Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/238

LEFT CRETACEOUS SYSTEM 194 CRETE admixture of forms occurs in the Cre- taceous strata of North America. Among animals the protozoa played a very im- portant part — the white chalks and earthy limestones being very largely composed of the minute shells of fora- minifera, such as globigerina, rotalia, and textularia, which still swarm in the ooze of the Atlantic. Ordinary bivalves were also very numerous. In the Da- nian beds carnivorous gasteropods begin to abound, and they include a number of existing genera. Cephalopods are not only the most abundant, but also the most characteristic fossils of the Cre- taceous rocks. Among the fishes were ganoids, and various kinds of the shark tribe, together with the earliest repre- sentatives of the teleostei, which include most living genera of fishes. The waters of the period seem also to have swarmed with reptiles, such as the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus. Winged reptiles were also present, such as pterodactylus. The American Cretaceous system is likewise characterized by the presence of huge dinosaurs and other reptiles, some of them being European types, while others are peculiar. One of the most remarkable features of the American rocks is the occurrence in them of the toothed birds, ichthyornis and hesper- ornis. No break separates the Jurassic from the Cretaceous system ; there is a gradual passage from the upper beds of the one into the lower beds of the other. At the beginning of Cretaceous times most of the British and Irish area existed as dry land. Over the S. E. of England lay the estuary of a large river, flowing probably from the N. The Wealden beds are the delta-deposits of that river; the English and French beds of this division covering an area of 20,000 square miles. The sea into which that river flowed occupied a considerable area in the N. of France, spread over the Low Countries into Hanover, filled the basin of the North Sea, and overflowed a portion of eastern England. Wealden beds occur in northwest Germany, and indicate the delta of a river, like that of the British area, flowing from the N. While land-conditions predominated in northern and middle Europe, an open sea covered vast areas in southern Eu- rope. Gradual subsidence of the sea- bottom took place during the deposition of the Wealden series, and eventually the great deltas became submerged, and a wide sea covered most of what are now the low grounds of the British area, and passing E. submerged vast regions of middle Europe up to the slopes of the Ural Mountains. The depression was greatest in the W. areas where in the deep clear waters there gradually ac- cumulated the calcareous matter which subsequently formed our white chalk. In the Mediterranean basin, a deep open sea would seem to have persisted all through the Cretaceous period. It was in this sea that the massive hippurite limestone was formed. Open water ap- pears at this time to have extended through the Mediterranean area into Asia, covering there also vast tracts of what is now dry land, and communicat- ing with the Indian Ocean. The condi- tions of climate seem to have been re- markably uniform over the vast regions of the earth's surface. Ferns, cycads, and conifers flourished in the lands with- in the Arctic Circle, and the waters of the same region were tenanted by cuttle- fish, ammonites, and huge reptiles. CRETE, or CANDIA, an island be- longing to Greece, the largest of the Mediterranean, except Sicily, lying S. of the Grecian Archipelago and the JEgean Sea. It is 150 miles long, and from 6 to 35 miles wide. Its area is 3,326 square miles. It commands the entrance to the Black Sea. The surface is mountainous, the highest peak being Mt. Ida, 8,061 feet in height; pop. about 350,000. Capital, Canea (pop. about 25,000). The island produces silk, wool, cotton, tobacco, lemons, oranges, grapes, olive oil, wines, and cereals. The population is mostly Hellenic. The Greek Church predomi- nates, having eight bishops. The Moham- medan population is largely Greek. The history of Crete is very ancient, the island being in mythology regarded as the original seat of the human race. It was fabled to have been ruled anciently by Minos. Crete was conquered by the Turks in 1669, but never really submitted to Turkish authority. There was a rebellion against Turkey in 1866, that was at length subdued. An- other revolt broke out in 1897, during which many atrocities of the Turkish gar- risons were reported. Feb. 14 it was an- nounced that Greece had assumed respon- sibility of protecting the Christian inhab- itants against the Sultan's forces. A Turkish transport, the "Fuad," on its way to re-enforce the Crete garrison, was fired upon by a Greek cruiser, and com- pelled to turn back. A regiment of Greek troops was dispatched to the island, and the army reserves of Greece called out. The Sultan notified the leading powers of the warlike action of Greece, and re- quested them to restrain the latter power. In answer to this request the powers — Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Austria, France and Russia — warned Greece that she must not occupy or invade Crete, and