TRIASSIC FLORA OF RALI) JIILL. 
well as in Sweden. Tlie presen, t occurrence extends the time range 
to the Trias. In Jurassic times it was a most im])ortant component 
of the later (londwana flora of India, Australia, New Zealand and 
(Iraham Land, and also persisted in the hiuropean flora of that time. 
In the (Vetaceous ])eriod it seems to have been restricted to North 
America and Europe. 
The genus Raritania, only provisionally recorded here, in the 
Trias, is a North American ('retaceous type. Airy further dis- 
coveries of this particular form in Australia will ])e awaited with 
interest. 
VI. CONCLUSIONS. 
From a consideration of the foregoing descriptions of plant 
remains from the ScJiizonenra bed of the trench in the C'ouTxcil Paddock 
at Bald Hill, it will be seen that the evidence is in favour of a Triassic 
age for this horizon. 
It is interesting to note McCoy's close determination of the age 
of the bed, in s])ite of meagre data, for he recognised its JTiassic 
affinities, even in the face of the inverted field relations as mis- 
understood at the time, that is to say, as regar-ds the sup])osition 
of these beds occurring iinder the (><m(/mnopfens Sandstone of 
Bacchus Marsh. One of the greatest triumphs of palaeontology 
is the fixing of exact horizons t)y an accumte valuation of the fossil 
remains ; and in this direction McCoy not only did pioneering 
woT'k, but drew lasting conclusions carried out on what one would 
now consider only j)oor material. As Dr. J'. S. Hall more than once 
remarked to me, regarding modern criticisms, “ I should not wonder 
if McCoy's earlier determinations came out right after all.'’ 
There still remains much to be done, however, in tlie way of 
collecting the plant remains of this JTiassic bed. This series of 
s])ecimens, though interesting, cannot be regarded as complete, 
for much might still be gathered as to essential structural portions 
of the plants discussed, fragments only of which are re])resented in 
the present collection. 
What has already been discoveretl, as set forth here, is sufficient 
to show how important an horizon it is, for many unique kimls of 
])lants have been brought to light since the record of McCoy's 
Sch izoneura an,d RhJojdiulhitn. 
Looking at the subject broadly, the Triassic period was a kind 
of “trying-out" time when the Cpper Palaeozoic Flora or Lower 
Condwana"’ ISeries still struggled on, until it became a mere skeleton 
of its former self, to be absorbed by the incoming richer Jurassic 
or Upper Condwana Flora. 
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