


1891.] Formations in the East-Indian Archipelago. 961 
Permian period is more distinguished from the Carboniferous flora 
and fauna by the dying out of older species and genera than by _ 
the growing up of new types. It looks as if Europe, with her 
shallow seas and her isolated and often inundated land masses, 
had been at that time the refuge for the Carboniferous world, 
which was retiring from the battle with younger and stronger 
people that came in from the east and south. 
Therefore, if we would become acquainted with the true Permian 
flora and fauna, we must not address ourselves to Europe, but to 
the eastern and southern continents. There we find the marine 
fauna ina free and rich developement like that which we are 
accustomed to see in the Lower Carboniferous period in Europe; 
and this gives to the eastern Permian fauna an appearance by 
which it looks more'related to the older Carboniferous than to the 
contemporaneous Permian fauna of Europe. Some geologists 
have been really disappointed by that appearance, and take the 
true Permian fauna. as the development of a separate period 
that existed between the Carboniferous and the Permian periods, 
and which they have called the Permo-Carboniferous period. 
But in this they are quite wrong. The aggregation of Car- 
boniferous and Permian species in the fauna at the beginning of 
the Permian period is nothing extraordinary or nothing that 
should not be expected. We know the same as existing on the 
boundaries of the Triassic and Liassic, of the Jurassic and Creta- 
ceous, of the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. The fact is suffi- 
ciently marked by the names of Rhætic and Infraliassic, of Tithonic 
and Berrias, and of Laramie. 
The Triassic formation is represented on the island of Rotti by 
white, gray, and red limestone plates, sometimes full of bivalves, 
Except one new species, Halodia wichmannit, I could state the 
presence of six European species : Monotis salinaria, Halobia lom- 
melt, lineata, charlyana (syn. of mediterranea Gemallaro), norica’ 
and Daonella cassiana. All are representatives of the upper 
Alpine Trias, three have also been found in Sicily and two in the 
Himalaya. Therefore we must suppose that, as in the Permian 
period, so also in the Triassic time, a large sea-basin existed that 
covered and united Europe and East India. 



