Excerpt from A Monograph on Recent and Fossil Crinoidea: With Figures and Descriptions of Some Recent and Fossil Allied GeneraSuch a physical state Of things would not only satisfactorily account for the gradual introduction of animals and plants approaching to the existing Fauna and Flora, but would explain some other physiological questions of great interest.When investigating the lower fossiliferous rocks, we have frequently speculated on the probable physical conditions of the medium which enveloped our planet at the period of their deposition. If we adopt Professor Owen's ingenious and highly probable suggestion, and suppose the atmosphere, by its excess Of carbon, to have been a dense heavy uid, whose specific gravity was only a few degrees lighter than water, we have a clear exposition Of the adaptation of the structure of molluscous animals, and the Ocean Lilies at remote geological epochs, to the peculiar physical conditions Of an atmosphere whose force Operated on the surface of the globe with a degree of energy much beyond the atmospheric pressure at the present time.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy.

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