The World Before the Deluge

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The uses to which fossils are applied by the geologist are--First, to ascertain the relative age of the formations in which they occur; secondly, the conditions under which thes...

The palæontologist (from παλαιος “ancient,” οντος “being,” λογος “discourse”), who occupies himself with the study of animated beings which have lived on the earth, takes carefu...

In England, for instance, thermal and saline springs are traceable from Bath, through Cheltenham, to Dudley. In Central France, mineral springs occur in lines, more or less, nor...

Granite is supposed to have been “formed at considerable depths in the earth, where it has cooled and crystallised slowly under great pressure, where the contained gases could n...

Basaltic eruptions seem to have occurred during the Secondary and Tertiary periods. Basalt, according to Dr. Daubeny,[20] in its more strict sense, “is composed of an intimate m...

A peculiar effect, and which only simulates volcanic activity, is observable in localities where _mud volcanoes_ exist. Volcanoes of this class are for the most part conical hil...

Argillaceous rocks, like all others, are subject to metamorphism when they come in contact with eruptive trappean rocks. In these circumstances they change colour and assume a v...

It is to be inferred that, under these circumstances, the different substances composing this atmosphere would be ranged round the globe in the order of their respective densiti...

After the terrible tempests of the primitive period--after these great disturbances of the mineral kingdom--Nature would seem to have gathered herself together, in sublime silen...

Crustaceans of a very strange form, and in no respects resembling the Trilobites, have been met with in the Silurian rocks of England and America--the _Pterygotus_ (Fig. 27) and...

Among the Fishes of Old Red Sandstone, the _Coccosteus_ (Fig. 31, No. 1) was only partially cased in a defensive armour; the upper part of the body down to the fins was defended...

Two other gigantic trees grew in the forests of this period: these were _Lepidodendron carinatum_ and _Lomatophloyos crassicaule_, both belonging to the family of Lycopodiaceæ,...

We will endeavour to establish here the true geological origin of coal, in order that no doubt may exist in the minds of our readers on a subject of such importance. In order to...

Although the Permian flora indicates a climate similar to that which prevailed during the Carboniferous period, it has been pointed out by Professor Ramsay, as long ago as 1855,...

The convulsions and disturbances by which the surface of the earth was agitated did not extend, let it be noted, over the whole of its circumference; the effects were partial an...

These rocks consist of a vast number of argillaceous and marly beds, variously coloured, but chiefly red, with tints of yellow and green. These are the colours which gave the na...

In consequence of the importance they assume in Lombardy (the ancient Rhætia), the name “Rhætic Beds” has been given to these strata by Mr. Charles Moore; Dr. Thomas Wright has...

The short, thick neck of the Ichthyosaurus supported a capacious head, and was continued backwards, from behind the eyes, in a column composed of more than a hundred vertebræ. T...

Among the animals of our epoch, only a single reptile is found provided with wings, or digital appendages analogous to the membranous wings of the bats, and which can be compare...

The Inferior Oolite here alluded to is a thin bed of calcareous freestone, resting on, and sometimes replaced by yellow sand, which constitutes the passage-beds from the Liassic...

The Isle, or rather peninsula of Portland,[71] off the Dorsetshire coast, rises considerably above the sea-level, presenting on the side of the port a bold line of cliffs, conne...

Let us add, to remove any remaining doubts, that in the basin of a modern European sea--the Baltic--a curious assemblage of phenomena, bearing on the question, is now in operati...

The Néocomian beds in France are found in Champagne, in the departments of the Aube, the Yonne, the Haute-Alps, &c. They are largely developed in Switzerland at Neufchatel, and...

The _Gault_ is the lowest member of the Upper Cretaceous group. It consists of a bluish-black clay mixed with greensand, which underlies the Upper Greensand. Near Cambridge, whe...

The _Anoplotherium_ (from ανοπλος, _defenceless_, θηριον, _animal_), had the posterior molar teeth analogous to those of the Rhinoceros, the feet terminating in two great toes,...

“The Nummulitic formation, with its characteristic fossils,” says Lyell,[89] “plays a far more conspicuous part than any other Tertiary group in the solid framework of the earth...

The form of the teeth of the Mastodon shows that it fed, like the Elephant, on the roots and succulent parts of vegetables; and this is confirmed by the curious discovery made i...

In this extract the author refers to a memoir previously published by himself, in the “Commentarii” of the Academy of St. Petersburg. This memoir, written in Latin, and entitled...

The _Antwerp_ Crag, which is of the same age with the Red and Coralline Crag of Suffolk, forms great accumulations upon divers points of Europe: at Antwerp in Belgium, at Carent...

But the best reply that can be made to this strange objection raised by the learned, is to show how extensively these fossil bones of Elephants are scattered, not in Europe only...

The Horse dates from the Quaternary epoch, if not from the last period of the Tertiary epoch. Its remains are found in the same rocks with those of the Mammoth and the Rhinocero...

“The habits of life of these Megatheroid animals were a complete puzzle to naturalists, until Professor Owen solved the problem with remarkable ingenuity. The teeth indicate, by...

From these facts it would appear probable that the Cave at Kirkdale was, “during a long succession of years, inhabited as a den by Hyænas, and that they dragged into its recesse...

How can we accept the idea that the plains, but yesterday smiling and fertile, were formerly covered, and that for a very long period, with an immense sheet of ice and snow? To...

“This region is bounded, on all its sides, by a wide zone from 2° to 5° in breadth, over which is recognised the existence of erratic blocks of the north: it includes the middle...

The Rev. O. Fisher, F.G.S., has paid much attention to the superficial covering usually described as “heading,” or “drift,” as well as to the contour of the surface, in district...

We have already briefly touched upon the Cave-deposits. In the Kirkdale Cave no remains or other traces of man’s presence seem to have been discovered. But in Kent’s Hole, an un...

All the particulars of the Biblical narrative here recited are only to be explained by the volcanic and muddy eruption which preceded the formation of mount Ararat. The waters w...

+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+ | | SUBDIVISIONS. | FOREIGN | ORIGIN. | COMMERCIAL | | | | EQUIVALENTS.| | PRODUCTS. | +-------------...

GERMANY. / A / P /Upper, or / Upper Red Marl and Sandstone. \ | G | E |Magnesian< Upper Magnesian Limestone. > Zechstein. | E | R |Limestone | Lower Red Marl and Sandstone. | |...

Gabian, Bituminous Springs of, 60. Gailenreuth, Caves of, 429, 430. Galacynus Œningensis, 339. Ganoid Fishes, 181, 217, 246. Garonne Valley, 428. Gastornis, 332. Gault, 281, 300...

Sables Inférieurs, 331. „ Moyens, 333. Saccharoid Limestone, Minerals of, 76. St. Acheul Gravel Beds, 476. St. Acheul Gravel Beds, probable Age of, 479. St. Austell, Granite of,...