PROFESSOR I1EER ON THE EOSSIL FLORA OF NORTH GREENLAND. 
451 
On the other hand, the grit in contact with the trap does not seem to differ from that 
in the normal condition, but in some cases the sandstone (i. e. the grit) seems to have 
been melted by the heat, forming a glaze on the surface. (B.) The trap dykes I have 
spoken of as intersecting the sedimentary rock, are three in number, and run in three 
regular lines cutting the strata obliquely. They often stand out in bare weathered 
wall-like structures which have survived the action of frost and snow, arctic winter 
cold and summer heat, and the torrents of melting snow in the spring. One of these 
weathered masses is quite picturesque, and a good landmark coming to Atanekerdluk 
from sea. 
“The disintegrating causes I have spoken of have worn down the sedimentary strata 
on either side of these dykes into a mere soil, and you for the most part (as being the 
most accessible way to get at them) dig the pieces of cherty ironstone out of a clay com- 
posed of the remains of these disintegrated rocks, and which in their downward sweep 
by the torrents, have been arrested on a flat or hollow halfway down the mountain, or 
perhaps 1100 feet above the sea.” 
These statements confirm the accounts of Rink and Ingle field respecting the sti ati- 
fication of the coal-deposits and plant-beds of Atanekerdluk (conf. Flora Foss. Arctica, 
p. 7). They show us that there is a considerable succession of sedimentary strata, pierced 
by volcanic rocks which form the summits of the mountains. Fossil plants occur in all 
the beds, but the siderite and limonite contain them in the greatest abundance and in 
the best state of preservation. In fact the slabs from these beds are quite covered with 
specimens, lying in every direction ( l . c. p. 10). 
Among the leaves I found two insects, a beetle and one of the Hemiptera. These 
must have been inhabitants of dry land, as well as the plants. However, amongst the 
latter we find several species which must have grown in marshy or moory ground, viz. 
Phragmites, Sparganium, Taxodium, and Menyanthes. These plants indicate a fresh- 
water formation, as does also a Cyclas (Plate LII. fig. 10), the shell of which occurs in 
the siderite, and which is undoubtedly a freshwater mollusk. These, facts, combined 
with the entire absence of marine plants and animals, prove to us that the siderite of 
Atanekerdluk is most certainly a freshwater deposit — probably similar in its origin to 
the limonite of our own woods and marshes. 
Mr. Whympek’s collection contains fossil plants from two localities on Disco Island, 
viz. Ujararsusuk and Kudliset, which is opposite Atanekerdluk and nearly on the same 
parallel of latitude. As before, I shall extract from his report and the notes of Mr. 
Brown the portions which bear on the geology of the place. 
“ Coal-seams are exposed at a number of points both along the Waigat and on the 
coast between Flakkerhuk and Godhavn. Dr. Rink mentions* five places at which it 
is found along these shores ; there are at least three others, — one spoken of by Giesecke; 
another near to Issungoak Ness, from which I obtained amber through the natives; and 
a third nearer to Godhavn. At the time of our visit fossil wood had been found : — 1st, 
* Gronland geographisk og statistisk Tbeskreyet, yol. i. pp. 172, &c. 
