RETROSPECT OF FOSSIL BOTANY. 209 
- first period the former greatly exceeded the latter, both in 
number and magnitude ; while in the next the Gymnosperms 
acquired the ascendancy ; but in both these epochs, from 
the Devonian to the Wealden inclusive, very few if any 
-Angiosperms, or flowering dicotyledons, existed. With the 
Cretaceous period the Angiosperms appear in great num- 
bers, and in the Tertiary epochs acquire the importance 
they possess in the existing floras. 
The following analysis of the flora of the Carboniferous 
epoch, by M. Brongniart, will exemplify these remarks.* 
ANALYSIS OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FLORA. 
CRYPTOGAMIA (Amphigens). Alge. . . ... 4 
Champignons. . . 2 
— 6 
(Acrogens).. Vers). ito... ane 
Lycopodiacez (Club-mosses). .° . 83 
Equisetacee . . . 13 
—— 346 
DIcoTYLEDONOUS GYMNOSPERMS. Asterophyllites. 44 
Sizillaris . . . 60 
Neeggerathiea . 12 
Cycadee? . . 38 
Conifere . . . 16 
— 135 
Dicotyledonous Angiosperms . ...... 4... 0 
Monocotyledons? (very doubtful) . . ..... 15 
502 
Thus out of five hundred species, 352 are Cryptogamia ; 
and with the exception of six, belong to the Acrogens.t 
* See Wonders of Geology, vol. ii. pp. 726—733, for an account of 
the Carboniferous floras and deposits. 
+ Bronn gives the annexed numerical summary of the fossil and 
recent species of plants :— 
Plants.—Cellular . . 188 Fossil. 9,100 Living. 
Vascular . . 1,867 60,303 
2,055 69,403 (80,000, Lindley.) 
WOL,. I. 1Y 
