FLORA. 217 



small mammalia allied to the opossums. Of plants, besides 

 some previously found, and allies of these, we find plants 

 allied to the cycus revoluta the sago-plant and the 

 pine-apple; conifers resembling the pine, as well as 

 yew-like and lily-like plants ; and other undescribed 

 genera. In this system of strata the arenaceous are 

 no longer sandstones, but loose unsolidified sand ; the 

 argilaceous beds are generally soft and marly clays ; 

 and the calcareous, instead of being compact or 

 crystaline limestones, present that soft earthy texture 

 which prevails in chalk. All this speaks a comparatively 

 recent formation, with freedom from great pressure, long- 

 continued chemical actions, or the indurating effects of 

 heat. The lower cretaceous strata found in the north, 

 according to Professor Heer, are elevated by but a very 

 slight degree above the Wealden. It has been met with 

 by M. Nordenskjoeld in a series of elevations along the 

 northern coast of the peninsula of Noursoak, at 70 37' 

 43" of North latitude. These are the black schists and 

 the grits, which alternate with each other a great many 

 times, and repose directly on the gneiss. The total thick- 

 ness of the formation attains to 1500 feet without changing 

 sensibly in character, and the summit is found covered 

 with overflowings of basalt. The vegetable imprints 

 abound chiefly in the schistose beds, and more ordinarily, 

 but not exclusively, towards the base of the formation, 

 which it appears should be carried back in its entirety to 

 only one and the same period. The principal collections are 

 at Kome, at Pattorfik, at Avkrusak, at Karsok, and at 

 Ekkorfat. The localities in the order of their richness are 

 Kome, Avkrusak, Ekkorfat, and last Pattorfik. These 

 localities present each of them a peculiar character : Kome 

 abounds in ferns, but repeatedly occurring vestiges let us 

 see between them, quite near, a forest of fir trees. Pattor- 

 fik has quite the aspect of a wood of Sequoia, tapestried 

 with ferns. Ekkorfat comprises especially Cycads, asso- 

 ciated with Sequoias and with fir trees, the combination 

 of which created a great forest. All these localities, 



