﻿216 
  E. 
  W. 
  Berry 
  — 
  Age 
  of 
  the 
  Brandon 
  Lignite. 
  

  

  fossil 
  at 
  Sheppey. 
  The 
  most 
  striking 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  

   English 
  flora 
  is 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  palms, 
  and 
  its 
  more 
  

   decidedly 
  tropical 
  character. 
  Another 
  fact 
  bearing 
  on 
  

   the 
  age 
  of 
  Brandon 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  coniferous 
  wood 
  described 
  

   by 
  Knowlton 
  is 
  so 
  nearly 
  related 
  to 
  a 
  species 
  described 
  

   by 
  Schmalhausen 
  from 
  the 
  Eocene 
  of 
  southwestern 
  Eussia 
  

   that 
  the 
  Brandon 
  form 
  is 
  made 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  the 
  latter. 
  

   Furthermore 
  two 
  fruits 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Eocene 
  of 
  Maryland 
  

   (Nanjemoy 
  formation) 
  and 
  described 
  as 
  Carpolithus 
  by 
  

   Hollick 
  10 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  strictly 
  comparable 
  with 
  fruits 
  

   from 
  Brandon 
  which 
  are 
  referred 
  variously 
  to 
  Apeibop- 
  

   sis 
  and 
  Cucumites, 
  but 
  both 
  are 
  likewise 
  comparable 
  with 
  

   the 
  genus 
  "Wetherellia 
  founded 
  by 
  Bowerbank 
  upon 
  

   Ypresian 
  forms 
  from 
  the 
  London 
  Clay 
  of 
  Sheppey. 
  

  

  Summarizing 
  the 
  foregoing 
  statements 
  they 
  are 
  seen 
  

   to 
  comprise, 
  1. 
  general 
  considerations 
  of 
  unsuitable 
  cli- 
  

   matic 
  environment 
  during 
  the 
  Miocene 
  and 
  an 
  unlikeness 
  

   between 
  the 
  Brandon 
  flora 
  and 
  such 
  Miocene 
  floras 
  as 
  are 
  

   known 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  ; 
  2. 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  closely 
  related, 
  if 
  not 
  identical, 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  

   Eocene 
  of 
  Maryland, 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  embayment 
  

   region, 
  of 
  southern 
  England 
  and 
  of 
  southwestern 
  Russia. 
  

  

  These 
  all 
  point 
  in 
  the 
  one 
  direction 
  and 
  are 
  sufficiently 
  

   weighty 
  to 
  justify 
  considering 
  the 
  Brandon 
  lignite 
  and 
  its 
  

   contained 
  flora 
  as 
  of 
  Eogene 
  instead 
  of 
  Neogene 
  age. 
  

   Much 
  as 
  I 
  dislike 
  these 
  terms 
  I 
  hesitate 
  to 
  attempt 
  a 
  closer 
  

   correlation, 
  since 
  Eocene 
  floras 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  ar.e 
  

   much 
  more 
  extensive 
  and 
  better 
  known 
  than 
  Oligocene 
  

   floras, 
  and 
  the 
  possibilities 
  of 
  the 
  Oligocene 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  

   Brandon 
  deposit 
  cannot 
  be 
  lost 
  sight 
  of, 
  although 
  the 
  

   evidence 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  extensive 
  European 
  Oligo- 
  

   cene 
  floras 
  and 
  the 
  resemblance 
  to 
  American 
  and 
  other 
  

   Eocene 
  floras 
  leads 
  me 
  to 
  regard 
  the 
  Eocene 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  

   Brandon 
  flora 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  probable 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  possible 
  

   assumptions. 
  

  

  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  University, 
  

   Baltimore, 
  Md. 
  

  

  Bollick, 
  A., 
  Md. 
  Geol. 
  Surv., 
  Eocene, 
  p. 
  258, 
  pi. 
  64, 
  figs. 
  11, 
  12, 
  1901. 
  

  

  