A Manual of Elementary Geology: or, The Ancient Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants as Illustrated by Geological MonumentsLyell, Charles, Sir
Science
A Manual of Elementary Geology: or, The Ancient Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants as Illustrated by Geological Monuments
Lyell, Charles, Sir
Geology
The total number of mollusca from the faluns, in my possession, is 302,
of which 45 only were found by Mr. Wood to be common to the Suffolk
crag. The number of corals obtained by me at Doue, and other localities
before adverted to, amounts to 43, as determined by Mr. Lonsdale, of
which 7 agree specifically with those of the Suffolk crag. Only one has,
as yet, been identified with a living species. But it is difficult, if
not impossible, to institute at present a satisfactory comparison
between fossil and recent _Polyparia_, from the deficiency of our
knowledge of the living species. Some of the genera occurring fossil in
Touraine, as the _Astrea_, _Lunulites_, and _Dendrophyllia_, have not
been found in European seas north of the Mediterranean; nevertheless the
_Polyparia_ of the faluns do not seem to indicate on the whole so warm a
climate as would be inferred from the shells.
It was stated that, on comparing about 300 species of Touraine shells
with about 450 from the Suffolk crag, 45 only were found to be common to
both, which is in the proportion of only 15 per cent. The same small
amount of agreement is found in the corals also. I formerly endeavoured
to reconcile this marked difference in species with the supposed
co-existence of the two faunas, by imagining them to have severally
belonged to distinct zoological provinces or two seas, the one opening
to the north, and the other to the south, with a barrier of land between
them, like the Isthmus of Suez, separating the Red Sea and the
Mediterranean. But I now abandon that idea for several reasons;
among others, because I succeeded in 1841 in tracing the Crag fauna
southwards in Normandy to within 70 miles of the Falunian type, near
Dinan, yet found that both assemblages of fossils retained their
distinctive characters, showing no signs of any blending of species
or transition of climate.
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