CRETACEOUS CONIFERALES 7 
amber, twigs, bark, cones and cone scales, seeds, leaves and leaf 
Impressions. 
Most of the logs and larger lignitic fragments were found as 
isolated specimens scattered through the clay strata in the Drummond 
pit, while the finer material and nearly all of the leaves and leaf 
impressions were obtained either from a bed of closely packed lig- 
nitic and charcoal debris, or from the accompanying clay layers, in 
the Androvette pit. Many of the leaves, when first uncovered, were 
found to be beautifully preserved, in the form of thin, brown or 
black carbonaceous films, but this largely disintegrated and disap- 
peared on exposure to the air, leaving only faint impressions to rep- 
resent the specimens in most instances. A large majority were of 
angiosperms, and as these were the first remains to attract attention, 
an erroneous impression was originally formed in regard to the rela- 
tive proportions of the angiosperms and gymnosperms in the flora. 
The latter were thought to be a comparatively insignificant element, 
and it was not until subsequently, when the lignites and lignitic 
debris had been examined microscopically and the amber had been 
analyzed chemically, that a true conception of the actual abundance 
of the gymnosperms was obtained; as apparently all of the amber, 
nearly all of the lignites and the larger part of the lignitic debris 
were found to belong to this latter class of vegetation. In other 
words, if the characters of the leaf remains alone should be consid- 
ered the flora would appear to have been largely angiospermous, 
while judged solely from the lignitic remains the gymnosperms 
would seem to have been the dominant class. It is probable, how- 
ever, that the relative proportions of each class among the leaf 
impressions affords the more accurate basis for conclusions in this 
connection, inasmuch as all leaves deposited with the fine clay would 
have an equal chance of preservation in the form of impressions, 
irrespective of texture or power of resistance to decay, whereas the 
wood of angiosperms as a rule yields more rapidly to decay than 
that of gymnosperms, and it would therefore be less likely to be pre- 
served in the form of lignite; and we can state as a matter of fact 
that of the former the few specimens found were badly decayed and 
unsatisfactory for study, while of the latter the specimens were not 
only abundantly represented by many of them were unusually well 
preserved and were capable of being sectioned and the internal 
structure determined with accuracy. 
