Professor McCoy's New Taniopteris. 93 



of so many living genera of plants of Australia, &c., in a 

 fossil state in the tertiarics of the Vienna basin. 



^Miilst there are so many increasing proofs of varying 

 centres of life, all dogmatism on insufficient evidence must be 

 held unsound. 



It is only M'ithin a few days that I have had brought to 

 me, from BrunsAvick, a collection -^hich proves that there 

 may be grounds yet found for placing some portions of 

 what ^Ir. ]\IcCoy calls our oolitic beds, and which I consider 

 parts of one series, going down to the true carboniferous of 

 Eiu'ope, in a new light. In the Hartz, or a little to tjie 

 north of it, there has been found a series "svith plants which 

 lies between the Lias and the Keuper, and if these beds 

 shall be fouud not to be Keuperian, they must still be 

 considered older than the Lias. 



Certainly one species is very much like a plant I showed 

 to ^Ir. ^IcCoy, and \fhich he did not consider Tceniopteris. 

 The Ofen plant (for that is its locahty), like that I took to 

 Melbourne from the Wianamatta beds of the Ncav South 

 Wales series, and which I place on the exact horizon of the 

 Barrabool Hills beds, from careful comparisons of the forma- 

 tions, i.e., at the very top of our New South AVales coal 

 beds, or rather coal formations, agrees ^"ith Tfeniopteris in 

 the form and independence of the frond, and in the thickness 

 of the midrib, but differs in the neuration, having only minute 

 perpendicular simple nerves. 



The Ofen plants liave been found in Sweden, and have 

 been, I think, described by Angelin. Professor Blasius dis- 

 covered them near Brunswick. With them are fouud 

 dicotyledonous leaves like the Myricacese, and others like 

 Salix, Corylus, Oak, &c. 



These are not ferns, as some persons at first believed. 



There are also one Kilsonia, one Cycadites, Calamites and 

 one Carpolithus, with some true ferns, and small portions of 

 brown dirty coal and remains of wood. 



The specimens brought hither ai'e in a sad broken state, 

 owing to accidents on board ship. But I give not my own 

 determinations, but those of Dr. Blasius. 



I would not be surprised, when the whole deposit of 

 om* carboniferous series shall be made kuowu, if doubts 

 should arise as to the confidence with which some persons 

 speak as to the correlation of the Australian and Indian 

 coal beds. 



Trusting that you will kindly pardon this long letter, and 



