. The testimony of the rocks; . t; and it seems probable thatin the great strength of the bony and enamelled armatureof this order of fishes we have the secret of the extremelyformidable character of the teeth, spines, and stings thatcoexisted along with it. Such of the fishes of the present time as live on Crustaceaand the shelled molluscs,—such as the Wrasse or rock-fishfamily, and at least one of the Goby family, the sea-wolf,—have an apparatus of crushing teeth greatly more solid andstrong than the teeth of such of their contemporaries as areeither herbivorous or feed on the weaker familie
. The testimony of the rocks; . t; and it seems probable thatin the great strength of the bony and enamelled armatureof this order of fishes we have the secret of the extremelyformidable character of the teeth, spines, and stings thatcoexisted along with it. Such of the fishes of the present time as live on Crustaceaand the shelled molluscs,—such as the Wrasse or rock-fishfamily, and at least one of the Goby family, the sea-wolf,—have an apparatus of crushing teeth greatly more solid andstrong than the teeth of such of their contemporaries as areeither herbivorous or feed on the weaker families of theirowm class. A similar remark applies to the ancient sharks,as contrasted with those of later times. So long as thestrongly-armed ganoidal order prevailed in nature, the sharkswere furnished with massive crushing teeth; but when theganoids waned in creation, and the soft-scaled cycloid andctenoid orders took and amply filled the place which theyhad left vacant, the well known modern form of sharks Fig. 59. Fig. 60 A. CARCHAUIAS PRODUCTUS. PLACODUS GIGAS, Cutting Tooth, {Miocene.) Crushing Teeth. {Trias.) teeth was introduced,—a form much rather suited for cuttingsoft bodies than for crushing hard ones. In fine, the offensiveweapons of the times of the Coal Measui-es seem very * 102 THE PALiEONTOLOGlCAL midable, just as those personal weapons of the middle agesseem so that were borne at a time when every soldier tookthe field cased in armor of proof. The slim scimitar orslender rapier would have availed hut little against mas-sive iron helmets or mail coats of tempered steel. And sothe warriors of the period armed themselves with ponderousmaces, battle-axes as massive as hammers, and double-handed swords of great weight and strength. Before passing onwards to other and higher classes andorders, as they occurred in creation, permit me to make theformidable armor of the earlier fishes, offensive and defen-sive, the subject of a single remark. We are told byGoeth
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