312 Carboniferous Glaciation , Etc .— White. 
the consideration of the possibility of glaciation, hut it has 
become so characteristic in its nature and so important in its 
extent as to make it impossible to satisfactorily account for 
its origin according to any other known law of action. Not 
only is such an explanation supported by the conclusions of 
the many competent observers in the field, but it is quite gen¬ 
erally accepted by European geologists, among whom may be 
quoted such ' conservative authors as Prestwich, 1 or Neu- 
mayr, 2 who, in his “ Erdgeschichte,” after reviewing the 
causes for such a deduction, adds, “ there can no longer be 
any doubt that during the latter half of the Carboniferous 
period strata were deposited in southern Australia, Farther 
India and the Cape region of South Africa, whose material 
shows all the characteristic features of transportation by 
means of glaciers.” 
PERIOD OF GLACIATION. 
To give a satisfactory representation of the paleontological 
evidence of the different classes of contained organic remains 
as to the age of the terranes with which we are concerned 
would be impossible within the limits of the present paper; 
and, indeed, the work has already been so thoroughly and 
accessibly done by W. T. Blanford, Feistmantel, Waagen, 
Lydekker and others, that I shall content myself with giving 
but little more than a synopsis of the general results obtained 
by the workers in the different domains of paleontology, at the 
same time putting those, who may wish to carry the matter 
more into detail, in the way of finding the desired informa¬ 
tion by means of the references and appended list of papers. 
The paleontological anomalies which are everywhere charac¬ 
teristic of the great formations with which we have to deal are 
the best known as well as the most remarkable that have yet 
been met with in the progress of geological discovery. Per¬ 
haps no better or more striking presentation of the contra¬ 
dictory evidence of organic remains has ever been offered than 
that of W. T. Blanford in his address on “ Homotaxis as 
illustrated in India,” delivered before the geological section of 
the British Association at its Montreal meeting in 1884. 
1 Joseph Prestwitch. Geology, Chemical, Physical and Strati- 
graphical. Oxford, 1886, 2 vols. 
2 Melchior Neumayr. Erdgeschichte. Leipzig, 1887, 2 vols. (See 
vol.'ll, pp. 181-198, with figures.) 
