5'6 



NATURE 



{Sept. 25, 1879 



interesting fact that Jameson, who claimed for Werner the 

 theory here put in practice, rejected its application, and wrote 

 as follows : " To Cuvier and Erongniart we are indebted for 

 much valuable information in their description of the country 

 around Paris, but we must protest against the use they have 

 made of fossil organic remains in their geognostical descriptions 

 and investigations." ' 



William Smith (1769-1839), " the father of English geology," 

 had previously published a "Tabular View of the British 

 Strata." He appears to have arrived independently at essentially 

 the same view as Werner in regard to the relative position of 

 stratified rocks. He had determined that the order of succession 

 was constant, and that the different formations might be identified 

 at distant points by the fossils they contained. In his later 

 works, "Strata identified by Organised Fossils," published in 

 1816-20, and " Stratigraphical System of Organised Fossils," 

 1817, he gave to the world results of many years of careful 

 investigations on the secondary formations of England. In the 

 latter work he speaks of the success of his method in determining 

 strata by their fossils, as follows : ' ' My original method of 

 tracing the strata by the organised fossils imbedded therein, is thus 

 reduced to a science not difficult to learn. Ever since the first 

 written account of this discovery was circulated in 1 799, it has 

 been closely investigated by my scientific acquaintances in the 

 vicinity of Bath, some of whom search the quarries of different 

 strata, in that district, with as much certainty of finding the 

 characteristic fossils of the respective rocks, as if they were on 

 the shelves of their cabinets." 



The systematic study of fossils now attracted attention in 

 England, also, and was prosecuted with considerable zeal, 

 although with less important results than in France. An exten- 

 sive work on this subject, by James Parkinson, entitled "Organic 

 Remains of a Former World," was begun in 1804, and com- 

 pleted in three volumes in 181 1. A second edition appeared in 

 1833. This work was far in advance of previous publications in 

 England, and, being well illustrated, did much to make the 

 collection and study of fossils popular. The belief in the 

 geological effects of the deluge had not yet lost its power, 

 although restricted now to the later deposits ; for Parkinson in 

 his later edition, wrote as follows : "Why the earth was at first 

 so constituted that the deluge should be rendered necessary — 

 why the earth could not have been at first stored with all those 

 substances, and endued with all those properties which seem to 

 have proceeded from the deluge — why so many beings were 

 created, as it appears, for the purpose of being destroyed — are 

 questions which I presume not to answer." 



Wilham Buckland (1784-1856), published in 1823 his 'cele- 

 brated "Reliquia; Diluviante," in which he gave the results of 

 his own observations in regard to the animal remains found in 

 the caves, fissures, and alluvial gravels of England. The facts 

 presented are of great value, and the work was long a model for 

 similar researches. Buckland's conclusions were, that none of 

 the human remains discovered in the caves were as old as the 

 extinct mammals found with them, and that the deluge was 

 universal. In speaking of fossil bones found in the Himalayan 

 Mountains, he says : ' ' The occurrence of these bones at such an 

 enormous elevation in the region of eternal snow, and conse- 

 ■quently in a spot now unfrequented by such animals as the horse 

 and deer, can, I think, be explained only by supposing them to 

 be of antediluvian origin, and that the carcases of the animals 

 were drifted to their present place, and lodged in sand, by the 

 diluvial waters. 



The foundation of the " Geological Society of London," in 

 1807, marks an important point in the history of palteontology. 

 To carefully collect materials for future generalisations, was 

 the object in view, and this organisation gradually became the 

 centre in Great Britain for those interested in geological science. 

 The society was incorporated in 1826, and has since been the 

 leading organisation in Europe for the advancement of the 

 sciences within its field. The Geological Society of France, 

 established at Paris in 1832, and the German Geological Society, 

 founded at Berlin in 1848, have likewise contributed largely to 

 geological investigations in these countries, and to some extent 

 in other parts of the world. In the publications of these three 

 societies the student of palaeontology will find a mine of valuable 

 materials for his work.^ 



The systematic study of fossil plants may be said to date from 

 the publication of Adolphe Brongniart's " Prodrome," in 1828.' 



* Translation of Cuvier's Discourse. Note K. (B.), p, 103, 1817. 



° " Recherches sur les Poissons fossiles," 1833-45. 



3 " Prodrome d'une Hisluire des Vegetaux fossiles.'* 8vo. Paris, 1828. 



This was very soon followed by his larger work, " Histoire des 

 Vegetaux fossiles," Issued in 1828-48. Brougniart pursued the 

 same method as Cuvier and Lamarck, viz. : the comparison of 

 fossils with living forms, and his results were of great importance. 

 In his " Tableau des Genres Vegetaux fossiles," &c., publi^hed 

 in Paris in 1849, ^'^ gives the classification and distribution of 

 the genera of fossil plants, and traces out the historical progres- 

 sion of vegetable life on the globe, as he had done to a great ex- 

 tent in his previous works. He shows that the cryptogamic 

 forms prevailed in the primary formations ; the conifers and 

 cycads in the secondary, and the higher forms in the tertiary, 

 while four-fifths of living plants are exogens. 



In England Lindley and Hutton published, in 1831-37, a 

 valuable work in three volumes, entitled, "Fossil Flora of Great 

 Britain." This work was illustrated by many accurate plates, in 

 which the plants of the coal formation were especially repre- 

 sented. Henry Witham also published two works in 1831 and 

 1833, in which he treated especially of the internal structure of 

 fossil plants. "Antediluvian Phytology," by Artis, was pub- 

 lished in London in 1838. Bowerbank's " History of the 

 Fossil Fruits and Seeds of the London Clay " appeared in 1843. 

 Hooker's memoir "On the Vegetation of the Carboniferous 

 Period, as compared with that of the Present Day," published in 

 1848, was an important contribution to the science. Bunljui-y, 

 Williamson, and others, also published various papers on fossil 

 plants. This branch of paleontology, however, attracted much 

 less attention in England than on the Continent. 



In Germany the study of fossil plants dates back to the be- 

 ginning of the century. Von Schlotheim, a pupil of Werner, 

 published in 1804 an illustrated volume on this subject. A more 

 important work was that of Count Sternberg, issued in 1820-38, 

 and illustrated with excellent plates. Cotta, in 1832, pubUshed 

 a bcok with the title, " Die Dendrolithen," in which he gave the 

 results of his investigations on the inner structure of fossil plant?. 

 Von Gutbier, in 1835, and Germar in 1844-53, described and 

 figured the plants of two important localities in Germany. 

 Corda's " Beitrage zur Flora der Vorwelt," issued at Prague in 

 1845, was essentially a continuation of the work of Sternberg. 

 Unger's " Chloris protogxa," 1841-45, "Genera et Species 

 Plantarum Fossilium," 1850, and his larger work, published in 

 1852, are all standard authorities. In the latter the theory of 

 descent is applied to the vegetable world. Schimper and 

 Mougeot's "Monograph on the Fossil Plants of the Vosges," 

 1845, was well illustrated, and contained noteworthy results. 



Goppert, in 1836, published a valuable memoir entitled 

 "Systema Fihcum Fossilium," in which he made known the 

 results of his study of fossil ferns. In the same year this botanist 

 began a series of experiments, in which he attempted to imitate 

 the process of fossilisation, as found in nature. He steeped 

 various animal and vegetable substances in waters holding, some 

 calcareous, others siliceous, and others metallic matter in solu- 

 tion. After a slow saturation the substances were dried and 

 exposed to heat until the organic matters were burned. In this 

 way Goppert successfully imitated various processes of petrifac- 

 tion, and explained many things in regard to fossils that had 

 previously been in question. His discovery of the remains of 

 plants throughout the interior of coal did much to clear up the 

 doubts about the formation of that substance. In 1 841 Gopp^' 

 published an important work, in which he compared the geni- 

 of fossil plants with those now living. In 1 852, another extensive 

 work by this author appeared, entitled "Fossile Flora ties 

 Uebergangs-Gebirges." 



Andrre, Braun, Dunker, Ettingshausen, Geinitz, and Golden- 

 berg, all made notable contributions to fossil botany in Germany, 

 during the period we are now considering. 



The systematic study of invertebrate fossils, so admirably 

 begun by Lamarck, was continued actively in France. The 

 tertiary shells of the Seine Valley were further investigated by 

 Defrance, and especially by Deshayes, whose great work on 

 this subject was begxm in 1824.^ Des Moulin's essay on 

 "SpheruUtes" in 1826, Blainville's memoir on "Belemnites" 

 in 1827, Ferussac's various memoirs on land and fresh water 

 fossil shells, were valuable additions to the subject. A later 

 work of great importance was D'Orbigny's " Paleontologie 

 franipaise," 1840-44, which described the mollusca and radiates 

 in detail, according to formations. The other publications of 

 this author are both numerous and valuable. Brongniart and 



^"Description des Coquilles fossiles des Environs' de Paris.' 

 Paris, 1824-37. 



3 vols. 



