TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been placed at the end of the book. Basic fractions are displayed as ½ ⅓ ¼ etc; other fractions were of the form a-b in the original book, for example 1-3000th and 7-100ths, and have been left unchanged. The text of the heading of Part I of the book (I.--THE EARTH’S CRUST) has been moved to the next page to be directly above the heading of the first Chapter. Chapter headings have been made consistent, with the title on a single line and the author on the following line. Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. Volume I of this set of four volumes can be found in Project Gutenberg at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74571 [Illustration: Jupiter and Minerva Terraces, Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park] THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE _Told by Great Scientists and Popular Authors_ COLLECTED AND EDITED _By_ ESTHER SINGLETON Author of “Turrets, Towers and Temples,” “Wonders of Nature,” “The World’s Great Events,” “Famous Paintings,” Translator of Lavignac’s “Music Dramas of Richard Wagner” _FULLY ILLUSTRATED_ VOLUME II THE EARTH: LAND AND SEA P. F. COLLIER AND SON NEW YORK COPYRIGHT 1905 BY P. F. COLLIER & SON ILLUSTRATIONS Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park _Frontispiece_ Fingal’s Cave, Staffa _Opposite p._ 475 A Forest of the Carboniferous Period ” 523 The Giant’s Causeway, Ireland ” 595 Stag-Horn Coral Reef, Australia ” 643 The Matterhorn ” 691 Forms of Snowflakes ” 739 Forms of Clouds ” 787 Chart of Winds and Tides ” 835 CONTENTS FORMATION OF THE EARTH. Élisée Reclus 433 CLASSES OF ROCKS. Sir Charles Lyell 439 GEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY. Sir J. William Dawson 450 THE SILURIAN BEACH. Louis Agassiz 456 CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. Louis Figuier 464 THE PALÆONTOLOGICAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS. Hugh Miller 480 EUROPEAN AND ASIATIC DELUGES. Louis Figuier 493