Fig. 58.—Lithostrotion basaltiforme.
Fig. 59.—Lonsdalea floriformis.
The plate opposite ([Plate X.]) is a representation of an ideal aquarium, in which some of the more prominent species, which inhabited the seas during the period of the Carboniferous Limestone, are represented. On the right is a tribe of corals, with reflections of dazzling white: the species represented are, nearest the edge, the Lasmocyathus, the Chætetes, and the Ptylopora. The Mollusc which occupies the extremity of the elongated and conical tube in the shape of a sabre is an Aploceras. It seems to prepare the way for the Ammonite; for if this elongated shell were coiled round itself it would resemble the Ammonite and Nautilus. In the centre of the foreground we have Bellerophon hiulcus ([Fig. 56]), the Nautilus Koninckii, and a Producta, with the numerous spines which surround the shell. (See [Fig. 62].)
X.—Ideal view of marine life in the Carboniferous Period.