. The story of the earth and man [microform]. Geology; Paleontology; Man; Géologie; Paléontologie; Homme. W^S^'tI ] PERMIAN AGE AND CLOSE OP THE PALAEOZOIC. 173 of the far-back Lower Devonian, and of all intervening ages up to the present day, having been very much aUke. The great reed-like Calamites have had a dif- ferent fate. In their grander forms they make their last appearance in the Permian, where they culminate ir. great ribbed stems, sometimes nearly a foot in diameter, and probably of immense height. The brakes of these huge mares'-tails which overspread the lower levels of the Permi
. The story of the earth and man [microform]. Geology; Paleontology; Man; Géologie; Paléontologie; Homme. W^S^'tI ] PERMIAN AGE AND CLOSE OP THE PALAEOZOIC. 173 of the far-back Lower Devonian, and of all intervening ages up to the present day, having been very much aUke. The great reed-like Calamites have had a dif- ferent fate. In their grander forms they make their last appearance in the Permian, where they culminate ir. great ribbed stems, sometimes nearly a foot in diameter, and probably of immense height. The brakes of these huge mares'-tails which overspread the lower levels of the Permian in Europe, would have been to us what the hayfields of Brobdingnag were to Gulliver. The Lepidodendra also swarmed, though in diminished force; but the great Sigillariae of the coal are absent, or only doubtfully present. Another feature of the Permian \/oods was the presence of many pine-trees different in aspect from those of the coal period. Some of these are remarkable for their slender and delicate branches and foliage.* Others have more dense and scaly leaves, and thick short Both of these styles of pines are regarded as distinct, on the one hand, from those of the coal formation, and on the other from those of the succeeding Trias. I have shown, however, many years ago, that in the upper coal formation of America there are branches of pine- trees very similar to Walchia, and, on the other hand, the Permian pines are not very remote in form and structure from some of their modern relations. The pines of the first of the above-mentioned types (Walchia) may indeed bo regarded as allies of the modern Araucarian pines of the southern hemisphere, * Walchia. f Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Dawson, J. W. (John William), Sir, 1820-1899. Toronto : Copp Clark
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