124 THE MIDDLE PAST. 



pecopteriti, neuropteris, &c.), though bearing the stamp of 

 generic resemblance to paleozoic forms, and evidently ful- 

 filling the same functions, are all of different species ; while 

 the cycadaceous pteropliyllum and Mantellia, and the coni- 

 ferous Voltzia and Wcdchia are altogether new and unknown 

 to former floras. On the whole, the aspect of the triassic 

 flora is more akin to that of the oolite, which succeeds, than 

 to that of the carboniferous that went before ; and though 

 scantily exhibited in the areas of Britain and Germany, 

 many have had a fuller and more connected development 

 in other regions. At all events, Ave are not entitled to 

 generalise from these limited localities, but rather to believe 

 that the apparent severance between palaeozoic and meso- 

 zoic was bridged over by intermediate forms that now lie 

 entombed in areas still unknown or covered by the existing 

 ocean. 



In the animal kingdom (the forms being chiefly marine) 

 the connection is more continuous and intelligible, even 

 though the bulk of triassic sediments are highly unfavour- 

 able to the preservation of organic structure. The lower 

 Radiate forms are yet little known, few corals occurring in 

 any investigated area, and only two or three species of 

 encrinite and pentaerinite. The higher radiates are equally 

 rare, there being no well-authenticated instance of a sea- 

 urchin, and only two or three genera of star-fish, as opliiura, 

 aspidura, and asterias. The Articulata are even still more 

 scantily represented in the triassic seas of Europe, only a 

 few insignificant serpulob and a single crustacean (palinu- 

 rus) being all that have yet turned up to the palaeontolo- 

 gist ; thus leaving an almost unbridged gulf between the 

 higher annelids, Crustacea, and insects of the coal, and 

 those that are known to succeed in the oolite. This, how- 

 ever, is obviously a local imperfection in the Record, and 

 geologists look forward with interest to the discovery of the 



