36 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



III. GEOGRAPHY OF THE TRIAS. 



" It is the soul that sees : the outward eyes 

 Present the object, but the mind descries." 



— Longfellow. 



In this section it is not at all within our purpose to enter into 

 an elaborate account of the physical conditions prevailing during 

 the initial period of the Mesozoic, the theme being in itself an 

 intricate one, and moreover, that phase of it which applies to our 

 local section having been already sufficiently discussed. Such being 

 the case, it will be sufficient merely to direct attention to a con- 

 tribution pertinent to this topic, and one which contains perhaps 

 the most comprehensive review that has been written on the 

 faunal geography of the Upper Trias. We refer to the chapter 

 on " The Seas of the Trias Era," by the late Professor E. 

 Mojsisovics, Edler von Mojsvar, in his memoir on Triassic 

 Cephalopods from the Himalayas, 1 wherein is collected practically 

 all that is known of the distribution and relations of the in- 

 vertebrate faunas of this era. 



From this memoir, owing to its relevancy to the present dis- 

 cussion, we have ventured to extract a paragraph or two in re- 

 gard to the principal regions of the " Central Mediterranean 

 Sea " of Neumayr, or " Thetys " of Suess, from which Triassic 

 faunas are known. So different from one another in character 

 are these faunas that they are manifestly to be regarded as 

 representing ancient geographic regions. These provinces are, 

 in the language of their chief exponent and interpreter, as 

 follows : 



" 1. Die Mediterranprovinz, 



2. die germanische Flachsee, und 



3. die indische Provinz." 



Concerning the limits of these provinces the author remarks : 

 " Die germanische Flachsee bildet eine Dependenz der Medi- 

 terranprovinz, und kann als ein grosses Aestuarium aufgefasst 

 werden, welches dem ausgedehnten, heute im atlantischen Ocean 



1 Denkschr. k. k. Akad. Wiss., 1896, lxiii, p. 687. 



