The following phenomenon though unconnected with auroræ, is probably of electric origin; and, as an unusual atmospheric appearance, is worthy of being placed on record:—September 16.—The sky was mostly overcast throughout the day, except a segment extending fromWSW.toENE., which was bright and clear to an altitude of about 15°. The upper boundary of the clear blue space was an elliptical segment formed by a sheet of white cloud, which was partially illuminated towards the western extremity, and somewhatresembled an auroral arch. I first noticed this blue arch about 3P.M., and from that time until it disappeared, about six o'clock, there was not the slightest apparent change, either in its altitude or position. It was observed as early as 7 o'clock in the morning, when it was, nearer to the horizon.
General Remarks.—The year 1849 is the driest we have had since 1844; the fall of rain (39 inches) is 7·9 inches under the average annual depth, which is 47 inches nearly. From some cause, the annual quantity of rain at this place is evidently on the decrease, and the diminution is, I believe, general all over the north of England. Probably the large amount of moor and waste marshy land brought into cultivation of late years, and the more efficient drainage of the country generally, by diminishing the evaporating surface, and so interfering with that invisible process of nature which is the source of every kind of atmospheric deposition, may have led to this and other changes which appear to have occurred in the climate of England within the last half century. In the first seven years (1833-39) after I began to keep a meteorological record, the average annual depth of rain was 49·93 inches, or 50 inches nearly; in the last seven years, ending with 1848, the average is reduced to 43·74 inches. The greatest quantity in the last 17 years is 59 inches, in 1836; the least, 34·69 inches in 1842. The three driest years in the period are 1842, 1844, and 1849, which yielded 34·69 inches, 36·72 inches, and 39 inches.
The temperature of the past year (48°·69) is about half a degreebelowthe climatic mean, which is 49°·02. The coldest year of the last 17 was 1845, and the mildest, 1846; the mean temperatures of these years were 47°·49 and 50°·85 respectively.
The naked thermometer on the grass, placed on raw wool, has been at or below the freezing point in every month of 1849;viz., in January, on 19 nights; in February, on 14; in March, on 13; in April, on 18; in May, on 11; in June, on 8; in July, on 1; in August, on 2; in September, on 5; in October, on 16; in November, on 13; and in December, on 24 nights. The amount of radiant heat thrown off from the earth's crust at night, in the year 1849, as indicated by naked thermometers placed on raw wool and on grass, is much greater than usual. The evaporation exceeds the fall of rain in five months of 1849;viz., in March, April, May, June, and September. In 1849, we have had 12 perfectly clear days; 163 days more or less cloudy but without rain; 190 wet days; 261 days on which the sun shone out; 33 days of frost; 13 of hail; 7 of snow; 10 of thunder and lightning; and 7 days in which lightning occurred without thunder. There have also been three lunar halos, one lunar rainbow, a double parhelion, and seven appearances of the aurora borealis.
The clear days are 14, the days of sunshine are 13, and the wet days are 8lessthan the average number. The past year has thereforeafforded a smaller share of blue sky and a less amount of sunshine than usual, although the depth of rain and the number of wet days are bothbelowthe average for the locality.
The quantity of electricity in the air was extremely small down to the end of July, after which it was restored to its average amount.
This fact is strikingly exhibited by the following table of continuous observations taken by M. Quetelet with Peltier's electrometer:—
In 1849, the deaths exceed the calculated average number by 79, and the births exceed the deaths by 74.
In the seven years ending with 1845, the mean annual number of deaths in the town and suburb, with an assumed population of 17,867, is 410, being 22·9 per thousand, or one death in every 43·5 persons. In 1846, 1847, and 1848 (assumed average population 18,329), the mean annual number is 694, being 37·8 deaths per thousand, or 1 in every 26·4 persons in those three most unhealthy years. In 1849 the deaths are 606, which, assuming the population to be the same as in 1848, give 32·2 deaths per 1000, or 1 death in every 31 persons. The average annual number of deaths in the ten years 1839-48 is 495, which, with an assumed population of 17,713, gives 27·9 per 1000, or 1 death in every 35·7 inhabitants.
So that the mortality in 1849, although still above the average, shews a marked improvement in the health of the town as compared with any of the three preceding years; and, in the last quarter, the deaths are below the average for the period.
The Observatory, Whitehaven,13th March 1850.
[29]The cause of this fearful epidemic is still a mystery. The meteorological conditions of the atmosphere, although slightly abnormal, are wholly inadequate to account for its induction. It is most probably induced by some gaseous poison diffused through the atmosphere, but of a nature so subtle that the most delicate analysis fails to detect its presence. According to the experiments of Dr Dundas Thompson of Glasgow, no solid matter existed in the air, but ammonia was obtained from it in the proportion of 0·319 grain of caustic ammonia, or 0·731 grain of carbonate of ammonia, to 1000 pounds of air.
ByJames D. Dana,Geologist to the American Exploratory Expedition,&c.,&c.
The Coral Island, in its best condition, is but a miserable residence for man. There is poetry in every feature; but the natives find this a poor substitute for the bread-fruit and yams of more favoured lands. The cocoa-nut and pandanus are, in general, the only products of the vegetable kingdom afforded for their sustenance, and fish and crabs from the reef their only animal food. Scanty, too, is the supply; and infanticide is resorted to in self-defence, where but a few years would otherwise overstock the half-dozen square miles of which their little world consists.
Yet there are more comforts than might be expected on a land of so limited extent, without rivers, without hills, in the midst of salt water, with the most elevated point but ten feet above high tide, and no part more than 300 yards from the ocean. Though the soil is light and the surface often strewed with blocks of coral, there is a dense covering of vegetation to shade the native villages from a tropical sun. The cocoa-nut—the tree of a thousand uses—grows luxuriantly on the coral-made land, after it has emerged from the ocean; and the scanty dresses of the natives, their drinking-vessels and other utensils, mats, cordage, fishing-lines, and oil, besides food, drink, and building material, are all supplied from it. ThePandanus, or screw-pine, flourishes well, and is exactly fitted for such regions: as it enlarges and spreads its branches, one prop after another grows out from the trunk and plants itself in the ground; and by this means its base is widened and the growing tree supported. The fruit, a large ovoidal mass, made up of oblong dry seed, diverging from a centre, each near two cubic inches in size, affords a sweetish-husky article of food, which, though little better than prepared corn-stalks, admits of being stored away for use when other things fail. The extensive reefs abound in fish which are easily captured; and the natives, with wooden hooks, often bring in larger kinds from the deep waters. From such resources a population of 10,000 persons is supported on the single Island of Taputeouea, whose whole habitable area does not exceed six square miles.[30]
Water is usually to be found in sufficient quantities for the use of the natives, although the land is so low and flat. They dig wells five to ten feet deep in any part of the dry islets, and generally obtain a constant supply. These wells are sometimes fenced around with special care; and the houses of the villages, as at Fakaafo, are often clustered about them. On Aratica (Carlshoff) there is a watering-place50 feet in diameter, from which our vessels in a few hours obtained 390 gallons. The Tarawan Islands are generally provided with a supply sufficient for bathing, and each native takes his morning bath in fresh water, esteemed by them a great luxury.
The only source of this water is the rains, which, percolating through the loose surface, settle upon the hardened coral rock that forms the basis of the island. As the soil is white, or nearly so, it receives heat but slowly, and there is consequently but little evaporation of the water that is once absorbed.
These islands, moreover, enclose ports of great extent, many admitting even the largest class of vessels; and the same lagoons are the pearl fisheries of the Pacific.
An occasional log drifts to their shores; and at some of the more isolated atolls, where the natives are ignorant of any land but the spot they inhabit; they are deemed direct gifts from a propitiated deity. These drift-logs were noticed by Kotzebue, at the Marshall Islands, and he remarked also that they often brought stones in their roots. Similar facts were observed by us at the Tarawan group, and also at Enderby's Island, and elsewhere.
The stones at the Tarawan Islands, as far as we could learn, are generally basaltic, and they are highly valued for whetstones, pestles, and hatchets. The logs are claimed by the chiefs for canoes. Some of the logs on Enderby's Island were forty feet long, and four in diameter.
Fragments of pumice and resin are transported by the waves to the Tarawan Islands. We were informed that the pumice was gathered from the shores by the women, and pounded up to fertilize the soil of their taro patches; and it is so common, that one woman will pick up a peck in a day. Pumice was also met with at Fakaafo. Volcanic ashes are sometimes distributed over these islands, through the atmosphere; and in this manner the soil of the Tonga Islands is improved, and in some places it has received a reddish colour.
The officers of the“Vincennes”observed several large masses of compact and cellular basalt on Rose Island, a few degrees east of Samoa: they lie two hundred yards inside of the line of breakers. The island is uninhabited, and the origin of the stories is doubtful; they may have been brought there by roots of trees, or perhaps by some canoe.
Notwithstanding the great number of coral islands in the Paumotu Archipelago, the botanist finds there, as Dr Pickering informs me, only twenty-eight or twenty-nine native species of plants. The following are the most common of them:Portulacca, two species;Scævola Konigii.Pisonia?one species;Tournefortia sericea;Pandanus odoratissimus;Lepidium, one species;Euphorbia, one species;Morinda citrifolia;Bœrhavia, two species;Cassytha, one species;Heliotropium prostratum,Pemphis acidula,Guettarda speciosa,Triumphetta procumbens,Sauriana maritima;Convolvulus, one species;Urtica, one or two species;Asplenium nidus;Achyranthus, one species; a species of grass. One or two rubiaceous shrubs.Polypodium.
On Rose Island, Dr Pickering found only thePisoniaand aPortulacca. TheTriumphetta procumbens, a creeping plant, takes root, like thePortulacca, in the most barren sands, and is very common. TheTournefortiaandScævolaare also among the earliest species. ThePisonia, a tree of handsome foliage, thePandanus, or screw-pine, and the cocoa-nut (always an introduced species), constitute the larger part of the forests. In the Marshall group, where the vegetation is more varied, Chamisso observed fifty-two native plants, and, in a few instances, the banana, taro, and bread-fruit.
The language of the natives indicates their poverty, as well as the limited productions and unvarying features of the land. All words, like those for mountain, hill, river, and many of the implements of their ancestors, as well as the trees and other vegetation of the land from which they are derived, are lost to them; and as words are but signs for ideas, they have fallen off in general intelligence. It would be an interesting inquiry for the philosopher, to what extent a race of men, placed in such circumstances, are capable of mental improvement. Perhaps the query might be best answered by another: How many of the various arts of civilized life could exist in a land where shells are the only cutting instruments? The plants, in all but twenty-nine in number,—but a single mineral,—quadrupeds, none, with the exception of foreign mice,—fresh water barely enough for household purposes,—no streams, nor mountains, nor hills! How much of the poetry or literature of Europe would be intelligible to persons whose ideas had expanded only to the limits of a coral island,—who had never conceived of a surface of land above half a mile in breadth, of a slope higher than a beach, of a change of seasons beyond a variation in the prevalence of rains? What elevation in morals should be expected upon a contracted islet, so readily overpeopled that threatened starvation drives to infanticide, and tends to cultivate the extremest selfishness? Assuredly, there is not a more unfavourable spot for moral or intellectual development in the wide world than the Coral Island, with all its beauty of grove and lake.
These islands are exposed to earthquakes and storms, like the continents, and occasionally a devastating wave sweeps across the land. During the heavier gales the natives sometimes secure their houses by tying them to the cocoa-nut trees, or to a stake planted for the purpose. A height of ten or twelve feet, the elevation of their land, is easily overtopped by the more violent seas; and great damage is sometimes experienced. The still more extensive earthquake waves, such as those which have swept up the coast of Spain, Peru, and the Sandwich Islands, would produce a complete deluge over these islands.—(United States' Exploring Expedition.—Geology.—By James Dana,p.75.)
[30]There are a few islands better supplied with vegetable food, though the above statements are literally true of a large majority.
ByH. Coquand.[31]Communicated by the Author.
Again, to bring to your recollection the numerous works which have placed Pilla among the most eminent geologists of Italy, is to do honour to the memory of an associate, whose recent loss we lament, by bestowing well-merited praises on the greatness of mind in a citizen, who nobly sacrificed a life already illustrious, and which the future promised to render still more so, to the good of his country. Yes, Italy has always beentellus magna virum!The chances of war, the rage of civil discord, the insults of foreign domination, may have eclipsed its political name, but they could not extinguish its genius. The blast of revolutions has respected the triple halo with which the sciences, letters, and the arts, have adorned its brow. By entrusting to one of his friends the task of enumerating his scientific labours, the Society imposes on him a very painful duty; but he undertakes it with feeling and gratitude; for the public homage rendered to the virtues of those whom we have loved, seems to bring them back to us, and softens the awards of destiny, which has too soon snatched them from us.
Leopold Pilla was born in the kingdom of Naples. While still young, the exciting scenes of Vesuvius attracted his attention, and determined his scientific career. In 1832, he undertook to write the annals of this volcano, and gave its history in two periodical collections.[32]It was at this period that he proved the production of flames in volcanic eruptions, and deduced from thence the ingenious conclusions which you judged worthy of a place in your memoirs.[33]This remarkable work, which of itself would have been sufficient to establish his scientific reputation, was soon followed by numerous others, which shed a new lustre on his name. Thestudy of the extinct volcano of Rocca Monfina,[34]in the Campania, illustrated the theory of cratersde soulevement, and enriched it with facts of the highest importance.
With a mind at once philosophical and cultivated, he was able to generalise and describe, to unite erudition with good taste, and to treat questions of deepest science with that grace and picturesqueness of style, which renders them popular without detracting from their accuracy. His love for geology amounted to enthusiasm; he was therefore so zealous in propagating his views, that certain jealous minds could not pardon him, and led him to atone for his fault, by a voluntary exile. The apostle of the science, he likewise was its martyr; thus nothing was wanting to his fame. It is the privilege of men of genius to be persecuted. Obliged to yield to the storm, Pilla left Naples, but by his writings he belonged to Italy at large; and the unanimous acclamation which greeted him in the chair formerly occupied by Galileo, conferred on him by the liberality of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, formed at once his triumph and revenge.
Besides the works mentioned, we owe to him a Mineralogical Treatise on Rocks;[35]an Introduction to the Study of Mineralogy;[36]and a Geological Itinerary from Naples to Vienna.[37]Thus, by approving the new productions which his activity produced, and which caused him to be better appreciated by the nation which had adopted him, the Tuscans had only to sanction the judgment they had already given of oursavant, founded on his reputation and works.
Pilla left his heart at Naples. That city contained all the objects of his affections—a father, who had guided his first attempts in the field of science, and his family—a classical soil which had revealed to him the secret of its revolutions, a majestic landscape, which he could not find among the monotonous plains of Pisa, and above allhis ownVesuvius. It wasin this way that he recalled to his mind the mountain which had been the subject of his daily study, and from whose summit nature presented herself to his eyes in the most striking contrasts, revealing to his view its subterranean convulsions, connected with the delightful picture of the Gulf of Baia. All his thoughts brought him back to Naples. When, from the height of the terraces of Campiglia our view extended from the peaks of Mount Amiata to the banks of the Popolonia, and from the Tuscan Archipelago to the distant horizons of Corsica and Sardinia, my poor friend often interrupted our reveries by saying,—“It is almost as beautiful as Naples, but my Vesuvius is wanting;”and then adding,“How unfortunate it is that Werner did not lay the foundation of geology at Naples;he would have made it Plutonian.”Thus the love of his country, and the recollection of its wonders, were confounded in his mind with the cultivation of the science, and gave to his animated and poetical conversation a touching melancholy which agreeably tempered his vivacity.
During the years of his professorship at Pisa, Pilla published, in succession, a comparative Essay on the formations which compose the soil of Italy;[38]a Collection of the Mineral riches of Tuscany;[39]two Memoirs on the Etrurian Formation;[40]History of an Earthquake felt in Tuscany, in 1846;[41]many notices respecting the Calcare-rosso, and on the temperature observed in the wells of Monte-Massi;[42]lastly, the first volume of his Treatise on Geology.[43]The entire work would have formed four octavo volumes. The materials were prepared, but death left the work incomplete. As these various writings are in the hands of all geologists, we give no analysis of them; which indeed would only be a faint reflection from the pictures present to your memory. I maymerely say, that the elevated considerations of the general physics of the globe to which he has risen in appreciating and investigating the causes of earthquakes, the comprehensive and methodical plan on which he has projected this geological treatise, by affording us a proof of the fertility and maturity of his mind, shew us, at the same time, the importance of the part reserved for a philosopher, whom death has removed from the present scene before he had reached his thirty-sixth year.
The war of independence raged at the time when Pilla was about to visit the north of Europe, in order to complete his studies in practical geology, by comparing the different formations. Every generous heart in Italy beat high at the report of the insurrection of Milan; and the Universities of Pisa and Sienna, by demanding arms and first flying to the scene of danger, shewed that hearts, proved in the fire of science, are prepared for great things. Pilla marched at the head of his pupils, and led them in the path of glory, as he had done in that of philosophy. The love of country and thirst for independence, by subjugating his heart, had stifled the calculation of reason under the impulse and delirium of enthusiasm. He had foreseen the issue of the struggle; for he said to me some days before setting out for the plains of Lombardy,“the hour of our fall has struck. Italy loses by fourteen ages of servitude the splendour of her early days. They are leading us to slaughter; but we must teach our children how to die, in order that they may know how they may one day become free.”
The University legion formed a small corps which was placed on the right wing of the Piedmontese army, and occupied the positions of Curtatone and Montanara. The principal effort of the Austrian army was directed against these lines, in the affair of the 29th May 1848. Attacked by 13,000 imperial troops, the Tuscans resisted courageously, and did not fall back till they had left 250 of their men on the field of battle. Their heroic resistance paved the way for the success of Goito. Pilla was found among the dead.
[31]Read to the Geological Society of France, at their meeting on the 16th of April 1849.
[32]Spettatore del Vesuvio et Bulletino del Vesuvio. Napoli,1832.
[33]Sopra la produzione delle fiamme nei vulcani, e sopra le consequenze che se ne possono tirare. Atti del Congresso di Lucca,1845.
[34]Memoires de la Société Geologique de France, t. i., 2meserie.
[35]Trattato mineralogico delle Roccie, Napoli.
[36]Introduzione allo studio della geologia, Napoli.
[37]Osservazioni Geologiche che si possono fare lungo la strada da Napoli a Vienna.
[38]Saggio comparative dei terreni che compongono il suolo de l'Italia, Pisa.
[39]Breve cenno sopra la richezza mineralogica della Toscano, Pisa.
[40]Sulla vera posizione del terreno di macigno in Italia, Pisa; andMemoires de la Société geologique de France, 2meserie, t. ii.
[41]Storia del tremuoto che ha devastuto i paesi della costa Toscana, il di 14 Agosto 1846, Pisa.
[42]Miscellanee di fisica e di Storia naturale di Pisa, anno 1, Nos. 7 and 8.
[43]Trattato di geologia, t. i., Pisa, 1847.
According to the views ofM. Brongniart.
(Continued fromp.330 of Volume 48.)
“II.Permian Period.—The nature of the vegetables which appear peculiar to this epoch, is far from being determined in a positive manner; for the few localities where the fossils we consider as belonging to it, have hitherto been found, are not perhaps really of a formation very identical and truly contemporaneous. For it may be asked, whether the bituminous and copper slates of the county of Mansfield, classed by all geologists with the zechstein, and the sandstone of Russia, placed by M. M. Murchison and Verneuil in their Permian formation, are really contemporaneous? Finally, is there greater reason for classifying the slates of Lodève, considered by M. M. Dufresnoy and Elie de Beaumont as depending on the variegated sandstone, but so different from the same sandstone of the Vosges in itsflora, in this period, which would thus be a kind of passage from the coal period, so well characterised, to the vosgian or variegated sandstone, which differs from it in so decided a manner?”
On account of these doubts, M. Brongniart indicates these three floras separately;1st, The Flora of the bituminous slates of Thuringia, composed of algæ, ferns, and coniferæ;2d, The Flora of the Permian sandstones of Russia, which comprehends ferns, equisetaceæ, lycopodiaceæ, and nœggerathiæ;3d, The Flora of the slates of Lodève, which is composed of ferns, asterophylliteæ, and coniferæ.
"We perceive that there are great specific differences between the plants of these localities, and that hitherto no species common to them has been found. Must we ascribe these differences to the influence of the great diversity of geographical position, or is there, besides, a difference in the period of their origin among these formations? The only character which tends to bring these two latter Floras neareach other, is the relation which both of them bear to the coal-formations, of which they seem to be a kind of extract, reminding us more especially of the most recent beds.
"With regard to the plants of the bituminous slates of the Mansfeld district, they are so few in number, and appear to have been deposited in conditions so different, that we can with difficulty compare them with the two other Floras. Yet the species of Sphenopteris are extremely like each other in the three formations, and an exact comparison would perhaps establish the identity of many of them. The Pecopteris crenulata of Ilmenau, is only perhaps an imperfect state of the Pecopteris abbreviata of Lodève; lastly, the Callipteris of the Permian formation of Lodève have a very close connection between themselves and the Callipteris of the coal-formation.
"We may add, with regard to the bituminous slates of Thuringia, that many of these fossils appear to be marine plants, whose numbers would become much more considerable if we did not suppress all the imperfect impressions which have been described as such, and which are nothing more than fragments of ferns or altered coniferæ.
"II.Reign of the Gymnosperms.—During the preceding periods, and particularly during the Carboniferous period, the Acrogenous cryptogams predominated, and the Gymnospermous dicotyledons, less numerous, shewed themselves in unusual forms, and sometimes so anomalous that we are in doubt whether to place them in this or the preceding department; such are the Asterophylliteæ. At a later period, on the contrary, these anomalous and ambiguous forms, whose classification is often obscure, disappear; Acrogenous cryptogams and Gymnospermous dicotyledons evidently enter into families still existing, differing from them only in generic forms; the Ferns and Equisetaceæ, which represent the acrogens, are less numerous; the Coniferæ and Cycadeæ almost equal them in number, and usually exceed them in frequency, especially in the second period; by their abundance and size they afford the essential character of all these formations; lastly, the Angiospermous dicotyledons are wholly wanting, and the monocotyledons are in very small numbers.
"This reign of the Gymnospermous dicotyledons is divided into two periods; the first, in which the Coniferæ predominate, and in which the Cycadeæ scarcely appear; the second, in which this family becomes predominating in the number of species, in frequency and variety of generic forms. The latter may be divided into many epochs, each presenting peculiar characters.
"III.Vosgian Period.—This period, which does not appear to have been of long duration, and comprehends only thevariegatedsandstone properly so called, presents the following characters;1st, The existence of ferns, pretty numerous, of forms very often anomalous, evidently constituting genera now extinct, and which are not found even in the most recent formations; such are the Anomopteris and the Crematopteris. Stems of arborescent ferns are more frequent than during the Jurassic period; true Equisetums are very rare; the Calamites, or rather perhaps the Calamodendrons, are abundant.2d, The Gymnosperms are represented by two genera of Coniferæ,VoltziaandHaidingeria, of which the species and specimens are very numerous. The Cycadeæ, on the contrary, are very rare. M. Schimper mentions only two species founded on two unique specimens of a very imperfect character, and the determination of which may be considered doubtful.
"This consideration appears to me to separate completely, in a botanical point of view, the period of the variegated sandstone from that of the Keuper, although both are placed by geologists in the trias-formation. For the Cycadeæ become very abundant in the Keuper, are perfectly characterised, and often analogous to those of the Jurassic period; while the Coniferæ of the variegated sandstone are, on the contrary, wanting in this formation.
"IV.Jurassic Period.—This period is one of the most extensive by the formations which it comprehends, and the variety of different special epochs of vegetation which it embraces; although we cannot refuse to comprehend, under a common title, epochs during which very analogous forms have succeeded each other. It thus comprehends from the Keuper inclusively, up to the Wealdean formations. In fact, we findthe Pterophyllum of the Keuper appear anew, with slight specific differences in the Wealdean formations. Theequisetitesof the Keuper extend to the mean oolithic formation; thebaieraof the Lias likewise recurs in the Wealdean beds of the north of Germany; the Sagenopteris and the Camptopteris likewise appear in the Keuper, Lias, and Oolite.
"Yet these common characters, which indicate a great analogy between the Floras of each of these epochs of formation, do not prevent each of them having characters of its own, and often an assemblage of species, almost all peculiar to each particular epoch. We ought, therefore, to distinguish here those various subdivisions, the number of which will perhaps be afterwards multiplied, when we become better acquainted with the vegetables of each of the stages of the Jurassic formations.
"Keupric Epoch.—M. Brongniart then gives an enumeration of the vegetables of the Keupric epoch, which, in regard to the Amphigenous cryptogams, consist of Algæ; in regard to the Acrogenous cryptogams, of Ferns and Equisetaceæ; in the case of the Gymnospermous dicotyledons of Cycadeæ and Coniferæ; lastly, of two doubtful monocotyledons (PalæoxyrisandPreisleria.)
"On comparing this Flora with that of the variegated sandstone of the Vosges, and with that of the Lias, we perceive that it has nothing in common with the first except the palæoxyris, which appears very nearly related to that of the variegated sandstone; on the contrary, it resembles the Flora of the Lias or Oolite in the ferns, many of which are specifically identical, or nearly allied in theNilsoniaandPterophyllum, which are likewise either identical, or very nearly connected specifically with the Lias.
"Lias Epoch.—The Liasic epoch furnishes Amphigenous cryptogams, consisting of Algæ, mushrooms, and lichens; Acrogenous cryptogams, such as Ferns, Marsileaceæ, Lycopodiaceæ, and Equisetaceæ; Gymnospermous dicotyledons, represented by the Cycadeæ and Coniferæ; finally, doubtful monocotyledons, consisting ofProacitesandCyperites.
"The essential characters of this epoch are therefore,1st, The great predominance of Cycadeæ, already well established,and the presence of numerous genera in this family, particularlyZamitesandNilsonia;2d, The existence of many genera among the ferns with reticulated nerves, which scarcely shew themselves, and under forms not greatly varied, in the most ancient formations; but some of which, notwithstanding, already begin to appear in the epoch of the Keuper. Such are theCamptopterisandThaumatopteris.
"Oolitic Epoch.—The Oolitic epoch furnishes, among Amphigenous cryptogams, the Algæ; among the Acrogenous cryptogams, Ferns, Marsileaceæ, Lycopodiaceæ, and Equisetaceæ; among the Gymnospermous dicotyledons, Cycadeæ and Coniferæ; lastly, among the doubtful monocotyledons, Podocarya and Carpolithes.
"This list is chiefly founded on the fossils, so varied in character, collected on the coasts of Yorkshire, near Whitby and Scarborough, in beds which are referred to different parts of the inferior oolite, and particularly to the great oolite. It likewise contains a small number of species found in the slaty limestone of Stonesfield, near Oxford, depending on these same beds.
"In France, the fossils of this formation have been collected in the neighbourhood of Morestel, near Lyon, by Dr Lortet; at Orbagnoux and Abergemens, near Nantua, in the department of the Ain, by M. Itier; in the vicinity of Chateauroux, near Châtillon-sur-Seine, by Colonel Moret; at Mamers, in the department of Sarthe, by M. Desnoyers; and, lastly, in the greatest quantity by M. Moreau, in beds of oolithic limestone of a very pure white, in the neighbourhood of Verdun, and near Vaucouleurs. Some species have likewise been found at other points of the Jura, in Normandy, near Valogne, in the neighbourhood of Alençon, in each of these localities in very small number. But the greater part of these species are not yet described and figured, and they generally differ as species from those of England. The ferns are generally less numerous, and not so well preserved; we must, however, except theHymenophyllites macrophyllus, found in a perfect state at Morestel, and likewise observed at Stonesfield, and in Germany. The Cycadeæ, the species of which are not greatly varied, are referrible to the generaOtozamitesandZamites; Ctenis, Pterophyllum, and Nilsonia have not yet been observed; lastly, the Coniferæ of the genusBrachyphyllumare there particularly abundant, and more frequent than in the other localities.
"In Germany, it is more especially in the slaty limestone of Solenhofen, near Aichstædt, that these fossils have been observed, and particularly those of the family of Algæ. M. Gæppert likewise notices many Cycadeæ in the Jurassic formation of Ludwigsdorf, near Kreuzburg, in Silesia.
"But these localities, so diverse, are referrible to very different stages of the Oolithic series, and perhaps will constitute, when they are better known, and more fully explored, distinct epochs.
"The distinctive characters of this epoch, comprising the whole extent we have assigned to it, from the Lias to the Wealdean formation exclusively, are; among the Ferns, the rarity of ferns with reticulated nervures, so numerous in the Lias; among the Cycadeæ, the frequency ofOtozamitesandZamites, properly so called; that is to say, Cycadeæ most analogous to those of the existing period, and the diminution ofCtenis,Pterophyllum, andNilsonia, genera much more remote from living species; finally, the greater frequency of Coniferæ,viz.,BrachyphyllumandThuites, much rarer in the Lias.
"Wealdean Epoch.—This epoch affords, Amphigenous cryptogams, the Algæ; among Acrogenous cryptogams, Ferns,Marsileaceæ, andEquisetaceæ; among Gymnospermous dicotyledons,CycadeæandConiferæ; lastly, some Carpolithes as plants of a doubtful class.
“This enumeration results principally from discoveries made, in recent years, in the Wealdean formations of the north of Germany, at Osterwald, Schaumberg, Buckeburg, Oberkirke,&c., of which the fossil plants were first described by M. Ræmer, and afterwards in a more complete manner by M. Dunker, in his monograph of these formations. To these species must be added others, less numerous and varied, previously discovered in theWealdsof England, near Tilgate Forest, and Hastings in Sussex, and which are so well described by M. Mantell.”
This same formation has likewise been found in France, near Beauvais, by M. Graves, who observed thereLonchopteris Mantelli, and some other plants, of which M. Brongniart has not seen specimens, and which he quotes from Graves on the geology of the department of the Oise.
"These species, 61 in number, enumerated above, appear to be all peculiar to this formation, with the exception, perhaps, ofBaiera Huttoni, which seems to be identical with the species of the Bayreuth Lias and Scarborough Lias; but their generic forms are almost all the same as those of the Lias and Oolitic formations. The Cycadeæ, however, already appear less numerous relatively to the ferns.
"We further observe, that this fresh-water formation, which, according to our view, terminates the reign of the Gymnosperms is connected, by the whole of its characters with other epochs of the vegetation of the Jurassic formation, and is distinguished from the Cretaceous epoch, which succeeds it, by the complete absence of every species which could be arranged among the Angiospermous dicotyledons, both in France and England, as well as in the deposits of northern Germany, so rich in varied species. On the contrary, in the lower chalk, cretaceousglauconia, the quadersandstein or planerkalk of Germany, we immediately find many kinds of leaves evidently belonging to the great division of Angiospermous dicotyledons, as well as some remains of palms, of which no trace is observable in the Wealdean deposits.
"I class among the Cycadeæ the stems of the Tilgate forest, formerly designated by the name ofClatharia Lyellii, and which I have considered as a stem related to theDracæna. The whole of its characters, although the almost entire absence of the tissues prevents us examining its anatomy, appear to me to render this connection most probable, and particularly to indicate the relations between this stem and that ofZamites gigasfound at Scarborough.
"The abundance of Lonchopteris Mantelli is a character of the Wealdean formations of the south of England and the department of the Oise, where this fossil seems to make its appearance, at least in fragments, in the greater number of localities, where these beds are exposed by the excavation ofpotter's clay in this formation, near Savignies. In Germany, on the contrary, this species is wanting, andAbietites Linkiibecomes the predominating plant. With regard to Brachyphyllum, I have not yet had it in my power to study them in a natural state; but the figures given of them leave little doubt as to their analogy with the species of the Oolitic epoch.
"The abundance of the Cycadeæ likewise forms a distinctive character of the Wealdean formations of Germany. Still there are, as has been seen, many species common to the two basins; and I may add, that probably the Sphenopteris Gœpperti,Dunk., does not differ from Sphenopteris Phillipsii,Mant.
"I have not included in this list some marine plants mentioned as belonging to the beds of this epoch;1st, because it appears to me doubtful whether they really belong to the Wealdean and not to the Glauconian epoch;2dly, because it still appears to me uncertain, whether the species mentioned, Chondrites æqualis and intricatus, are quite identical, specifically with the species of this name belonging to the fucoidal sandstone lying above the chalk.
"III.Reign of the Angiosperms.—The dominating character of this last transformation of the vegetation of the globe, is the appearance of Angiospermous dicotyledons, those vegetables which actually constitute more than three-fourths of the vegetable creation of our epoch, and which appear to have acquired this predominance from the commencement of the Tertiary formations. For a long period I was of opinion that these vegetables did not begin to appear till after the chalk, with the earliest beds of the Tertiary formations; but more recent investigation has shewn that beds belonging to the Chalk formation present some very distinct examples.
"These vegetables appear even at the beginning of the Chalk formation; for it is certain that many well-determined species exist in the quadersandstein and planerkalk of Germany, which appear to correspond to the green sandstone of France, or green sand of English geologists; although this formation in France and England has never yielded any of them, but only some examples of Cycadeæ, Coniferæ, and marine plants.But in southern Sweden, at Kopingue in Scania, some specimens of dicotyledonous leaves appear associated with a species of Cycadeæ, in beds which have been referred to the greensand; so that the whole Chalk formation would appear to constitute a first period in the reign of the Angiosperms, forming, so to speak, the passage between the vegetation of the Secondary and that of the Tertiary formations, still presenting, as the first, a few Cycadeæ, as the following, some Angiospermous dicotyledons, and thus paving the way to the considerable development of these vegetables in the succeeding period. This period is besides characterised by many Coniferæ peculiar to it, and which appear very distinct from those of the Wealdean formations, and from those of the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary formations; and such in particular are theCunninghamites.
"We can therefore distinguish two great periods in the reign of the Angiosperms:
"1st, The Cretaceous period, a kind of period of transition.
"2dly, The Tertiary period, presenting all the characters arising from the predominance of Angiosperms, Dicotyledons, and Monocotyledons, and divisible into many epochs, the characters of which will not be well established until we have removed all doubts as to the agreement of the different local series of the Tertiary formations.
"V.Cretaceous Period.—The Cretaceous period, properly so called, comprehends perhaps many distinct epochs; but the beds where fossil vegetables have been observed, not having been always classified with precision in the different subdivisions of this formation, it is impossible to establish their chronology with certainty. Besides, we must distinguish an epoch which appears immediately to precede this formation, and one which follows it, and yet differs from the Eocene period.
"We are acquainted with fossil vegetables of the Cretaceous period:—
"1st, Sub-Cretaceous Epoch.—In the subcretaceous marine lignites of the Isle of Aix, near La Rochelle, and of Pialpinson, in the department of the Dordogne; these are the most ancient beds of the Cretaceous formation, or the last of theJurassic period. Here have been found only marine plants, wood, and branches of Coniferæ.
"2d, In the chloriteous chalk or greensand of southern England, the neighbourhood of Beauvais and Maus; only Cycadeæ and marine plants have been observed there.
"3d, In the same formation in Scania, where M. Nilson has observed leaves of Dicotyledons mixed with leaves of Cycadites.
"4th, At Niederschœna, near Freyberg, in Saxony, beds, analogous to greensand or quadersandstein, containing fossils of considerable variety, Cycadeæ, Coniferæ, and Dicotyledons, particularlyCredneria.
"5th, In the quadersandstein of Bohemia and Silesia, at Blankenburg, at Teifenfurth, Teschen,&c., where this sandstone is characterised by the presence of dicotyledonous leaves of the genusCredneria, by Cyeadeæ, and particularly by Coniferæ of considerable variety, described by M. Corda in Reuss' work on the Chalk of Bohemia.
"6th, In France, in the iron sands connected with the green sandstones, near Grand-Pré, in the department of Ardennes, where M. Buvignier has found two fossil vegetables of a very remarkable character, a stalk of an arborescent fern, and a cone previously observed in England in the same formation.
"But in other places, and in beds belonging to epochs certainly different, this period has presented only marine vegetables; such more especially are those fucoidal sandstones or macigno, characterised by Chondrites targionii, æqualis, intricatus,&c., now designated by the name of fucoidal sandstone or flysch—the geological epoch of which has long been doubtful, but which observers seem to agree in considering as a distinct formation, superior to the chalk, and inferior to the most ancient beds of the Tertiary formations.
"These fucoidal sandstones form a very distinct epoch, which hitherto appears to be characterised only by marine vegetables, and what, at least in a botanical point of view, would form the line of demarcation between the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations; for it is remarkable that the fuci found there in such great numbers have little connection withthose of the Chalk, properly so called, and none whatever with those of the most ancient beds of the Tertiary formations, such as those of Monte-Bolca.
“From the study and comparison of these fossils, derived from such various sources, we may divide the Cretaceous period into three epochs, of which the middle one is the true Cretaceous epoch. The others, characterised almost exclusively by marine vegetables, are somewhat doubtful with regard to their true geological position; the one, more ancient than the Chalk, contains only the subcretaceous lignites of the neighbourhood of La Rochelle, and the Department of Dordogne; the other, superior to the Chalk, corresponds to the Sandstone with fucoides.”
Thesubcretaceousepoch comprehends Algæ, Naiadeæ, and Coniferæ.
"This small Flora is almost entirely founded on fossil plants, collected among the marine lignites of the Isle of Aix, near La Rochelle, long since described by M. Fleureau de Bellevue.
"The difference of the vegetables does not appear to admit of connecting this Flora with that of the inferior chalk or greensand; but it would require to be more completely examined, both with regard to its precise geological epoch and the entire amount of vegetable species which it contains. The most abundant and characteristic of these species is theRhodomelites strictus, whose branches, crossed and mingled withZosterites, constitute the mass of these lignites with the wood of Coniferæ, which have not yet been studied, and small branchlets, very rare, ofBrachyphyllum orbignianum.
"I have referred to this period the twoCystoseirites,[N35]described by M. de Sternberg, and mentioned by him as found in the beds between the jurassic slates and the chalk in Transylvania.
“Does this fossil Flora correspond to a formation almost entirely marine, but cotemporary with the Wealdean epoch? New investigations can alone determine this, but we may suppose an analogy between the Brachyphyllum of the epochs.”
2d,Cretaceous Epoch.—The Cretaceous epoch presents us,among the amphigenous cryptogams, with Algæ, some of which are doubtful; among the Acrogenous cryptogams, with ferns; the Monoctyledons are here represented by two species of palms; the Gymnospermous dicotyledons by the cycadeæ and coniferæ; the Angiospermous dicotyledons by a species of Acerineæ, a betulaceæ, a cupulifera, salicineæ, an acerineæ, and a juglandeæ; lastly, a few dicotyledons remain, but the determination of the families to which they belong is uncertain.
"We ought, moreover, to notice at least from ten to twelve species of dicotyledonous leaves, indeterminate, and often imperfect, figured by Geinitz, Reuss, Corda, and Gœppert, or existing in collections.
"This Flora, which contains from sixty to seventy species, is, as we perceive, remarkable in this respect, that the Angiospermous dicotyledons nearly equal the Gymnospermous dicotyledons, and in the existence of a pretty considerable number of well characterised Cycadeæ, which cease to appear at the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary formations.
"The genusCredneria, containing dicotyledonous leaves, with a very peculiar nervation, but the affinities of which are doubtful, is likewise one of the characteristic forms of this epoch, in a pretty considerable number of localities. With regard to the species of dicotyledonous leaves, referred to determined families, I may remark that these supposed relations, founded on very imperfect specimens, and very few in number, are still very uncertain, and incapable of furnishing a basis for comparison with the other Floras, nor any certain conclusion.
"3d,Fucoidian Epoch.—This epoch, which seems to me to form the most natural limit between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, is characterised by those deposits, so rich in Algæ, of a very peculiar form, that they have been called the sandstones or macignos à fucoïdes, or the flysch of Switzerland,—a formation very widely spread, especially in southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, as far as the vicinity of Vienna, and even to the Crimea.
"I have not hitherto found land plants mingled with these marine species. I do not believe that fossil woods have been met with.
“Almost all these Algæ appear to belong to the same group, the genusChondrites; and although the species are pretty numerous, they pass from one to another by almost insensible shades. The Algæ of the neighbourhood of Vienna, placed in the genusMunsteria, are very ill characterised, and perhaps are not congenerous with those of the jurassic limestone of Solenhofen; but they appear to me to have been found in the same formation, designated by the name of gray calcareous slate, of the sandstone of Vienna, as the Chondrites of the same country.”
The Flora of the fucoidean sandstone is constituted by twelve species of Algæ (ChondritesandMunsteria.)
"What is remarkable in this series of species is, that they have nothing in common, either with the Algæ of the Subcretaceous epoch, or with those of the Eocene epoch, and particularly of Monte-Bolca, with which this Flora should be almost cotemporary, according to many geologists. The identity of these species of Algæ is likewise remarkable in all the localities, however distant from each other—localities so numerous, in regard to the greater number of these species, that I have been unable to enumerate them.
"The Chondrites targionii, or perhaps a distinct species, but very nearly related, is the only one presented in another formation, in the greensand and gault of the Isle of Wight, in England, according to M. Fitton; and in this same formation, in the department of the Oise, according to M. Graves.
"M. Kurr has likewise described and figured, under the name ofChondrites bollensis, a fucus of the Lias—the very varied forms of which are almost identical with the Chondrites targionii, æqualis, and difformis.
"VI.Tertiary Period.—Considered as a whole, the vegetables of this period, cotemporary with all the Tertiary deposits, and continued even in the vegetation which now covers the earth's surface, is one of the best characterised. The abundance of Angiospermous dicotyledons, that of the monocotyledons of diverse families, but especially the Palms, during a part at least of this period, immediately distinguish it from the most ancient periods. Yet the observations made on the Cretaceous epoch have established a kind oftransition between the forms of the Secondary epochs and those of the Tertiary epochs, which was not suspected a few years ago. But while, at this period, the Angiosperms appear nearly to equal the Gymnosperms, in the Tertiary period, they greatly exceed them; while at the Cretaceous epoch, there are still Cycadeæ and Coniferæ allied to the genera inhabiting tropical regions; during the Tertiary period, the Cycadeæ appear to have been completely wanting in Europe, and the Coniferæ belong to the genera of the temperate regions.
"Notwithstanding this assemblage of characters common to the whole Tertiary period, there are evidently notable differences in the generic and specific forms, and in the predominance of certain families at different epochs of this long period; but here we often experience serious difficulties in establishing a uniformity as to time among the numerous local formations which constitute the different Tertiary formations. In assigning the different localities where fossil vegetables have been observed to the principal divisions of the Tertiary series, I have not followed exactly the bases admitted by M. Unger in his Synopsis; I have approached nearer to the distribution adopted by M. Raulin, in his Memoir on the Transformations of the Flora of Central Europe during the Tertiary period (Ann. Sc. Nat., t. x.,p.193,Oct.1848), which refers many of the formations, classified by M. Unger in the Miocene division, to the Pliocene, or most recent epoch. Yet, according to the advice of M. Elie de Beaumont, I have not placed all the Lignite formations of Germany in the Pliocene division, as M. Raulin has done, nor all of them in the Miocene division, like M. Unger; but, conformably to the old opinion of my father, I have left the Lignites from the shores of the Baltic, which include amber, in the inferior division of the old basins of Paris, London, and Brussels, considering them cotemporary with the Soisson Lignites. Those of the banks of the Rhine, of Wetteravia and Westphalia, are arranged in the Miocene division; those of Styria, and part of Bohemia, on the contrary, are placed among the recent or Pliocene formations.
"This distribution agrees pretty generally with the natureof the vegetables contained in them. One important point only leaves me in doubt: this relates to the Lignites of the environs of Frankfort or Wetteravia, the plants of which are pretty generally analogous to those of Œningen or Partschlug in Styria; although their geological position seems to call upon us to refer them to a more ancient formation.
"It is probable that a more complete knowledge of these diverse deposits would lead to a division into distinct epochs more numerous; but I think that, in the meantime, the division into three principal epochs, which I shall designate, with the majority of geologists, by the names Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, is sufficient for a comparison of the successive changes of the vegetable kingdom. I shall point out for each of them the localities which I think should be comprehended under these different designations.
"With regard to the general characters which result from the comparative examinations of these Floras, we find that the number of species, in the great divisions, are thus distributed in these three Floras:—
"It may only be remarked that, in the first column, or Eocene formation, the fossil fruits of the Isle of Sheppey—a part only of which have been described by M. Bowerbank—have a great influence on the numbers of the different divisions of Phanerogams, and that this locality appears altogether exceptional, and is, perhaps, an example of the effect of currents conveying exotic fruits from remote climates, and accumulating them on a point of the shores of Europe.
"In this point of view, the enumeration of the plants of this first epoch is in no way comparable to that of the other epochs, where I have refrained even from introducing the small number of fossil plants from the Tertiary formations of the equatorial regions that are known, in order to confine myself to a comparison of the Tertiary Floras of Europe.
"With regard to the characters drawn from vegetable forms during these three epochs, the most remarkable appear to me,1st, In the Eocene period, the presence, but rarity, of the palms, limited to a small number of species.
"The predominance of Algæ and marine Monocotyledons, which must be ascribed to the great extent of marine formations during this epoch.
"The existence of a great number of extra European forms, resulting especially from the presence of the fossil fruits of Sheppey.
"2d, In regard to the Miocene epoch, the abundance of palms in the greater number of localities belonging, without doubt, to this epoch; the existence of a considerable number of non-European forms, in particular of the genusSteinhauera, which appears to me to be a rubiaceæ allied tonauclea, found in many localities of these formations.
"3d, In regard to the Pliocene epoch, the great predominance and variety of Dicotyledons, the rarity of Monocotyledons, and, above all, the absence of Palms; lastly, the general analogy of the forms of these plants with those of the temperate regions of Europe, North America, and Japan.
"A remarkable character of the Floras of these three epochs, but which is most striking in regard to the last, in which the dicotyledonous plants are most numerous, is the absence of the most numerous and characteristic families of the division of Gamopetalis. Thus, among the numerous impressions of Partschlug, Œningen, Hœrring, Radoboj,&c., there is nothing to indicate the existence of the Compositæ, Campanulaceæ, Personneæ, Labiaceæ, Solaniæ, Boraginaæ,&c.
"The only Monopetales mentioned in great numbers are the Ericaceæ, Ilicineæ, some Sapotaceæ, and Styraceæ, families which belong almost as much to the Dialypetales as to the Gamopetales.
"In the Miocene flora only have been pointed out many Apocyneæ, and Rubiaceæ, which I have mentioned above.
"1.Eocene Epoch.—This epoch, in the most precise limits, comprehends plastic clay with its lignites, the coarse Parisian limestone and gypsum which lie above it in the same basin; but I have not thought it worth while, in the meantime, to separate from it some formations which, according to the investigations of modern geologists, are placed between the Cretaceous formations and the inferior parts of the formations mentioned; such are the Nummulitic formations of the Vicentin, comprehending the celebrated locality of Monte-Bolca, and probably some others near it, such as Salcedo, in the Vicentin. I have likewise joined to this Flora of the Eocene formations a very remarkable locality of the basin of Paris, the relations of which with the Tertiary beds are not yet perfectly determined,—these are the beds of a species of ancient Travertin which, near Sezanne, contain numerous fossil vegetables still undescribed, and of which I shall here notice the most remarkable. These plants have very peculiar remains, and belong probably to a special Flora, unless the differences can be ascribed to a diversity of station.
"Besides the different members of the Eocene formation, properly so called, of the Paris basin, I comprehend in this Flora the fossils of the same formation in England, at the Isle of Wight, and Isle of Sheppey in the London basin. These latter fossils, consisting almost solely of fruits transformed into pyrites, constitute a whole which has no analogue in any other of the Tertiary basins of Europe; not only in the number and diversity of these fruits, but in their peculiar characters, which remove them widely from the plants whose leaves occur in the other beds of the same geological epoch. Everything, therefore, would lead us to suppose that these fruits, although belonging to plants cotemporaneous with the Eocene deposits of Europe, have been brought from distant countries by marine currents, just as fruits are still brought from the equatorial regions of America to the coasts of Ireland or Norway by the great current of the Atlantic. The deposit in the Isle of Sheppey appears therefore to be anaccidental case in the Eocene deposits, and the Paris basin presents none of these fossils.
"The Tertiary basin of Belgium, which follows that of London, has yielded, near Brussels, some fossil fruits in very small numbers, but which appear identical with one of the genera most abundant at Sheppey. This is theNipadites, considered at first as a species of Coco, under the name ofCocus burtini.
“Lastly, following the advice of my learned associate, M. Elie de Beaumont, I have included in the same Flora the plants contained in the Lignites of the shores of the Baltic and Pomerania, so rich in amber, in which these vegetables have often been preserved. It is to the labours of M. Gœppert that we are indebted for a knowledge of these vegetables, most frequently represented by very small fragments, the relations of which he has determined with much skill and accuracy.”
With materials collected in these various localities, but of which the greater part are still unpublished, we may construct the Flora of the Eocene epoch; but the list, comprehending only the species described, or at least determined, is only a mere sketch.
M. Brongniart then gives the names of the vegetables belonging to the Eocene epoch; these are, for the Amphigenous cryptogams, algæ, and mushrooms; for the Acrogenous cryptogams, hepatici, mosses, ferns, equisetaceæ, and characeæ. The Monocotyledons present Naiades, Nipaceæ, and palms. The Gymnospermous dicotyledons are represented by Coniferæ (Cupressinæ, Abietineæ, Taxineæ, and Gnetaceæ.) Lastly, among the Angiospermous dicotyledons, we find examples of Betulaceæ, Cupuliferæ, Juglandeæ, Ulmaceæ, Proteaceæ, Leguminosæ, Œnothereæ, Cucurbitaceæ, Sapindaceæ, Malvaceæ, Ericaceæ, and three doubtful families (Phyllites, Antholithes, and Carpolithes.)
"The most remarkable characters of this Flora are,—
"1st, The great quantity of Algæ and marine Naiades, characters owing to the extent and thickness of the marine formations of this epoch.
"2d, The great number of Coniferæ, the greater part belongingto genera still existing, but among which the Cupressineæ appear to predominate, especially if we admit as positively belonging to this family the various fruits of the Isle of Sheppey, which M. Bowerbank has described under the name of Cupressinites, and of which M. Endlicher has formed the genera Callitrites, Frenelites, and Solenostrobus. If these fruits really belong to European vegetation, they indicate very peculiar generic forms, probably now wholly extinct.
"3d, The existence of many large species of palm, equally shewn by the occurrence of their leaves and stems.