Blblwyrapldcal Notices. 85 



The Zoological Part III. of the KeiJort (pp. 537-626) contains 

 lists and papers by Lieut. W. L. Carpenter, Dr. A. S. Packard, Jun., 

 C. R. Osten-Sacken, H. Ulke, and Dr. H. A. Hagen. on the Lepi- 

 doptera, D'qjtera, Coleoptera, and Neuroptera collected by the Ex- 

 pedition, with collateral Notes. Dr. Packard also describes the 

 ilyriopods, a Lerniieau, and some Phyllopods ; Mr. S. I. Smith the 

 Amphipods ; A. E. Yerrill the Leeches ; and W. G Binney enumerates 

 the Land-Shells. Twenty-four new species of Invertebrates are 

 here described, with numerous illustrations. 



In performing so great an amount of field-work, and publishing 

 so freely and rapidly as they do, the Geological Surveyors of the 

 Territories are quite aware of the probable imperfection of the con- 

 clusions arrived at, and the possible existence of mistakes. They well 

 know the difficulty of assigning a fixed age to the Lignitic Group, 

 for instance ; and they know better than others the weakest spots 

 in their Surveys ; but by continued labours they will correct and 

 improve, truth being their aim. Well does Dr. Hayden observe : — 

 " Problems are arising, and ^vill continue to arise, about which there 

 will be difference of opinion among true men of science. We shall 

 accept the verdict founded on the evidence as soon as it comes fairly 

 before us, regardless of our preconceived opinions." 



The elegant quarto monograph by Prof. L. Lesquereux on the 

 Fossil Plants found in the " Dakota Group," chiefly of Nebraska 

 and Kansas, and known to be low down in the Cretaceous series of 

 North America, is of the greatest interest to geologists, and has 

 been produced in a form worthy of the great national Survey under 

 Dr. Hayden's charge. The fossil flora under notice presents a Ter- 

 tiary fades, characterized by numerous Dicotyledonous Angiosperms 

 (13 to 20 others : ilonocotyledones, 3 ; Gymnosperms, 8 ; Cry]^)to- 

 gams 7). 



Prof. Lesquereux has collated this flora with the illustrated fossil 

 plants of Europe and elsewhere, described by Heer, Schimper, 

 Debey, Dunker, Ettingshausen, Sapoi'ta, Marion, &c., especially with 

 those of Gelinden in Belgium, referred by Dewalque to the Lowest 

 Tertiary or " Paleocene " (preceding the Eocene, Oligocene, Mio- 

 cene, and Pliocene) of Europe, which has the limestone of Mons at 

 the base, succeeded by the Heersian (including the Gelinden beds), 

 the Landenian, Ypresian, and Paniselian stages. 



Still wanting more material for exact comparison with kuowji 

 Cretaceous and Tertiary floras of other regions, and recognizing the 

 probable isolation of these and other plant-bearing beds of the late 

 Mesozoic and early Tertiary epochs in the American area, Prof. Les- 

 quereux acknowledges the want of homogeneity, or successional con- 

 nexion, of the fossil floi'oe in North America, up from these wonder- 

 fully interesting Cretaceous deposits of Nebraska and Colorado, as 

 far as the Lower Miocene, In the mean time he has executed his 

 task of describing and illustrating these fossils in a masterly manner, 

 trusting to have added his share of knowledge as a recorder of 

 facts. 



