Bisbee daily review., 1914-02-15

group. it is astonishing to find in Austrilia the striking preponderance of marsupials such as the kangaroos and wombats. and the exclusive ap- pearance of the monotremes. such as the echidmas and duck-billod platy. pan.
 The marsupials or mammals which have a p-uch bring forth the young half-born. as it were, and continuing birth processes in a pouch of the skin are evidently later than the platy- pan. the primitive creature which, though mammal. lays eggs. Of this great group there are 10 different kinds, of which there are still some types living. Of these 10. nine are found only in Australia and neighbor- ing islands.
 South America and Africa may be braCketed together in just Cne curl ous way, viz, the absence from both contlnentso ( early forms Of the car nivorous dog and cat families. As a result the notwithstanding mammals were prayed on in Africa solely by flesh eating creodents, of which there are no living types. This led partly c. the development in South Ameri ca ofthe opossum, coyote. sloths armadillo and various forms of life which could have not survived the struggle for existence had there beer present the specialized andlactive fe line and canine beasts of prey
 But the problem as to the geograph ica,origin ofthe ancestors Of man stil remain. There seems good evidence that he is not of the Antartc type As the ,aiehest form Of animal therefore, man has develoBed in th' central portion Of Eurnasla, thethe ater of the principal mammal deyel cpment in the history of the world Hither the highest species of animal migrate from their original cradle at the North and South poles The finding of coal is most signi icant. It means that the Antartic COT tinent formerly possessed a c.imat i that was practically tropical. The ferr like trees of the carboniferous perio that furnishes the earths coal bed could only flourish in a swampy SO ! with an atmosphere of high tempe \ ature.
 Fossils in Antartlc
 The discovery of large quantitie of fossils in the heart of the Antart continent proves, moreover that an maj life was formerly abundan there, but the cabled reports sa that mammals and large land an mals of various kinds were amor \ them.
 | At the present time there are ! land mammals native to the Antart continent or to the islands borieriI
 upon it. True forms of land life a
 confined to insects and other To forms and even such life as this | extremely scarce.
 The larger forms of life foul
 aroun the fringe of the oEntine
 consist of penguine and seals, whi of course, are not exclusively lal
 animals. They do not ind thelr TO
 on land, but in the ocean. where tn
 find an abundant supply of fish account of their aquatic habits tn
 are not confined to the barren et
 tinent on which they find a more less uninterrupted lodging.
 There is also strange species crab, edible, and able to withstand |
 temperature of the Antartic The
 are all that is left of the teeming !
 of ages ago.
 Captain Scott has, therefore add
 greatly to our kncwledge by the
 petition in which he lost his life T
 same conclusion could not be prov
 SO positively from researches at 3 | North pole, because that point IS I
 situated on great land conune
 but in the midst of the sea. EViden'