30 



THE OREGON NATURALIST, 



carbonic acids, indicating a double chloride 

 and carbonate of sodium and magnesium. 

 Traces of phosphoric [acid, silica, iron, 

 calcium and organic matter were also 

 found. This composition is^quite as re- 

 markable as that of other species peculiar 

 to the_Borax Lake region. 



The name "Northupite" is proposed for 

 this new species, sincejt^was entirely due 

 to Mr. Northup's indefatigable zeal in col- 

 lecting that the mineral was brought to 

 light. The entire find was forwarded to 

 Dr. A. E. Foote, of Philadelphia. 



PALEOBOTANY. 



AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



(Continued from Page 23.) 

 In 1706 Leibnitz' called attention to the 

 presence in Germany of what he thought to be 

 the fossils of Indian plants, and in 1 7 18 the 

 celebrated Antoine de Jussieu, published a 

 monograph upon the carboniferous flora of St. 

 Chaumont, discussing the features wherein it 

 differed from the indigenous flora of to-day, 

 and resembles that of the tropies. Thenceforth 

 the theory that fossil plants were the lemains 

 of exotic forms, was frequently advanced, and 

 was given its final shape bj Walch who pointed 

 out that the living floras of France, Germany 

 and England were very dissimilar while their 

 fossil floras were substantially the same. This 

 bethought could only be explained by assuming 

 that the fossil floras were all brought from the 

 tropics together. There were fossils, to be 

 sure, in which he could find no resembance to 

 living plants, but he was helped over this diffi- 

 culty by the assumption that their congeners 

 must still be living in the unexplored tropics. 



When it was supposed to be fully demon- 

 strated that the fossil plants had grown in the 

 tropics, it was assumed quite as a matter of 

 course, that they had been transported by the 

 flood to their final resting places. 



Volkmann, in his Silesia subterranea, gave 

 a new comjilicatiun to the question by advanc- 

 ing. the degeneration theory. He thought that 

 antediluvian vegetation was of a much higher 

 order than that of to-day, that plants had been 

 degenerating and wholesome, fruitbearing trees 

 had been changed into thorns, thistles and 

 other familiar pests. Ideas like these Hjecame 

 common, and even the great Buffon believed 

 that retrogressive atavism had [taken place in 

 both animals and; plants. 



Still another theory began finally to take 

 shape. This was that a considerable [number 

 of species both of animal and plants had been 

 utterly exterminated by the flood. ^j^The fossil 

 flora was supposed to contain the forms once 

 indigenous to Europe, but wh ch were de- 

 si royed, leaving no living representatives. In 

 this way they also explained the presence of a 

 fossil vegetation on desert islands destitute of 

 living plants. 



Vague theories and speculations, however, 

 gave way before the growing mass of facts and 

 at last it ceased to be possible to cb.eck invest- 

 igation by an authoritative allusion to the lit- 

 eral six days of Moses. The principles of 

 deposition and stratigraphy were beginning to 

 be understood. Geology was fast becoming a 

 real science and about the close of the eight- 

 eenth century the sound views of Blumenbach 

 prevailed, and the real dawn of Paleobotany 

 marked the beginning of the nineteenth. 



The diluvian theoi-y, as we have seen was 

 the prevailing one throughout the eighteenth 

 century. It was thought to be the only one 

 by which the teachings of nature could be 

 reconciled with those of revelation, and to 

 question, its correctness was equivalent to dis- 

 crediting revealed religion. Yet all this time 

 knowledge was increasing and a great store of 

 facts were accumulating which demanded a 

 more rational explanation and forced a revolu- 

 tion in human thought. A great advance up- 

 on the mysticism which preceded it, the theory 

 had outlived its usefulness, and had become a 

 barrier in the way of intellectual progress when 

 Blumenbach overturned the tottering ruin and 



