 45-49, embracing full instructions on this head.[778] On the method recommended in p. 46, for strengthening the friable bones of the large mammalia, I may observe, that the _drying-oil_ is prepared by boiling _litharge_ in oil, in the proportion of one ounce of the litharge to a pint of oil.

[778] Cement.--The following formula was given me by an eminent collector and developer of fossils:--

Gum mastic, one ounce;

Rectified spirit of wine, sufficient to dissolve it.

Isinglass, one ounce, soaked in water until soft; then dissolve it in pure rum or brandy until it is in the state of stiff glue: add to this a quarter of an ounce of gum ammoniacum, well rubbed and mixed.

Put the two solutions together in an earthen vessel, over a gentle heat; when thoroughly melted and united, put the mixture into smooth, well-corked bottles.

_Use._--Immerse the bottle in hot water until the cement is sufficiently liquid for use.

The search for fossils of this class is attended with much less certainty of success than for other animal remains. In the following list, page 818, the localities most likely to be productive are enumerated; but we have no caverns, as in Germany, so rich in remains of this kind as to ensure the discovery of specimens by the casual visitor; for the treasures of the most productive cave, that of Banwell, are prohibited; the proprietor carefully preserving every fragment. A short residence near some of the best localities and daily research are required for obtaining interesting specimens. For example, a residence at Ryde, for a search in the fresh-water tertiary limestone at Binstead; at Torquay, for Kent’s cavern; or some other town or village near the other caves in Devonshire; Herne Bay, for the London Clay at Studd’s Hill, that produced the Hyracotherium; Woodbridge or Kyson, for the Suffolk mammalia; Walton and Clacton, in Essex, for remains of Elephants in the pleistocene deposits of that coast.

In searching for bones and teeth in an unexplored cave, the following suggestions by Dr. Buckland will be found of great value. Select the lowest parts in the cavern or fissure into which any mud or clay can have been drifted or accumulated; and then break through the stalagmitic crust of the floor, and dig down into the silt and pebbles, &c. below, in which bones and teeth will be found, if the spot contains any relics of this kind. As a test for distinguishing the ancient bones found in these caves from those which may have been recently introduced, the tongue should be applied to them when dry, and they will adhere in consequence of the loss of their animal gluten, without the substitution of any mineral substance, such as we commonly find in the fossil bones of the regular strata. Human bones found in caves always possess too much animal gluten to adhere to the tongue when dry.[779]

[779] Dr. Buckland on Fossil Bones of Bears in the Grotto of Osselles, near Besançon, in France. _Geol. Proc._ vol. i. p. 22.

Along the eastern coast of England, and often off the mouth of the Thames, the fishermen dredge up teeth, tusks, and bones of Elephants; and good specimens may sometimes be thus procured. The Ramsgate fishermen employed in trawling in the North Sea and English channel, frequently bring up in their gear fragments of fossil bones of Mammoths, and other mammalia. From the bank of the Goodwin-sands, large tusks have been procured. On the shore near Herne Bay, very fine mammalian remains are occasionally obtained. In the Museum at Canterbury, there was (and I believe is) a good collection of fossil bones of large Pachydermata procured from the neighbouring coast. It is a remarkable fact, that immense quantities of the bones of Mammoths, or fossil Elephants, are strewn over the bed of the German Ocean and English Channel.[780] The late Mr. Woodward informed me, that the teeth and tusks of Elephants collected along the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, within his own cognizance, must have belonged to upwards of five hundred individuals.

[780] _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. vi. p. 161.

BRITISH LOCALITIES OF FOSSIL MAMMALIA.

Bacton, Norfolk. See _Ostend_.

Banwell Cave, fifteen miles from Bristol, and three from Banwell
Station. Bones and teeth of Bears, Hyænas, a Felis larger than the
Lion; but chiefly of Deer and Oxen.

Berry Head, Devonshire; Cave. Carnivora; as Bear, Badger, Tiger,
Pole-cat, Stoat.

Binstead, near Ryde, Isle of Wight. _Upper Eocene._ Fresh-water
limestone. Teeth and bones of Anoplotherium, Palæotherium,
Chæropotamus, Dichobune.

Brighton Cliffs. Between Kemptown and Rottingdean, in the beds above
the Chalk. _Pleistocene._ Teeth and bones of Elephant, Horse, Deer,
Oxen; jaw of a Whale.

Copford, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Stag, Ox, Beaver, Bear, &c.

Crayford, Kent. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Horse, &c.

Easton, a mile and a half north of Southwold. Mastodon tooth, and
Carnivora.

Folkstone, Kent. _Pleistocene._ On the top of the west cliff and in
the valley; bones of Elephant, Hyæna, Hippopotamus, Ox, Horse, Stag,
&c. (_Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol. vii. p. 257.)

Grays, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Monkey, &c.

Harwich, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant’s teeth, &c.

Herne Bay. In _London Clay_; Hyracotherium, Chæropotamus. In
_Pleistocene_ deposits; Elephant, Whale.

Hoe, near Plymouth, raised Beach at. _Pleistocene._ Elephant,
Rhinoceros, Bear, Deer, Whale, &c.

Horstead, Norfolk. _Pleistocene._ Mastodon tooth.

Hutton Caves, near Banwell, Somersetshire. Carnivora, Pachydermata,
&c. See p. 783.

Isle of Man. _Pleistocene._ The gigantic Irish Deer (_Cervus
megaceros._)

Kent’s Cave, near Torquay. The most productive of the British
ossiferous caverns (see p. 813). Bear, Badger, Tiger, Wolf, and other
Carnivora; Rhinoceros, Elephant, and other Pachydermata.

Kirkdale, by Kirby Moorside, Yorkshire (see p. 783). I know not if any
accessible part of this celebrated cave remains.

Kyson, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. On the side of the river Deben, about
a mile from Woodbridge, in the parish of Kyson (Kingston). The strata
consist of, 1. Red crag, the uppermost. 2. London clay, about twelve
feet. 3. White and yellow sand. In this lower Eocene bed the relics of
_Monkey_, _Didelphys_, and _Bat_.

Manea Fen, Cambridgeshire. _Pleistocene._ Skull of Bear.

Newbourn, Suffolk. _Pleistocene._ Mastodon tooth. Leopard.

Newbury, Berks. _Pleistocene._ In the peat and shell-marl, Boar, Ox,
Roebuck, Stag, Beaver, Wolf, Ass, &c.

Norwich. _Pleistocene._ Mammoth’s teeth and bones.

Oreston Cave, near Plymouth. Carnivora, Wolf, Bear, Hyæna, &c.

Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk. In a lacustrine deposit
of dark clay and greenish sand, with charred trunks and branches of
trees. A section presents--1. Uppermost: Drift. 2. Black earth, with
shells. 3. Reddish sand. 4. Norwich crag, in patches. 5. Chalk. Nos.
2 and 3 are lacustrine; and in these Pleistocene beds have been found
Gigantic Mole (_Palæospalax_), Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, fossil Beaver
(_Trogontherium_), jaw of Bear (_Ursus spelæus_). See Hist. Brit.
Foss. Mam. p. 85.

Paviland Cave, fifteen miles west of Swansea; between Oxwich Bay and
the Worm’s Head, Glamorganshire. Rhinoceros, Mammoth, Hyæna, Wolf.

Plymouth. Caverns near elevated Beach, at the Hoe. Elephant,
Rhinoceros, Bear, &c.

Postwick, near Norwich. _Pleistocene._ Tooth of Mastodon.

Seafield, Isle of Wight. _Upper Eocene._ Palæotherium.

Southbourn, Sussex. _Pleistocene._ The plain of alluvial mud and clay,
called the "_Wish:_" a section seen on the sea-shore between the
Sea-houses and the foot of the chalk hills. Elephant, Hippopotamus,
Deer, Horse, Ox.

Southwold, Suffolk. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Rhinoceros, Horse, Deer,
Mastodon: Otter, in Red Crag.

Stonesfield, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire. _Great Oolite._ The only
known locality in England of remains of mammalia of the Secondary
period. See p. 805.

Studd Hill, a mile westward of Herne Bay. _London clay._
_Hyracotherium_.

Swansea (Paviland Cave, near). See Paviland.

Wirksworth, Dream Cave. A perfect skull of Rhinoceros; in Dr. Buckland’s museum, at Oxford.

Woodbridge, Suffolk. At Kyson, near Woodbridge. _Eocene._ Teeth of Monkey, &c.

_Note._--For notices of the occurrence of Mammalian Bones at Betchworth, Brighton, Dover, East Bourn, Folkstone, Maidstone, Marden, Peasemarsh, the valley of the Wey, Stonesfield Slate, Thames Valley, &c., see _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._ vol. vii. (consult Index). Of foreign localities, Tibet, Upper Punjab, Siwalik Hills, Vichy, &c., are also referred to in the same volume.

BONE CAVES IN FRANCONIA.

⁂ Captain Willoughby Montagu having favoured me in 1844 with an account of the state of the principal caves in Franconian Switzerland, which he had lately visited, the subjoined extract may be useful to the continental traveller. The cave of _Sophienhöhle_ appears to be highly interesting; the stalactites remaining uninjured, and the ossiferous floor in the state in which it was discovered; whilst the much-frequented caverns have been stripped of every relic by the spoliations of visitors during the last century and a half.

"The northern part of Bavaria, which is denominated 'Franconian Switzerland,' is situated about the centre of a triangle, formed between Bamberg on the N.W., Bayreuth N.E., and Nuremberg S.; the best road from this latter city diverging beyond Erlangen to the north.

"The nearest route from London is through Belgium, from Ostend or Antwerp, by the line of railroad which (since October, 1843) passes on from Liege and Verviers, by Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne. Thence by steam up the Rhine, by Coblentz to Mayence, and again by railway to Frankfort. In summer there are steam boats up and down the Maine, as far as Wurzburg, daily, and higher up, between Schweinfurt and Bamberg, which latter distance is performed in eight hours going up. and five down. Or there is a diligence (_eilwagen_) from Frankfort direct to Nuremberg, from which place (or Bamberg, &c.) a carriage must be hired to Muggendorf, the principal village of that interesting district. It lies about half way on the post road between Erlangen and Bayreuth, and has two tolerable country inns; the people are civil, and moderate in their charges, at least for the freshest trout and good wine of Bavaria.

"This charming spot and neighbourhood attracts not only the geologist and lover of the picturesque, but also the angler, who finds excellent fishing in the clear, rapidly-winding streams of the Wiesent, with its tributary waters, all of which are romantically placed in the suddenly deep dales of this table-land. The Wiesent flows through Forchheim into the Regnitz, westward, and this into the Maine, north.

"As to the time necessary to get there, during the summer days it would only require one to pass through Belgium to Aix, including the transit of this frontier into Prussia, with slight search of baggage. Then, in between four and five hours to Cologne, where the steamers generally wait for the arrival of these trains; and, taking the first boat up, it is possible to reach Bingen (if not Mayence late) the same evening. From Frankfort, by diligence, starting at 11 A.M., and travelling all night, Nuremberg may be reached on the second day; and the centre of operations, about Muggendorf, on the fifth from quitting the sea-coast. In returning by the Maine,--from Wurzburg to Mayence maybe performed in one long day, and then on the Rhine, the descent being much quicker than the upward course against the streams, the return homewards may be accomplished in one day less.

"The nearest way to Ostend is by the South-Eastern Railroad to Dover, and embark for Belgium.

"The newly-discovered cave, called _Sophienhöhle_, lies on the right bank of a streamlet, which gives its name to a romantic and rocky valley, _Ahorn-thal_, and flows S.W. toward Gösweinstein, until it falls into the Wiesent. The situation of the cave is near Klaustemerhöhle, and opposite to Ludwigshöhle: and it is far easier of access than Gailenreuth, and may be inspected by ladies with the greatest facility. An intelligent female showed us through its lofty and interesting details. This cave is nearly 300 feet wide, and 150 feet in height. The quantity of fossil bones strewed about the floor was very great, notwithstanding many of the finest specimens had been removed, and were to be seen in the neighbouring castle of Count S----; added to this, the long, pendant curtains of stalactite, and the stupendous size of the cavern, contributed to make it appear to me far surpassing in interest that near Gailenreuth, called _Zoolithen-Höhle_, which I had visited the day before. The keys of this cavern--for this, as well as the other celebrated caves, is locked up, to guard against depredations--are kept at the large farm or steward’s house, hard by. The state of the weather prevented our visiting Forstershöhle (_Forest Cavern_), which lies further N.E. beyond the little town of Weischenfeld, near Zeubach; but which, we were informed, was equal in interest to this of Sophienhöhle. The tourist desirous of visiting this interesting district, will find Mr. Murray’s Handbook of Southern Germany an excellent guide: I can vouch for its accuracy."

RETROSPECT.

_"Ce que nous connaissons est peu de chose; ce que nous ignorons
est immense."_

La Place.

We have now arrived at the close of this argument; we have taken a general survey of the fossilized relics of the various classes of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and have explained the methods by which the inscriptions on these "Medals of Creation" may be deciphered.

But numerous as are the facts that have passed in review before us, and great as the accession of geological knowledge has been during the last fifty years, the data hitherto obtained are insufficient to elucidate many of the obscure pages of the earth’s physical history; and to future discoveries must be left the full interpretation of many phenomena as yet obscurely presented to us.

In vain we endeavour to penetrate the veil which shrouds from our view many of the mighty events that preceded the history of our race, for,--although the shades of colossal and unknown forms belonging to the remote ages of a past eternity obey the spell of the true magician Science,--yet of the innumerable beings which through countless centuries

"The Earth has gather’d to her breast again,
And yet again, the millions that were born
Of her unnumber’d, unremember’d tribes--"

how few, comparatively, could even the transcendent genius of Cuvier reveal!

If we endeavour to trace the order of succession, in which the extinct and existing types of animal and vegetable organization have appeared upon the face of our globe, as demonstrated by fossil remains, we at once perceive how imperfectly our knowledge enables us to present a true picture of the development of organic life as it existed in the remotest ages. Ascending from the _Granite_--that shroud which conceals for ever from human ken the earliest scenes of the earth’s physical drama--the first glimpses we obtain of animated nature are a few sea-weeds, shells, and Crustacea. But can we doubt for a moment that that ancient sea had its boundaries and its shores--that then, as now, there were islands and continents, and hills and valleys, and streams and rivers, teeming with appropriate inhabitants? The little Lycopodiaceous seed-vessels in the Ludlow bone-bed afford as certain indication of dry land, as the olive branch which the dove brought back to the Ark; one fact of this kind overthrows a host of theories based upon negative evidence.

Throughout the lower palæozoic rocks organic life presents numerous modifications; and the remains of small placoid fishes appear in the uppermost Silurian. In the Devonian we meet with rare reptilian remains and foot-prints. In the Carboniferous rocks the sauroid Batrachians have left their relics and their foot-tracks. In the succeeding period these reptiles predominate; and on the sands of the Triassic ocean we have the foot-prints of monster reptiles and the tracks of bipeds--colossal bird-footed creatures--of which no other vestiges remain, and to which the existing order of creation affords no parallel.

The last bed of the Trias affords the first indication of Mammalian life.

We now enter upon that marvellous epoch, during which reptilian organization obtained its fullest development--when the Iguanodon and Megalosaurus--

"Mighty Pre-Adamites who walked the earth,
Of which ours is the wreck--"

Byron.

were the principal inhabitants of vast islands and continents. But here, as at an earlier period, we have proof that warm-blooded animals existed; and the diminutive marsupial insectivorous Mammalia of the Oolite and the birds of the Wealden attest that the system of animal creation was complete.

Leaving behind us the Age of Reptiles, we approach that of the colossal Mammalia, when extensive countries were peopled by the enormous herbivorous Megatheres, the Mastodons, and gigantic Pachyderms, long since become extinct. But with these lost forms many existing races were contemporary; including the Monkey tribes, which, of all animals, approach nearest to man in their physical organization. Thus, by slow and almost insensible gradations, we arrive at the present state of animate and inanimate nature. But even after the existing continents had attained their present configuration, in the period immediately antecedent to the human epoch, innumerable tribes of carnivorous animals swarmed throughout the temperate climates of Europe; the Tiger, Hyæna, and Bear prowled through the woods and inhabited the caverns; and the Horse and Elephant, with gigantic Deer and Oxen, tenanted the plains.

But of Man and of his works not a vestige appears throughout the vast periods embraced in this review. Yet were any of the existing islands or continents to be engulphed in the depths of the ocean, and loaded with marine detritus, and in future ages be elevated above the waters, covered with consolidated mud and sand, how different would be the characters of those strata from any which have preceded them! Their most striking features would be the remains of Man, and the productions of human art--the domes of his temples, the columns of his palaces, the arches of his stupendous bridges of iron and stone, the ruins of his towns and cities, and the durable remains of his earthly tenement imbedded in the rocks and strata--these would be the "Medals of Creation" of the _Human Epoch_, and transmit to the remotest periods of time a faithful record of the present condition of the surface of the earth, and of its inhabitants.[781]

[781] See Sir H. Davy’s Last Days of a Philosopher.