HAflDWlCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



GEOLOGY. 



Cretaceous Reptiles. — In the American Natu- 

 ralist for December, Professor Cope gives a vivid 

 dcscriptiou of a geological expedition to Kansas, to 

 explore the cretaceous strata. The account of nearlj' 

 entire skeletons of extinct reptiles met with is most 

 intei'esiing. Among theiu were brouglit to light — 

 the bones of pterodactyle, two species of Clidastesi 

 a diuosaurian, a crocodile, aud various species 

 of fish ; all new to science. One veiy large fish is 

 described, furnished with a powerful dentition; 

 which has been named Fortlieus molossus. This 

 seems to have been very abundant in that part of 

 the cretaceous sea, and to have been as much the 

 dread of its contemporaries as the smaller saurians. 

 One singular reptile was discovered, having affinities 

 to the Turtle family. If such was the case, thg 

 remains indicate a total expanse of twenty feet. 

 This animal has been named Protodega gigas. A 

 large Clidastes was also discovered, whose skeleton 

 was forty feet in length. Some of the reptiles 

 mentioned, such as Lnodon dyspeJor, a new species, 

 are said to exceed in length the dimensions of any 

 known reptile. 



New Species o? Fossil CopvAL.— Mr. Vicary, 

 of Exeter, has just described a new species of fossil 

 coral, allied to ilertiliiia, in the upper greensand 

 which caps the new red sandstone about five miles 

 to the south-west of Exeter. Ho regards this as 

 probably supplying a link between past and present 

 forms of corals. 



Tkilobiies. — Professor Van Eeneden has re- 

 cently read a paper on the systematic position of the 

 King Crabs and Trilobites, in which he says that 

 the analogy between the LiiuuU and the Trilobites, 

 and the affinity which connects these two groups, 

 cannot be doubted by any one who has studied the 

 embryonic development of the former. He states 

 that tlie Trilobites must be separated from the Crus- 

 tacea, and form, with the Scorpions and other 

 Arachiida, a distinct branch, the origin of which 

 has still to be ascertained. There can now be little 

 doubt that the Trilobites had articulated legs, like 

 those of the Limuii. 



Origin of Ameer. — Professor Zuddach shows 

 that the trees which yielded the amber must have 

 grown upon tlie greensand beds of the Cretaceous 

 period, flourishing luxuriantly on the marshy coast 

 wliicb then surrounded the great continent of 

 Northern Europe. Probably the temperature was 

 then much higher than it is now; and this even at 

 that epoch extended to the now frost-bound Arctic 

 regions, a fact which has been proved by the remark- 

 able plant-remains of temperate climes which have 



been recently discovered there. The amber flora 

 of the Baltic ai-ea under review contains northern 

 forms associated with plants of more temperate 

 zones; and thus cainphor-trees {Ciniiardonmm) occur 

 Mitii willows, birches, beech, and numerous oaks. 

 A species of Thuya, very similar to the American 

 Tliuiia occideiitalis, is the most abundant tree 

 amongst the conifers ; next in abundance Widdrmg- 

 lonia, a great variety of pines and firs, including 

 the amber pine : thousands of these, it is supposed 

 by the professor, might have perished, and while 

 the wood decayed, the resin with which the stem and 

 branches were loaded might have been accumulated 

 in large quantities, in bogs and lakes, in the soil of 

 the forest. If the coast at that time was gradually 

 sinking, the sea would cover the land, and in due 

 course carry away the amber and masses of vegeta- 

 ble detritus into the ocean, where it was deposited 

 amidst the marine animals which inhabit it. But in 

 higher districts the amber pines would still flourish, 

 aud so amber still continue to be washed into the 

 sea, and deposited in the later formed greensand, 

 aud still later overlying formation of the " brown 

 coal." 



The OraGijf oe Plants.— Messrs. Hall &Daua 

 have recently shown that during the earlier part of 

 the Upper Silui'iau period North America was 

 covered by a great internal ocean. At the begin- 

 ning of the Devonian period a slow and gradual 

 emergence commenced, and eventually the dry land 

 was covered with a peculiar and abundant flora. 

 One genus of plants, Psilophyton, is common to 

 Germany, England, and North America. The com- 

 parison of fossil plants of the Devonian rocks of 

 Europe aud Canada is very difficult, on accourit of 

 their having so limited an area in the former con- 

 tinent. The above authors believe that acrogenous 

 plants alli;'d to the Club-mosses, and perhaps such 

 simple forms as Eophjton, extended back to the 

 Primordial period, and that we may look for the 

 actual origin of land-vegetation in the Laurentian 

 epoch. ' The plants of the Lower and Middle 

 Devonian are supposed to have*, the aspect of the 

 remains of a decaying flora verging on extinction ; 

 whilst in the Upper beds there appear a great 

 number of forms which afterwards were domi- 

 nant. 



A CORRESPONDENT iu the Standard has given an 

 account of a fine specimen of ichthyosaurus recently 

 found at Charmouth, Dorset. Its length was six 

 feet, the orbits of the eyes being seven inches in 

 diameter. Within the pelvic cavities of this indivi- 

 dual were tlie fossil skeletons of four young ichthyo- 

 sauri. This circumstance of the female ichthyosau- 

 rus being found fossilized with the fcetus in situ is 

 not new, and from it is deduced the conclusion 

 that they were viviparous. 



