EXTINCT ANIMAL LIFE.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 315, 21 May 1874, Page 2

EXTINCT ANIMAL LIFE.

I Evetit form of life which existed at the commencement of the Tertiary period is extinct, with the exception of some smnll infusoria. The general appearance- of the shells nnd crabs found in the London clay is iery similar to the shells and crabs of tho present day. Some people suppose that whales are fishes, but that is a mistake; wholes nre warmblooded and breathe by means of lungs ; fishes are coldblooded and breathe by means of gills. Whales nlso suckle their young. In the Eocene, or the early dawn-oi-life period, we find every one of these orders, with the exception of the bimam mnn. The remains of the monkey have recently been discovered as low down as the Eocene formation. The climate of that part of England where London is situated wn* then the same as the climate of the West Indies at the present time. Just mittide of Paris, at Montmartre, they have been collecting gypsum, or sulphate of lime, for centuries. In this gypsum were found n. great many bones, which the workmen thought wero the bones of horses, nnd cows, and' dog». Cuvier, the great French naturalist, had his attention called to them ; he looked at them with a naturalist's eye, and said : — 'Why, these nre not the bones of horses, »nd dogs, nnd sheep, but are actually the bones of animals that neither I nor anybody elie ever saw. 1 He said to the workmen, 'Save me every one of these bones, and I will pay you for them.' He obtained the use of a large hall, and as fast as tho bones came in he laid them on the floor. He had the skeletons of more than four hundred different animals, belonging; to more than twenty different species, piled up around him. At the voice of comparative anatomy, each bone and fragment resumed its place. Some specimens of the Paleotherium Magnum have been found in the Parn basin, over eighteen feet long. Lyell speaks of a Zeugloden that he saw, more than 100 feet long. When Alabama^was first settled the bones of these animals were so abundant' that they were piled upon the ground, and fences were made of them. Some people believe that in olden time a total destruction of animals and yegetable life took place, and that new genera were created. This is not so- One by one, tho old forms died out, and new forms came on. These various extinct forms of animal life did not all die at tho same time— one was supplanted by another. When the world is best fitted for the best man, the lowest races will die. This is the way things have gone on from the beginnings and it is the way the world is destined to go on for millions of years to come. — Professor Denton.