Palaeontologie. 347 



the Southern Permo-Carboniferous region is distinguished under 

 the name, Glossopteris Flora. The present work is a Mono- 

 graph of that flora. In addition to descriptions o\ the members 

 of the flora preserved in the British Museum collection, all the 

 known species are reviewed, and the whole oi the literature on 

 the subject summarised. 



The first portion of the book, consisting of some 74 pages, 

 is mainly introductory to the study of the ilora. In the Intro- 

 duction, a critical summary is given of our present knowledge 

 of the botanical affinities of Glossopteris, and the associated 

 genera, as well as of their distribution in space and geological 

 time. A comparison is instituted between the members ot the 

 Northern and Southern types of Permo-Carboniferous flora, and 

 their respective distribution is shown by means of a sketch-map. 

 In an analysis of these floras, a distinction is made between 

 groups which were dominant types in the Vegetation of that 

 period, and those which were subsidiary or sparsely represen- 

 ted; the latter representing the first in-comings of groups which 

 attained to their maximum development in later times. As re- 

 gards the dominant types it is shown that the same great classes 

 of plants are found in both the Northern and Southern Vege- 

 tation, with the important exceptions that the Lycopods and 

 Sphenophyllales were not represented by indigenous members 

 in the Glossopteris flora, but merely by migrations from the 

 Northern Continent. Apart from this, the chief differences be- 

 tween the Northern and Southern floras of Permo-Carboniferous 

 times are found in the representatives of the Fern-like plants, 

 and of the group Equisetales. The subsidiary classes, including 

 the Cycadophyta, Ginkgoales, and Coniferales, may be regar- 

 ded as represented by almost identical members in both floras. 



A list of the chief Glossopteris-hQ^nng rocks known from 

 Gondw anal and is given, and the geographical distribution 

 of the members of the flora is shown in tabular form. The 

 question of the age of the flora as a whole is treated histori- 

 cally, and the evidence, so far as it is based on the occurence 

 of plant-bearing deposits, is considered in detail. An historical 

 Sketch of the rise and progrcss of our knowledge of this flora 

 concludes this portion of the book. Each district of Gond- 

 wanaland is here treated separately, and all the more impor- 

 tant literature is cited, with a list of the species described in 

 each paper, to which emendations are added when necessary. 



The larger portion of the work is devoted to a system.atic 

 treatment of the flora. Each group, genus or species, known 

 to be represented, is described, and füll diagnoses are given^ 

 as well as figures of the more important examples. 



After a brief notice of the Algae, Reinschia, and Pila, oc- 

 curring in the Kerosene Shales of New South Wales, the 

 first group of the Pteridophyta, the Equisetales, is discussed. 

 Three species of Schizoiieura are recognised, and a figure is 

 given of the cones of a member of this genus recently disco- 



