"That has puzzled me very much," replied Cortlandt, "but I never

believed the explanation then given was correct. The

Carboniferous period is essentially one of great forest growth;

so there would be nothing out of the way in supposing the spot,

notwithstanding its length of twenty-seven thousand miles and its

breadth of eight thousand miles, to have been forest. It

occurred in what would correspond to the temperate region on

earth. Now, though the axis of this planet is practically