Fig. 64.—Calamites cannæformis. One-third natural size.
In the family of the Asterophyllites, the leaf of A. foliosa ([Fig. 66]); and the foliage of Annularia orifolia ([Fig. 67]) are remarkable. In addition to these, we present, in [Fig. 63], a restoration of one of these Asterophyllites, the Sphenophyllum, after M. Eugene Deslongchamps. This herbaceous tree, like the Calamites, would present the appearance of an immense asparagus, twenty-five to thirty feet high. It is represented here with its branches and fronds, which bear some resemblance to the leaves of the ginkgo. The bud, as represented in the figure, is terminal, and not axillary, as in some of the Calamites.
Fig. 65.—Sigillaria reniformis.
If, during the Coal-period, the vegetable kingdom had reached its maximum, the animal kingdom, on the contrary, was poorly represented. Some remains have been found, both in America and Germany, consisting of portions of the skeleton and the impressions of the footsteps of a Reptile, which has received the name of Archegosaurus. In [Fig. 68] is represented the head and neck of Archegosaurus minor, found in 1847 in the coal-basin of Saarbruck between Strasbourg and Trèves. Among the animals of this period we find a few Fishes, analogous to those of the Devonian formation. These are the Holoptychius and Megalichthys, having jaw-bones armed with enormous teeth. Scales of Pygopterus have been found in the Northumberland Coal-shale at Newsham Colliery, and also in the Staffordshire Coal-shale. Some winged insects would probably join this slender group of living beings. It may then be said with truth that the immense forests and marshy plains, crowded with trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, which formed on the innumerable isles of the period a thick and tufted sward, were almost destitute of animals.