Apkil 24, 1S85.1 



SCIENCE 



349 



3, Niederschoena, Saxon}', Hungary. Some of 

 these districts are exceedingly vague ; ' Qua- 

 dersandstone,' for example. Niederschoena 

 is in Saxon} T ; and Quedlinburg is in the Harz 

 district, at the same horizon as Blankenburg, 

 which is not Cenomanian at all, but Senonian. 

 From all these sources he enumerates 442 

 species, — a number which is still too small. 

 The Dakota group alone furnishes 195 species. 



The second division of the work relates to 

 the Laramie group, but does not review its 

 flora. Some dozen additions to it, made by 

 Mr. Lakes at Golden, Col., are described, six 

 of which are new species. Mr. Lesquereux 

 here discusses again the geological position of 

 this group, and, while still insisting upon its 

 eocene character, admits that its flora re- 

 sembles that of the travertines of Sezanne in 

 the Paris basin, but which are known to lie 

 considerably lower than the coarse limestone 

 and lignites that prevail in that district. In 

 his table of distribution he only enumerates 

 207 species ; but the reason for this paucity 

 is his failure to recognize as Laramie the 

 plants described from the Fort-Union group, 

 — the upper Missouri and lower Yellowstone 

 region, and the Bad lands of Dakota. 



The third division of the work consists of 

 an exhaustive survey of the flora of the Green- 

 River group ; and, as this had not previously 

 been done, it forms altogether the most valu- 

 able part of the treatise. Since the appear- 

 ance of the ' Tertiary flora,' a large amount of 

 material from this formation had accumulated 

 in the author's hands, out of which he obtained 

 no less than ninety new species. The most 

 fertile source of this material was the small 

 locality in South Park, Col., known as Floris- 

 sant, from which, in a light volcanic ash, also 

 containing insect-remains, an immense number 

 of beautifully preserved specimens of fossil 

 plants have been derived. The other principal 

 localities grouped under the general designa- 

 tion of ' Green-River group,' are those of 

 Green-River Station and Alkali-Stage Station, 

 Wyoming ; Elko Station, Nev. ; and a place 

 reported as in ' Randolph county.' As to this 

 last, as there appears to be no Randolph 

 county in any western territory, it is probable 

 that Randolph courthouse, Rich county, Utah, 

 is meant, which is the same as is otherwise 

 known as Bell's Fish-Cliff, where fine speci- 

 mens of palm-leaves and other fossil plants 

 are found. The localit}' called Barrel's Springs 

 is also here referred to the Green-River group, 

 although it appears in the preceding table as 

 belonging to the Laramie group. This is con- 

 fusing, to say the least. 



We have not space to show how the floras 

 of these several localities are correlated by the 

 author ; but the occurrence of identical and 

 wholly characteristic species in several of them 

 seems to establish their geological synchrony 

 with considerable certainty. This formation 

 is now commonly regarded as eocene ; but Mr. 

 Lesquereux, led, as in the case of the Laramie, 

 by the affinities of the flora with that of Europe, 

 insists upon placing it somewhat higher, and 

 calls it ' oligocene.' 



The remainder of the work is devoted to 

 what is called the ' miocene flora.' So far as 

 the localities on the Pacific slope (Chalk Bluff's 

 and Corral Hollow, Cal. ; John Day valley, 

 Ore. ; and Alaska) are concerned, this refer- 

 ence is doubtless correct ; but the large collec- 

 tions from the ' Bad lands of Dakota ' belong 

 almost without question to the Fort-Union 

 group, and should have been referred to the 

 Laramie, with which the invertebrate fauna 

 forces us to correlate that group. It is true 

 that this flora has a marked miocene aspect 

 when compared with those of European strata, 

 and that several species seem to have persisted 

 from that period to the present (e.g., Coiylus 

 Americana, Onoclea sensibilis) ; but the entire 

 Laramie flora is also strongly miocene, and 

 at least one species (Ginkgo biloba, L.) of 

 the living flora has come down to us seem- 

 ingly unchanged from the typical Laramie of 

 Point of Rocks, Wyoming. 



Geological considerations aside, this volume 

 is one of the most important that have lately 

 appeared upon the paleontology of western 

 America, and, should it prove his last work, 

 would fittingly crown the long and faithful 

 labors of its justly celebrated author. 



ANTHONY AND BRACKET!" S PHYSICS. 



For many years the English have borrowed 

 or stolen their text-books of elementary phys- 

 ics from the French, and Americans have 

 borrowed or stolen from the English. About 

 a year ago, Daniell produced a distinctly Eng- 

 lish, or rather distinctly Scotch, book of this 

 order. Now Professors Anthony and Brackett 

 have undertaken to remove America's reproach. 

 Their book is to consist of two parts, of which 

 part i., ' Mechanics and heat,' has already ap- 

 peared. It is a small volume, and in other 

 respects shows a disregard of old traditions. 

 It has numerous diagrams, but hardly a picture. 



Elementary text-book of physics. Part i. Mechanics and 

 heat. By Prof. W. A. Anthony and Prof. C. F. Brackett. 

 New York, Wiley, 1884. 9 + 246 p. 12°. 



