The Washington herald., 1911-09-10


or estuary, whose shores were fringed
with forests of palms. Strange an
" imals whose species have long since
passed away, sported in its waters,
while huge crocodies lurked among the
thick reeds and large wOter-lilies, watching
for their prey.
basin. Just as the corresponding formation
They both belong to the Ietiary period, so
called because it, was the third in the three
great systems Of rock formation; the, rocks
being composed OF the sedimentary deposit
Of water and not as in those OF the first ages,
produced by the action OF fire; those IN the
vicinity OF Paris being in strata, or layers,
containing alternately freshwater and marine
shells, showing that the valley OF the Seine
was at one time a freshwatcr lake, and, at
another arm OF the sea. =,
AT Montmartre. a hill little to. the north
Of Paris, there are extensive quarrics OF gyp.
sum, the material known to us as plaster OF
Paris. Gypsum is composed OF sulphatc OF
lime, deposited by fresh water, and in Dig
ging these quarries great number ol skeie-
tons of various animals were discovered, some
OF them being nearly perfect, having been
preserved by the gypsum which had hardened
about them. And Cuvier, the great French
naturalist, restored them, and we can have
a distinct idea Of what these strange creatures
were like, in every particular except their
color--that. of course. we cannot tell.
At the commencement of the Tetiary period,
the heat, though not so intense as 1t had been
teemed with monstrous reptiles, was still as
great in England and France as 1t IS now in
the tropics. But the temperature was slowly
cooling and the forests OF palms were mixed ai;
mates, such as the oak, wych-elm, alder cy-
press, walnut and others. The gigantic sau-
rians Of the red sandstone age were extinct
and aPI cared no more in the earth, and there
grew into life the great pachyderms, or thick
skinned animals; instead Of the dragon-ke
ptcrodactyle, the air filled with quails,
woodcocks, and cuhews. and all nature wore
a new aspect.
The animals which were so abundant in the
Paris basin belonged chiefly to two genera:
the Palaeothera, or ancient animals and the
Anoplothcria, or unarmed animals; these lat
ter were so called from the Greek words
for 'unarmed,' and for beast, because their
teeth were arranged in an even line all round.
just as in man; the canine teeth not project
ing beyond the others, as they do in animals
which can bite and tear. SO that they were
defCnseless. There were several species OF
Palaeotheria, the largest, or Great Palace
therium, being about the size of horse, bait
very thick body, supported on short, stout
legs, and its feet were divided into three
rounded toes. Its head was large, and was
provided with short trunk or prolbosci;s;, :;
formed a link between that animal and the
rhinoceros, and probably resembled them in
its habits.
The Anopotheria also comprises several
species, differing greatly from each other. The
largest was about the size of an ass, but,
though belonging to the Pachydermata, the
AnOplotherium was like one animal now
existing, for while in some respects 1T resem-
bed the hippopotamus, its skull partook of
the character Of that of the horse, and its
upper lip was divided, like the camel's; and
tn" bones OF the feet which were separated
into two toes sheathcl in hoofs were like
those of the hog. The body was about four
feet long, and it had a thick tail OF equal
length probably to assist it in swimming; and
its hair was smooth, like that Of the otter.
Another kind, the Xiphoden gracile, was
about the size of chamols, and was as light
and slender as a gazelle; and instead of swim
ming in the water, it bounded over the plains;
bu. though in this respect it resembled deer,
and had long neck and a short tall ITS lip
ato was divided like the cameIs.. Some OF
the species were very small, one being only as
lrgr a. a hare, while another was no bigger
than rat 1t is difficult to imagine creatures
more dctcnseless than these animals were,
possessing neither horns nor claws, nor teeth
that they could tear with; and they were
probably soon cXtcrminatCd when the large
beasts o. prey came into existence. AS it was,
the chief enemies of those that frequented
the water must have been the CroCodlles. The
AnCpothcrla were all hcrblvorous, living on
seeds and green twigs or the succulent roots
of plants.
Remains of the Palacothcrium and an
Aplothcrium have been discovered in the Isle
of Wight in strata similar to that OF the
Paris basin, but not in such abundance Alto
Cether Cuvier found the bones of about fifty
different kinds Of animals embedded in the
gypsum, all Of which are extinct besides tur'
tics, and CroCodiles and bats and varIons
birds of kinds which still exist on the earth