Meyer's pal.eontological notes. 13 



tries of Europe, than to the present fauna and flora of the districts 

 themselves. It seems therefore that even during the miocene tertiary 

 period itself, various successive floras have flourished in these coun- 

 tries. The author is of the opinion that the miocene fauna and flora 

 had a uniform character over the whole earth ; that this character has 

 continued to exist in those regions whose temperature and local pecu-. 

 liarities have remained unchanged ; but that where, in consequence 

 of alterations in the relievo of the earth's surface, the temperature 

 and other conditions have also been modified, there the species have 

 not emigrated, but gradually (as species) become extinct, whilst other 

 species of a different type have taken their place. Where, however, 

 the temperature has remained uniform, there the successive species 

 have retained the original character, and in this way the agreement of 

 this fragment of the European tertiary flora with that now existing 

 in North America, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and in Japan, 

 may be explained. The author intends to describe the new species 

 in detail in his ' Genera et Species Plantarum Fossilium,' but in this 

 place gives only the names*. Several are already described by Unger 

 {Chloris profogcBo), Alex. Braun and Brongniart. [J. N.] 



P alee out ological Notes. By Hermann v. Meyer. 



[From Leonhard and Bronn's Jahrbuch, 1848, p. 465.] 



IIolzerwied near Bussenhausen, in the Canton Zurich, must now 

 be added to the localities in Switzerland in which the diluvial Loss 

 contains remains only of the Elephas primigenius, as Herr A. Escher 

 von der Linth has sent me some teeth of this animal of a calcined 

 aspect from that place. JNIore importance attaches to the occurrence 

 of this elephant in the diluvial slate-coal, which much resembles 

 brown-coal, at Dilrnten, a league from Rapperswyl, where a large 

 molar tooth has been found of a brown colour like walnut wood, and 

 thus very similar to teeth from the tertiary brown-coals. This coal 

 deposit represents the oldest diluvial filling-up of the valleys in the 

 Swiss Alps, and contains plants which Heer was not able to distin- 

 guish from those now living in moist places in Switzerland. Near 

 Utznach, this slate-coal furnished the tooth of a large ruminant re- 

 sembling the deer. The occurrence of Elephas in this situation re- 

 minds me of a Mammoth skeleton dug out at Troitskoe near jMoskau, 

 and described by Rouillier. The upright position in a marsh, in 

 which the animal was found, shows distinctly that it had been buried 

 in the mud when venturing too far on the soft ground in search of 

 food. The formation at Moskau also consists of a fine laminated 

 mass resembling brown-coal, containing fishes, infusoria and plants 

 of species still living in the neighbourhood. I would also draw at- 

 tention to an observation recorded in my ' Palaeontologica,' p. 540, 

 according to which the Elephas occurred with remains of the ox, stag, 

 fishes, shells and plants, in a turf-like diluvial bed at Wittigendorf 



* The list will be found in Leonhard and Bronn's * Jahrbuch,' but it has not 

 seemed necessary to reprint it in this place. 



