The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-04-28

times. =
The reptiles emerged from it tri-
umphantly. The group OF the deino-
saurs, or teIribie lizards. ir. their
wide variety Of form, soon laid bod
upon the lands Some moved ponder
ousIy among the forests cropping the
Iree-tops as they raised their heads, and
/ OFTEN standing fairly erect on their
enormous hinder limbs Others were
nercely care1iyoEouss and we ind some
OF the Vegeta ble-feecers protected
against them by an almost grotesolfe
armor Of plates and spines. Smaller and
more elegant Gein0saurs hoped. abouf
between the bushes. or perbaps from
branch TO branch of the dark confer
Gus trees. In full and unsatisfied vi
ldAty, the reptiles entered on the seas
IN search OF food. and huge swimming
= Zero rus, tslelF limbs modified into pad
ales, played a more alarming part than
any Of our modern whales. Lastly, the
reptiles seized upon the air many
forms flying like huge bats, by means
or a membrane stretched from one digit
OF the fGrefOOt to the side The EN-
pire of the fFepfiles thus became acoIn-
plete and u7disputed.
In this world, where might seemed
oon1Inart, where one huge form was
followed by another, until reptiles from
thirty to 100 feet long trampled the
river banks or heavedt their bulk across
the plains the mammals none the less
secured their places and Sgarily and
craftiiy, held their own What skill in
their tfnerous little brains, what swift
ness in their twnl1ling feet. saved them
amid the horde OF reptiles. forms one
OF nature lost tales OF adventure We
know That some mammals escaped de-
structi0n, bur they were small !, types.
humber than the opossuns and the
kaHgaroes; we may picture them as
hiding in holes and corners of the earth
=
the. mammals made very little progress,
remaining as subordinate. creatures in
capable Of battle, and waiting patiently
for relief.
The relief came at last with what
seems. geoiogically speakinss surpris-
ing sWifness. We do not Know how
the reptflian empire fell; whether. the
enormous herbiorous forms exhausted
the vegetation, became weakened. and
fell a prey to the carpivores, which,
IN time, were forced TO feed on one an
otheF;ncr whether a plague. some bae-
teriaI disease smote' the reptiles and
spared the hardy and oft-tried little
mammals The Passage. from cretace-
Gus 10. eccene time sees, IN any case. the
last OF the old deinosaurs; the reptiles
etc. are virtually the specialized rep
tiles of today.
Directly the field was open, the man.
mails proved worthy of their FAR tri-
assfc. ancestry, AID seemed to realize
that their inheritance had come TO them
at last. IN time they grew Haonstrous.
and became aE9orned with horns and
hOofs, or with rending claws and ag-
SressiEe teeth; some, in light fairy
forms, few through The air as bats:
Others took 70 the water and gave as
the race Of whales, SURPRISING in bulk
the largest reptiles of the past
And sc, through. long series OF forrrss
we reach the mammals of our own
tlInese the saore-tootled mach adrodl1s
gives way 60 our lions and ,5tIr igefs.
the mastodOD To the Inarnnotf the
mammoth 70 ON modern elephant.
And here AZ the summit OF the Shole
We have that strange being pithedans
thropuss the great inan-ape' of lana.
and Jatsn tii5sissl fs=ths. primitive c.{yss-
aweilers whose course IS only now bee
gnn-