TRANSLATIONS AND NOTICES 



GEOLOGICAL MEMOIRS. 



1. General View of the Pal.'eozoic Fauna o/* Russia. 



[The following general view of the Palaeozoic fauna of Russia forms the Intro- 

 duction to the second volume (in Frenclj) of the work on Russia lately published 

 by Sir R. Murchison, M. E. de Verneuil, and M. von Keyserling. 



In addition to that geological view of a group of fossils by which 

 we are enabled to acquire a general idea of the inhabitants of the 

 globe during various epochs, it is important also that we should con- 

 sider the different groups zoologically, and determine as far as pos- 

 sible their extension in time and space. It is the object of the fol- 

 lowing essay to perform this task so far as Russia is concerned, and 

 by passing in review the various species of organic remains obtained 

 in this one district, and comparing them with the fossils of other 

 countries, we shall endeavour to deduce certain facts concerning 

 the distribution of organic life at a particular period, and obtain 

 general results with regard to the introduction and extinction of the 

 various species. We propose to run through the whole scale of 

 animated nature, from the lowest to the highest — to distinguish those 

 peculiar to Russia, to mention those which on the other hand are 

 not so limited but are common also to other countries, and lastly, to 

 allude to those which predominate in a particular part of the series 

 in various parts of the world. Taking also each species at its first 

 introduction into Russia, we shall carefully note whether it had pre- 

 viously existed in other countries under such conditions that it might 

 have been transported by marine currents from one place to the 

 other, or whether, on the contrary, it appeared for the first time 

 almost contemporaneously over the whole of Europe and became 

 extinct in a similar manner. 



Genera incertce sedis. — It need not excite surprise, that among the 

 fossils of the most ancient date there should exist some which are so 

 different from organic forms now living that we can hardly deter- 

 mine to what class they must be referred. Amongst such fossils 



VOL. II. — PART II. K 



