. The testimony of the rocks; . CALAMITE ? Of the Lower Old Eed Sandstone. Shetland. (One eighth nat. size.) - LTCOPODITE ? Of the Lower Old Red Sandstone. Thurso. (ilag. two diameters.) vegetation. Ere passing to the luxuriant carboniferousflora, I shall make but one other remark. The existingplants whence we derive our analogies in dealing ^vit]l thevegetation of this early period, contribute but little, if at all,to the support of animal life. The ferns and their alliesremain untouched by the grazing animals. Our native clubmosses, though once used in medicine, are positively dele- 56 THE P
. The testimony of the rocks; . CALAMITE ? Of the Lower Old Eed Sandstone. Shetland. (One eighth nat. size.) - LTCOPODITE ? Of the Lower Old Red Sandstone. Thurso. (ilag. two diameters.) vegetation. Ere passing to the luxuriant carboniferousflora, I shall make but one other remark. The existingplants whence we derive our analogies in dealing ^vit]l thevegetation of this early period, contribute but little, if at all,to the support of animal life. The ferns and their alliesremain untouched by the grazing animals. Our native clubmosses, though once used in medicine, are positively dele- 56 THE PAL^ONTOLOGICAL terious ; the horse tails, though harmless, so abound in silex,which wraps them round with a cuticle of stone, that theyare rarely cropped by cattle; while the thickets of fern Fig. Feen ? of Lower Old Red Sandstone. Orkney. (Nat. Size.) which cover our hill-sides, and seem so temptingly rich andgreen in their season, scarce support the existence of a singlecreature, and remain untouched in stem and leaf, from theirfirst appearance in spring, until they droop and wither underthe frosts of early mnter. Even the insects that infest theherbaria of the botanist almost never injure his ferns. Norare our resin-producing conifers, though they nourish a fewbeetles, favorites ^ivith the herbivorous tribes in a muchgreater degree. Judging from all we yet know, the earliestterrestrial flora may have covered the dry land with itsmantle of cheerful green, and served its general purposes,chemical and others, in the well-balanced economy of nature;but the herb-eating animals would have fared but ill evenwhere it throve most luxuriantly ; and it seems to harmonizewith the fact of its non-edible character, that up to the pres-ent time we know not that a single herbivorous animal
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