238 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



of corniferous limestone whioh appears in the islands in Lake 

 Eric, and constitutes part of the upper Ilelderberg in New York. 

 On the surface of this limestone are found these fossils. The 

 specimen under discussion was exhiljited ; the scars of leaves which 

 had fallen from the tree were very distinct. Such trees were evi- 

 dently water-floated to the location where these fossils were found. 

 They probably originated farther to the north, where are some 

 regions which have been above water since before the Silurian 

 age. Traces of the ancient shore are easily discernible even as 

 far as the south shore of Lake Superior. This fossil is of an order 

 of plants which was near the first that appeared on the land, but 

 which, nevertheless, is a very high form of gymnosperms. The 

 earlier flora cannot be so easil}^ traced, but we know more of the 

 eycads and the peculiar flora of the triassic. Algaa flourished dur- 

 ing all the Silurian period, but the land flora is more recent, and 

 these fossils are the oldest and largest known. 



ON NEW FOSSILS FROM THE LONGMYND ROCKS OF SWEDEN. 



Dr. Otto Torrell, Professor of Geology at the University of 

 Lund, in Sweden, well known for his researches in the fauna of 

 the northern seas, exhibited and described, at the 1868 meeting 

 of the British Association, a series of slabs marked by the impres- 

 sions of various land plants known to geologists by the name of 

 Chondrites. The substance of his remarks went to show that he 

 had these fossil plants from a formation much older than any from 

 which fossils have hitherto been obtained. The rocks from which 

 they were derived were of an age similar to those of the Long- 

 mynd rocks in Wales. The under side of many of the slabs were 

 pitted with the markings of rain-droj)S ; and the conclusion which 

 he came to, was, that the character of the ])lants and the meteoro- 

 logical markings upon them indicated that they had been deposited 

 under shallow water conditions. This he corroborated bv showing 

 that a bed of shingle or conglomerate was associated with them, 

 which he judged to have been part of an old sea-beach. TJie 

 same slabs were marked by the trails of marine worms that had 

 crawled over them. The cast of some of these worms were dis- 

 tinctlv to be seen on tlie surface of the slabs. 



The only markings that had hitherto been found in Silurian 

 rocks were produced by plants occupying the lowest position in 

 the animal kingdom. But here we had, much lower down in geo- 

 logical formation, remains of vegetable life of a very much higher 

 position. These plants certainly belonged to the intermediate 

 section of the vegetable kingdom, as they had got all the charac- 

 ters that belonged to true monocotyledons. There was no doubt 

 there were here the remains of very considerable flora. They had 

 been scattered on the surface of the mud, and been covered by a 

 superimposed deposit. The vegetables had then decayed, and 

 left no trace whatever, except their casts, showing in the general 

 form of the leaves and organization a plant which very nearly re- 

 sembled the common flag of the garden and the river. 



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