Discourses Biological and Geological: EssaysMacmillan, 1894 - 388 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 38
Page 12
... gradually leads , for about 300 miles , to the Newfoundland shore . Almost the whole of the bottom of this central plain ( which extends for many hundred miles in a north and south direction ) is covered by a fine mud , which , when ...
... gradually leads , for about 300 miles , to the Newfoundland shore . Almost the whole of the bottom of this central plain ( which extends for many hundred miles in a north and south direction ) is covered by a fine mud , which , when ...
Page 27
... gradually to the bottom of the icy sea , which covered it with huge masses of drift and boulder clay . Sea - beasts , such as the walrus , now restricted to the extreme north , paddled about where birds had twittered . among the topmost ...
... gradually to the bottom of the icy sea , which covered it with huge masses of drift and boulder clay . Sea - beasts , such as the walrus , now restricted to the extreme north , paddled about where birds had twittered . among the topmost ...
Page 31
... gradual , but incessant , changes . There has been no grand catastrophe - no destroyer has swept away the forms of life of one period , and replaced them by a totally new creation : but one species has vanished and another has taken its ...
... gradual , but incessant , changes . There has been no grand catastrophe - no destroyer has swept away the forms of life of one period , and replaced them by a totally new creation : but one species has vanished and another has taken its ...
Page 38
... gradually in- creasing in magnitude and importance , which the Admiralty , greatly to its credit , has carried out for some years past ; and the history of which is given by Dr. Wyville Thomson in the beautifully illus- trated volume ...
... gradually in- creasing in magnitude and importance , which the Admiralty , greatly to its credit , has carried out for some years past ; and the history of which is given by Dr. Wyville Thomson in the beautifully illus- trated volume ...
Page 50
... gradually diminished ; until , beyond 300 fathoms , life disappeared alto- gether . Hence it appeared as if descent in the sea had much the same effect on life , as ascent on land . Recent investigations appear to show that Forbes was ...
... gradually diminished ; until , beyond 300 fathoms , life disappeared alto- gether . Hence it appeared as if descent in the sea had much the same effect on life , as ascent on land . Recent investigations appear to show that Forbes was ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abiogenesis accumulation Anchitherium ancient animals appear Arctogæal Atlantic body bottom calcareous carbonic acid Carboniferous Carnivora causes Cetacea chalk cilium coal contains creatures cretaceous deep sea deposit depths Devonian Diatoms distribution doctrine doubt dredge dry land earth Eocene evidence existence fact fathoms fauna fermentation fish fluid Foraminifera formation forms fossil genera geological speculation geologists germs give rise globe Globigerina ooze gradually Heteromita Hipparion hypothesis knowledge known less living lobster Mammalia mammals matter Mediterranean Mesozoic microscope Miocene Miocene epoch modern modification monad naturalist nature observed ocean organisms oxygen paleontology particles Pébrine peculiar period physical plants present day protoplasm proved Radiolaria red clay regions remains rocks scientific sea-bottom shells silicious Silurian similar species sporangia spores structure substance sugar suppose surface tertiary things tion Torula trawl Triassic types Ungulata Uniformitarianism vegetable whole Wyville Thomson Xenogenesis yeast zoology zoospores
Popular passages
Page 14 - Globigerince, with the granules which have been mentioned, and some few other calcareous shells ; but a small percentage of the chalky mud — perhaps at most some five per cent, of it — is of a different nature, and consists of shells and skeletons composed of silex, or pure flint. These silicious bodies belong partly to the lowly vegetable organisms which are called Diatomaceoe, and partly to the minute, and extremely simple, animals, termed Radiolaria. It...
Page 13 - Globigerince of every size, from the smallest to the largest, are associated together in the Atlantic mud, and the chambers of many are filled by a soft animal matter. This soft substance is, in fact, the remains of the creature to which the Globigerina shell, or rather skeleton, owes its existence — and which is an animal of the simplest imaginable description. It is, in fact, a mere particle of living jelly, without defined...
Page 22 - This is a kind of shell-fish, with a shell composed of two pieces, of which, as in the oyster, one is fixed and the other free. " The upper valve is almost invariably wanting, though occasionally found in a perfect state of preservation in the white chalk at some distance. In this case, we see clearly that the sea-urchin first lived from youth to age, then died and lost its spines, which were carried away. Then the young Crania adhered to the bared shell, grew and perished in its turn; after which,...
Page 32 - Indians. Crocodiles of modern type appear ; bony fishes, many of them very similar to existing species, almost supplant the forms of fish which predominate in more ancient seas ; and many kinds of living shell-fish first become known to us in the chalk.
Page 244 - But the great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact...
Page 6 - Or, to take a more familiar example, the fur on the inside of a teakettle is carbonate of lime, and, for anything chemistry tells us to the contrary, the chalk might be a kind of gigantic fur upon the bottom of the earth-kettle, which is kept pretty hot below.