524 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. V. 



igneous agency everywhere apparent in the Alps, have 

 a schistose character, strongly assimilating them to the pri- 

 mary slates. 



In Russia oolitic deposits cover detached districts, from 

 the Icy Sea to the Caucasus in the south ; and in Russia 

 Proper, there are shales and sands referable to the middle 

 or Oxford oolite ; a characteristic species of ammonite 

 (A. biplex) of the Portland rock has been found both in 

 Russia and Poland.* In the Himalayahs, argillaceous 

 beds occur, which contain fossils analogous to those of the 

 Lias of Europe ; and from other localities in northern and 

 southern India, one belemnite and two ammonites identical 

 with Oxford clay species, have been found in deposits 

 apparently of the Jurassic epoch. 



26. Organic Remains of the Jurassic System. — 

 The fossils discovered in the Oolitic and Liassic strata 

 amount to many hundred species, and it is impossible in a 

 work of this nature to give even a brief summary of these 

 organic remains ; it must suffice to offer a few general 

 remarks on the nature of the fauna and flora of the sea 

 and land, during the vast period of time which the accumu- 

 lation of sediments of such extent and thickness must have 

 required. 



Vegetable remains. — Several species of fucoid plants, 

 and upwards of forty species of terrestrial vegetables, have 

 been determined. The latter, with the exception of a few 

 ferns and palms, consist of cycadeous plants ( i. Zamice, 

 Mantellice, &c.) and coniferous trees ; constituting a flora 

 analogous to that which now prevails in the maritime 



* Sir R. Murchison. 



f I would refer to Prof. Phillips' tables of fossils in the Encyclopaedia 

 Metrop. art. Geology ; to Sir H. De la Beche's Manual of Geology, and 

 to Mr. Morris's British Fossils, for lists of the fossils found in the 

 British Oolite and Lias ; and to the beautiful work on the organic 

 remains of the " Terrains Jwrasriquee" by M. D'Orbigny. See also 

 idv Medals of Creation. 



