FLORA. 217 
small mammalia allied to the opossums. Of plants, besides 
some previously found, and allies of these, we find plants 
allied to the cycus revoluta—the sago-plant—and the 
pine-apple; conifers resembling the pine, as well as 
yew-like and lily-like plants; and other undescribed 
genera. In this system of strata the arenaceous are 
no longer sandstones, but loose unsolidified sand; the 
argilaceous beds are generally soft and marly clays; 
and the calcareous, instead of being compact or 
crystaline limestones, present that soft earthy texture 
which prevails in chalk. All this speaks a comparatively 
recent formation, with freedom from great pressure, long- 
continued chemical actions, or the indurating effects of 
heat. The lower cretaceous strata found in the north, 
according to Professor Heer, are elevated by but a very 
slight degree above the Wealden. It has been met with 
by M. Nordenskjoeld in a series of elevations along the 
northern coast of the peninsula of Noursoak, at 70° 37’ 
43" of North latitude. These are the black schists and 
the grits, which alternate with each other a great many 
times, and repose directly on the gneiss. The total thick- 
ness of the formation attains to 1500 feet without changing 
sensibly in character, and the summit is found covered 
with overflowings of basalt. The vegetable imprints 
abound chiefly in the schistose beds, and more ordinarily, 
but not exclusively, towards the base of the formation, 
which it appears should be carried back in its entirety to 
only one and the same period. The principal collections are 
at Kome, at Pattorfik, at Avkrusak, at Karsok, and at 
Ekkorfat. The localities in the order of their richness are 
Kome, Avkrusak, Ekkorfat, and last Pattorfik. These 
localities present each of them a peculiar character: Kome 
abounds in ferns, but repeatedly occurring vestiges let us 
see between them, quite near, a forest of fir trees, Pattor- 
fik has quite the aspect of a wood of Sequoia, tapestried 
with ferns. Ekkorfat comprises especially Cycads, asso- 
ciated with Sequoias and with fir trees, the combination 
of which created a great forest. All these localities, 
