HISTORICAL REVIEW 5 



1891. penhallow. 10 — The plant remains found by Dr. Marcy in the 

 Evanston beach deposits were submitted to the late Prof. D. P. Penhallow, 

 who thus comments upon them: "By comparison with recent species of 

 Qiiercus, this fossil appears to most nearly approach Q. primus and Q. garryana, 

 the affinities being nearer the former than the latter. Such differences as 

 could be definitely established, were found in the length of the ray cells, the 

 abundance and form of the markings on the vessels, and the number and size 

 of the medullary rays. These differences are such as to render exact identifica- 

 tion with modem species hardly probable, and as a suitable means of distinc- 

 tion and recognition I would therefore propose for this fossil the name of 

 Qiiercus viarcyana. " 



"The wood of the Picea was cut with as great facility as the oak, and while 

 the transverse sections were quite clear as to the details of structure, the 

 longitudinal sections also gave numerous well preserved details, from which 

 a series of drawings were prepared. 



" So far as the details have been made out, they seem to establish affinity 

 with Picea sitchensis, but as in the case of the Qiiercus, the differences are such 

 as to cause hesitation in establishing exact identity between them. Were it 

 possible to establish identity between the two, then there would be good evi- 

 dence to show the extent to which the area of distribution of Picea sitchensis 

 has contracted within recent geological times, since this is now essentially con- 

 fined to the Pacific coast, from Alaska to Mendocino, California, extending 

 inland not more than fifty miles. I deem it expedient to distinguish this 

 fossil by a separate name, for which I would suggest Picea evanstoni. " 



Prof. Penhallow says further, "The local evidence is such as to confirm the 

 view that the Picea grew upon the spot where found, sending its roots down 

 into the clay." The bones of a mastodon are also said to have been found 

 on or in the peat layer labeled no. 4 of Marcy 's section (see Higley and Raddin, 

 p. xiii, figure 2). 



The Picea may possibly be the same as the material identified as mariana 

 or canadensis from deposits recently explored near Bowmanville. Oak leaves 

 were also found in the Bowmanville deposits but so imperfect that identification 

 was impossible. They may have been the same as the Quercus described by 

 Penhallow. 



1891. higley and RADDIN. 11 — In the introduction to this paper (pages 

 XIII, XIV, XV) the three major beaches are discussed in relation to the flora, 

 past and present. The section at Evanston, studied by Prof. Marcy and 



10 Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, LX, pp. 29-32, 1891. 



11 Bull. Chi. Acad. Sci., II, No. 1, 1891. 



