| ↑ 1 blocks not present in 1859 1860; present in 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
| Even in so short an interval as that between the first and second editions of Pictet's
great work on Palæontology, published in 1844-46 and in
1853-57, the conclusions on the first appearance and disappearance of several groups of animals have been considerably modified; and a third edition would require still further changes.
|
|
| → the great class of mammals was 1859 1860 |
| the whole class of mammals was 1861 1866 |
| mammals were 1869 1872 |
|
| → for its thickness, belongs 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| belongs 1859 1872 |
|
| → series. 1859 1860 1861 1869 1872 |
| series. Cuvier used to urge that no monkey occurred in any tertiary stratum; but now extinct species have been discovered in India, South America, and in Europe, as far back as the miocene stage. 1866 |
|
| → kinds of birds, 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| different bird-like animals, 1872 |
|
| → beds. Notwithstanding that the number of joints shown in the fossil impressions correspond with the number in the several toes of living birds feet, some authors doubt whether the animals which left the impressions were really birds. 1860 |
| beds. 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → an early tertiary 1860 1861 |
| the eocene 1866 1869 |
|
| → (as may be seen in Lyells Manual), 1860 |
| OMIT 1861 1866 1869 |
|
|
and to show how liable we are to error in supposing that whole groups of species have suddenly been produced. ↑
I may recall the well-known fact that in geological treatises, published not many years ago,
→the great class of mammals was
always spoken of as having abruptly come in at the commencement of the tertiary series. And now one of the richest known accumulations of fossil
→for its thickness, belongs
to the middle of the secondary series; and
true
been discovered in the new red sandstone at nearly the commencement of this great
→series. Cuvier used to urge that no monkey occurred in any tertiary stratum; but now extinct species have been discovered in India, South America, and in
as far back as the
stage. Had it not been for the rare accident of the preservation of footsteps in the new red sandstone of the United States, who would have ventured to suppose
no less than at least thirty
→kinds of birds,
some of gigantic size, existed during that period?
Not a fragment of bone has been discovered in these
→beds. Notwithstanding that the number of joints shown in the fossil impressions correspond with the number in the several toes of living birds feet, some authors doubt whether the animals which left the impressions were really birds.
Until quite recently these authors might have maintained, and some have maintained, that the whole class of birds came suddenly into existence during
→an early tertiary
period; but now we know, on the authority of Professor
→(as may be seen in Lyells Manual),
that a bird certainly lived during the deposition of the upper
|
|
| I may give another instance,
from having passed under my own
has much struck me. In a memoir on Fossil Sessile Cirripedes, I
stated that, from the
|
