Ixii. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



cariasfrom the English Eocenes, described by Mr. J. Starkie Gard- 

 ner, are determined by their leafy branches. Sequoias appeared in 

 the Cretaceous beds of Portugal, one belonging to the type S. 

 giganlea (Wellingtonia), and another to S. sempervirens. These 

 giants of the Conifers, after spreading over the whole of the 

 northern hemisphere, and being represented by more than twenty 

 species, are now reduced to two, and only to a limited region in 

 America. These are Seq. sempervirens, with erect leaves arranged 

 in two rows and bearing round cones, the other Seq. gigantea, 

 which bears smaller leaves, crowded together, their cones large 

 and egg-shaped. The family Cupressus, represented in the present 

 day by twelve species, grows in Asia, North Western and Central 

 America. Fossil remains of it are frequently found in the 

 Tertiaries. Zittel admits the first appearance of the Cupressinece 

 to have been in the Jurassic age, since that period it has pre- 

 served an unbroken link to the present day. 



Towards the termination of the Mesozoic age, there was an 

 increase of land in the Northern Hemisphere, and the climate 

 became less uniform. A warm temperate period, however, 

 prevailed, extending as far north as Greenland. There was then a 

 circumpolar belt which protected the Atlantic and Pacific basins 

 from floating ice, and favoured the temperate type of flora, 

 which prevailed as far north as Greenland. 



During the Eocene and Pliocene ages, the Continents began 

 to assume their present portions ; at first they were divided up 

 into islands and by degrees became consolidated. There was a 

 submergence of land in the Eocene age, which did not affect 

 Great Britain. Then the great Nummulite limestones were laid 

 down in lake basins. At its close there were great disturbances, 

 by which the earth's crust was fractured and folded, accompanied 

 with the final elevation of the Alps and the Pyrenees, and the 

 permanent moulding and modifications of the Continents as 

 they now stand. 



There is no evidence that the cold interfered seriously with 

 plant-life during the Cretaceous and Eocene ages. At this 

 period, genera simultaneously appeared in great numbers, accom- 



