228 Gleanings. 
GLEANINGS. 
.j^nalogy between the Fossil Flora oy the European Miocene and 
the living Flora of .-America — by Prof. Agassiz, in a letter to R. 
J. Murchison: 
" I think I made a lucky and quite an unexpected hit, by trac- 
ing the close analogy between the fossil Flora of the European 
miocene deposites, (molasse,) and the living Flora of the temper- 
ate parts ot the United States of North America. The corres- 
pondence extends to all the types of organized beings. After 
having seen the chelydra alive in the swamps here, under the 
shade of trees analogous to those which cover the ancient soil of 
Orningen, (so celebrated for its profusion of terrestrial and fresh 
water fossil remains,) I cannot help thinking that the climate 
could not have been tropical in Europe at the time when the stra- 
ta of Orningen were deposited. Again, I may observe that there 
is the closest affinity between the Flora of the Atlantic shores of 
North America and that of Japan; where we have the Megalo- 
batrachus, the corresponding living type of the Andrias, or great 
fossil Salamander of Orningen. As I am unable to write a paper 
now, I would thank you to make these remarks known before I 
can publish them in extenso. — Athen. 
On the Fossil Vegetation of Anthracite Coal. — Mr. J. E. Teche- 
macher, at a meeting of the American Association of Geologists 
and Naturalists, read a paper on this subject, confining his ob- 
servations to the remains of vegetation found in the body of the 
coal, apart from that in the accompanying shales. The principal 
points of the memoir were, that the remains of the larger forms of 
the coal epoch, as well as of the smaller plants, were abundant in 
the coal, contrary to the usual opinion. Specimens w^ere exhi- 
bited from the interior of the coal, showing the external and in- 
ternal parts of plants, the vessels, the leaves, the seeds, &c. 
Since the meeting Mr. Techemacher has continued his investi- 
gations, and has communicated, in a letter to one of the editors, 
the following results: 
1. What I considered as vessels w^ere said to be mere marks of 
sliding of the coal. Professor Baily prepared a specimen of this 
by his method, and told me that if I found vessels there, my pro- 
position was correct. Examined by Agassiz and myself, with his 
large Oberhauser, it turns out to be nothing but a mass of perfo- 
rated vessels, as clear and distinct as if they were recent. Mr. 
Agassiz observed, " one moment suffices to remove every doubt on 
the subiect." 
