New South Wales. 
63 
coniferous wood arc already found in our Devonian Measures, 
while analogous species are recorded as yet only in the Carbon¬ 
iferous Measures of England. Though the analogy of vegetation 
between the flora of the Coal Measures of America and Europe is 
evidently established by a number of identical genera and species, 
we have, nevertheless, some types, like the Paleoxiris , which are 
considered as characteristic of strata of the European Permian, 
and which are found in one of our Coal Measures as far down as 
the first Coal above the millstone grit. Even peculiar ferns of our 
Upper Coal-strata have a typical analogy with species of the 
Oolite of England. Our Trias, by the presence of numerous 
cycadese, touches the Jurassic of Europe. But i\ is especially from 
our flora of the Lower Cretaceous that we have a vegetable 
exposition peculiarly at variance with that of Europe at the 
same epoch, and whose types so much resemble those of the 
European Tertiary that the evidence of the age of the formation, 
where the plants have been found, could not be admitted by 
Palaeontologists until after irrefutable proofs of it bad been 
obtained.” 
If such “ seeming discordance” is the case in America, why 
should not the same view be taken of the relations of the 
European and Australian Coal Measures ? There can be no 
greater discordance between the relations of the latter than with 
the examples quoted above, with the additional fact, that in 
Australia the Upper Coal Measures offer no evidence of any un¬ 
disputed Mesozoic animal species. 
In another place (op. cifc., p. 374) the same accomplished 
author says: “ The Lower Permian has still for its land vegetation 
many species of plants of the Coal Measures, but here the conifers 
appear represented for the first time by their leaves and branches, 
and are of a peculiar order. * * * * The Triassic which, 
with ns at least, touches by the character of its flora to the 
Jurassic, has plants which, like Cgcadece , rather indicate a warm 
than a vaporous atmosphere. But for this and the following 
formations, the Jurassic, the data furnished by fossil plants on 
this continent are too scant- to permit reliable conclusions.” 
What appears to me to be a conclusive opinion lias been offered 
by Dr. Julius llaast, E.R.S., respecting the occurrence of Marine 
and plant beds of the same age as ours in the Malvern Hill Dis¬ 
trict, Canterbury, Xcw Zealand, who says, in October, 1S71 
( u iY,Z. Geological Survey Reports on Geological Explorations during 
1871-72 ”),that on the west side of Mount Potts, Upper Rangitata, 
there are “different species of Spirifera ; besides them there are 
species of Productus, Murchisouia, Euomphalus, Nucula, Orthis, 
and Orthoceras. Most of these shells, of which some broad- 
winged Spirifers arc very numerous, are, according to Professor 
M‘Coy, of Melbourne, identical with Australian fossils, and are of 
