The Geological History of PlantsDawson, John William, Sir
Science
The Geological History of Plants
Dawson, John William, Sir
Paleobotany
When my paper was written I had not seen the account published by
the able Swiss palæobotanist Heer, of the remarkable Devonian flora
of Bear Island, near Spitzbergen.[EI] From want of acquaintance with
the older floras of America and western Europe, Heer fell into the
unfortunate error of regarding the whole of Bear Island plants as
Lower Carboniferous, a mistake which his great authority has tended to
perpetuate, and which has even led to the still graver error of some
European geologists, who do not hesitate to regard as Carboniferous the
fossil plants of the American deposits from the Hamilton to the Chemung
groups inclusive, though these belong to formations underlying the oldest
Carboniferous, and characterised by animal remains of unquestioned
Devonian age. In 1872 I addressed a note to the Geological Society of
London on the subject of the so-called "Ursa stage" of Heer, showing
that, though it contained some forms not known at so early a date in
temperate Europe, it was clearly, in part at least, Devonian when tested
by North American standards; but that in this high latitude, in which,
for reasons stated in the report above referred to, I believed the
Devonian plants to have originated, there might be an intermixture of the
two floras. But such a mixed group should in that latitude be referred
to a lower horizon than if found in temperate regions. Dr. Nathorst,
as already stated, has recently obtained new facts which go to show
that plants of two distinct horizons may have been intermixed in the
collections submitted to Heer.
[EI] "Transactions of the Swedish Academy" 1871; "Journal of the London
Geological Society," vol. xxviii.
Between 1870 and 1873 my attention was turned to the two sub-floras
intermediate between those of the Devonian and the coal-formation, the
floras of the Lower Carboniferous (Subcarboniferous of some American
geologists) and the Millstone Grit, and in a report upon these[EJ]
similar deductions were expressed. It was stated that in Newfoundland
the coal-beds seem to belong to the Millstone Grit series, and as we
proceed southward they belong to progressively newer portions of the
Carboniferous system. The same fact is observed in the coal-beds of
Scotland, as compared with those of England, and it indicates that the
coal-formation flora, like that of the Devonian, spread itself from the
north, and this accords with the somewhat extensive occurrence of Lower
Carboniferous rocks and fossils in the Parry Islands and elsewhere in the
arctic regions.
[EJ] "Fossil Plants of Lower Carboniferous and Millstone Grit Formations
of Canada," pp. 47, ten plates, Montreal, 1873.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account