Outlines of comparative physiology touching the structure and development of the races of animals, living and extinct : for the use of schools and colleges . erewas, during the palaeozoicage, less variety amongthe animals of the differ-ent regions of the globe ;and this may be readilyexplained by the peculiarconfiguration of the earthat that epoch. Greatmountains did not thenexist; there were neitherlofty elevations nor deepdepressions. The sea co-vered the greater part, ifnot the whole, of the sur-face of the globe; and theanimals which then exist-ed, and whose remainshave been preserved, wer
Outlines of comparative physiology touching the structure and development of the races of animals, living and extinct : for the use of schools and colleges . erewas, during the palaeozoicage, less variety amongthe animals of the differ-ent regions of the globe ;and this may be readilyexplained by the peculiarconfiguration of the earthat that epoch. Greatmountains did not thenexist; there were neitherlofty elevations nor deepdepressions. The sea co-vered the greater part, ifnot the whole, of the sur-face of the globe; and theanimals which then exist-ed, and whose remainshave been preserved, wereall, with the exception orthe reptiles which haveleft their foot-marks onthe Potsdam sandstone,aquatic animals, breathingby gills. This wide dis-tribution of the waters im-pressed a very uniformcharacter upon the wholeanimal kingdom. Betweendifferent zones and conti-nents, no such strange TC „ , , * ,, ° — Coccosteus cuspidatuscontrasts of the different types existed as at the present epoch. The same gen eft;, andoften the same species, were found in the seas of America,Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Holland ; from which we must D D. .—.-. /-asa. 402 GEOLOGICAL SUCCESSION OF ANIMALS. conclude that the climate was much more uniform than atthe present day. Among the aquatic population, no soundwas heard. All creation was then silent. § 670. THE SECONDARY AGE. Reign of Reptiles.—TheSecondary age displays a greater variety of animals as well asplants. The fantastic forms of the palaeozoic age disappear,and in their place we see a greater symmetry of shape. Theadvance is particularly marked in the series of and a few reptiles are no longer the sole representativesof that department. Reptiles, birds, and mammals succes-sively make their appearance, but reptiles preponderate, par-ticularly in the Oolitic formation ; on which account we havecalled this age the Reign of Reptiles. § 671. The Carboniferous formation is the most ancient ofthe Seco
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