﻿G. 
  R. 
  Wieland 
  — 
  On 
  Liassic 
  Floras. 
  255 
  

  

  State 
  of 
  Puebla. 
  But 
  very 
  unfortunately 
  the 
  material 
  gathered 
  

   on 
  this 
  early 
  reconnaissance 
  was 
  later 
  lost 
  when 
  a 
  vessel 
  on 
  

   which 
  it 
  was 
  being 
  conveyed 
  by 
  Seilor 
  Aguilera 
  to 
  Washington 
  

   for 
  comparison 
  and 
  study 
  was 
  burned 
  in 
  the 
  Havana 
  harbor. 
  

   Also 
  a 
  fossil 
  cycad 
  from 
  the 
  Puebla-Oaxaca 
  country 
  named 
  by 
  

   Ward 
  in 
  the 
  8th 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Gr. 
  S., 
  but 
  not 
  figured, 
  has 
  

   been 
  lost 
  to 
  view 
  ; 
  while 
  Felix 
  and 
  Lenk 
  in 
  their 
  pathbreak- 
  

   ing 
  work 
  in 
  Oaxaca 
  did 
  not 
  have 
  the 
  fortune 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  rich 
  

   cy 
  cad-yielding 
  terranes 
  on 
  their 
  visit 
  to 
  the 
  Tlaxiaco 
  country. 
  

   Very 
  little, 
  therefore, 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  of 
  either 
  the 
  extent 
  or 
  

   character 
  of 
  the 
  cycad 
  flora 
  of 
  southern 
  Mexico 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  

   present 
  studies, 
  clearly 
  the 
  first 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  subject. 
  

  

  The 
  characteristic 
  plants 
  of 
  the 
  Mixteca 
  Alta 
  Lias 
  are 
  

   probably 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  abundant 
  at 
  all 
  the 
  localities 
  mentioned. 
  

   And 
  all 
  will 
  richly 
  repay 
  far 
  more 
  thorough 
  prospecting 
  than 
  

   I 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  them, 
  unless 
  with 
  the 
  partial 
  exception 
  of 
  

   the 
  Barranca 
  Consuelo 
  section, 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  mainly 
  confined 
  my 
  

   efforts 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  fairly 
  complete 
  collection. 
  But 
  even 
  there, 
  

   the 
  perfected 
  field 
  methods 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  may 
  not 
  impossibly 
  

   involve 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  quarries 
  in 
  horizon 
  after 
  horizon 
  

   following 
  persistent 
  trenching, 
  with 
  a 
  resultant 
  yield 
  of 
  fossil 
  

   plants 
  such 
  as 
  may 
  make 
  the 
  collections 
  I 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  bring- 
  

   together 
  look 
  small 
  and 
  insignificant 
  in 
  both 
  conservation 
  and 
  

   number. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  plants 
  are 
  often 
  carbonized 
  and 
  

   that 
  beautiful 
  casts 
  occur 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  silicified 
  logs, 
  must 
  always 
  

   give 
  to 
  the 
  section 
  a 
  high 
  interest 
  to 
  collectors. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  initial 
  studies 
  it 
  proved 
  not 
  only 
  convenient, 
  as 
  just 
  

   indicated, 
  but 
  desirable 
  to 
  devote 
  close 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  typical 
  

   section 
  on 
  the 
  Barranca 
  Consuelo 
  ; 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  at 
  once 
  seen 
  that 
  

   the 
  strata 
  of 
  the 
  plant 
  beds 
  could 
  there 
  be 
  measured 
  almost 
  

   meter 
  by 
  meter 
  for 
  the 
  full 
  iive 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  meters 
  in 
  

   thickness, 
  while 
  in 
  passing 
  down 
  the 
  barranca 
  the 
  series 
  reap- 
  

   pears 
  from 
  beneath 
  the 
  superposed 
  Jurassic 
  and 
  Cretaceous 
  in 
  

   the 
  reverse 
  order. 
  However, 
  the 
  detailed 
  remeasurement 
  thus 
  

   permitted 
  was 
  not 
  made, 
  this 
  left 
  over 
  work 
  being 
  only 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  refinements 
  of 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  this 
  section 
  which 
  cannot 
  fail 
  to 
  

   yield 
  results 
  of 
  deep 
  interest 
  and 
  value. 
  

  

  Not 
  only 
  so, 
  but 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  region 
  where 
  the 
  sedimentaries 
  

   come 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  points 
  where 
  new 
  quarries 
  

   can 
  be 
  opened 
  without 
  difficulty. 
  This 
  must 
  be 
  particularly 
  

   true 
  to 
  the 
  northeast 
  of 
  El 
  Cerro 
  del 
  Lucero 
  along 
  the 
  Rosario 
  

   ridge, 
  to 
  say 
  nothing 
  of 
  a 
  score 
  of 
  general 
  localities 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  

   find 
  time 
  to 
  seek 
  out 
  or 
  examine. 
  Indeed, 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  

   present 
  flora 
  and 
  the 
  exquisite 
  climate 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  geologic 
  

   structure, 
  one 
  cannot 
  but 
  regard 
  the 
  Mixteca 
  Alta 
  as 
  being 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  most 
  promising 
  and 
  attractive 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  globe 
  for 
  

   the 
  collector 
  of 
  fossil 
  plants. 
  And 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  occasion 
  to 
  

   speak 
  of 
  this 
  extreme 
  attractiveness 
  to 
  the 
  student 
  of 
  cycads 
  

  

  