510 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 587 



flora from the heretofore most southern known 

 Dakota outcrop containing plants, namely, the 

 Woodbine formation of Texas, contains two 

 species which are identical with Argentine 

 forms. Four identical forms are found in 

 the Magothy and three in the Earitan of the 

 Atlantic coastal plain, two occur in the Atane 

 beds of the west coast of Greenland, which are 

 usually classed as Cenomanian, and one occurs 

 in the Patoot beds (Senonian) of the same 

 region. Two forms are common to the Ceno- 

 manian of Bohemia and one is found in the 

 Senonian of Prussia and Bulgaria. The only 

 possible lower Cretaceous form contained in 

 this flora is one which Kurtz identifies as 

 Asplenium Dicksonianum, which, as currently 

 understood, ranges from the Kootanie and 

 Kome beds into the upper Cretaceous. This 

 view is probably erroneous, as I have a number 

 of facts in support of the view that the lower 

 Cretaceous forms which have been referred to 

 this species are distinct from those which 

 occur in the upper^retaeeous. Kurtz iden- 

 tifies one species with a basal Eocene form of 

 North America and another with a basal 

 Eocene species of Belgium. 



The flora as a whole has an entirely Ceno- 

 manian facies and its remarkable similarity 

 to that developed in the central west during 

 the mid-Cretaceous certainly points very 

 strongly to a community of origin. Were the 

 evidence less convincing in its array of forms 

 it would be an easy matter to infer that 

 Kurtz's Liriodendron Meehii was a legumin- 

 ous leaflet, and that his species of Cinnamo- 

 mum, Litscea and Sassafras were simply the 

 Cretaceous precursors of the abundant Laura- 

 ceous forms which occur in the modern flora 

 of South America, but such a view is entirely 

 untenable in the light of the disclosed species 

 of Liquidamhar, Cissites, Persea, Menisperm- 

 iies, Plaianus, Populus, SetuKtes, Quercus, 

 etc. 



These facts will suggest to some the possi- 

 bilities of a southern origin of our upper Cre- 

 taceous floras quite the opposite of the usually 

 accepted view that they had their origin in 

 the far north. However this may be, the evi- 

 dence, it seems to me, conclusively points to 

 a geographical connection between North and 



South America during the mid-Cretaceous, at 

 which time the mid-Cretaceous North Amer- 

 ican flora extended southward, reaching Ar- 

 gentina and displaying a Cenomanian flora at 

 a somewhat later time than that assigned to 

 it by the Argentine geologists. In other 

 words, that while these South American beds 

 are homotaxial they are not synchronous with 

 the North American Cenomanian, the time 

 interval between them being that which was 

 necessary for the northern flora to spread from 

 about the latitude of Texas to that of Pata- 

 gonia. 



Further than this, such facts go a long way 

 toward discrediting Von Ihering's theory, ap- 

 provingly quoted by Ortmann in the Princeton 

 Expedition Reports, that northern and south- 

 ern South America are to be regarded as 

 genetically different and separated, at least 

 until well into Tertiary times, by a sea con- 

 necting the Atlantic and Pacific. 



Edward W. Berry. 

 Maryland Geological Surtoy, 

 Baltimore, Md. 



age of petroleum deposits, saratoga, texas. 



While careful watch has been kept on the 

 drilling of a number of wells in this district, 

 it is only within the present month that fos- 

 sils have been found in such condition as 

 permitted their accurate determination and 

 the recognition of their geological horizon. 



A bed of shells was noticed in one or two 

 wells drilled by the Rio Bravo Oil Co. at a 

 depth of approximately 1,100 feet, but the 

 specimens were so fragmentary that nothing 

 could be made of them. Mr. Robinson, who 

 is drilling a well west of the proven field, 

 found this same bed at 1,158 feet and was 

 fortunate enough to get a number of fair 

 specimens. He turned these over to the 

 writer, who sent them to the United States 

 National Museum for identification. 



Dr. W. H. Dall, under date of January 18, 

 makes the following report on them: 



In regard to the small lot of fossils from 1,158 

 feet, Robinson well, Saratoga, Texas, referred to 

 by Dr. Durable in the letter of January 12, here- 

 with returned, I have to report a,s follows: it 

 contains — 



