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THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES
VOLUME LXI
THE
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.
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=Each book complete in One Volume, 12mo, and bound in Cloth.=
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1. FORMS OF WATER: A Familiar Exposition of the Origin and
Phenomena of Glaciers. By J. Tyndall, LL. D., F. R. S. With 25
Illustrations. $1.50.
2. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; Or, Thoughts on the Application of the
Principles of "Natural Selection" and "Inheritance" to
Political Society. By Walter Bagehot. $1.50.
3. FOODS. By Edward Smith, M. D., LL. B., F. R. S. With numerous
Illustrations. $1.75.
4. MIND AND BODY: The Theories of their Relation. By Alexander
Bain, LL. D. With 4 Illustrations. $1.50.
5. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By Herbert Spencer. $1.50.
6. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. By Professor J. P. Cooke, of Harvard
University. With 31 Illustrations. $2.00.
7. ON THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. By Balfour Stewart, M.A., LL.
D., F. R. S. With 14 Illustrations. $1.50.
8. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION; or, Walking, Swimming, and Flying. By J. B.
Pettigrew, M. D., F. R. S., etc. With 130 Illustrations. $1.75.
9. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By Henry Maudsley, M.D.
$1.50.
10. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By Professor Sheldon Amos. $1.75.
11. ANIMAL MECHANISM: A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aërial
Locomotion, By Professor E. J. Marey. With 117 Illustrations.
$1 75.
12. THE HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE. By
J. W. Draper, M. D., LL. D. $1.75.
13. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT AND DARWINISM. By Professor Oscar
Schmidt (Strasburg University). With 26 Illustrations. $1.50.
14. THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY. By Dr. Hermann
Vogel (Polytechnic Academy of Berlin). Translation thoroughly
revised. With 100 Illustrations. $2.00.
15. FUNGI: Their Nature, Influences, Uses, etc. By M. C. Cooke, M.
A., LL. D. Edited by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M. A., F.L. S.
With 109 Illustrations. $1.50.
16. THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE. By Professor William Dwight
Whitney, of Yale College. $1.50.
17. MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE. By W. Stanley Jevons, M.
A., F. R. S. $1.75.
18. THE NATURE OF LIGHT, with a General Account of Physical
Optics. By Dr. Eugene Lommel. With 188 Illustrations and a
Table of Spectra in Chromo-lithography. $2.00.
19. ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. By Monsieur Van Beneden. With
83 Illustrations. $1.50.
20. FERMENTATION. By Professor Schützenberger. With 28
Illustrations. $1.50.
21. THE FIVE SENSES OF MAN. By Professor Bernstein. With 91
Illustrations. $1.75.
22. THE THEORY OF SOUND IN ITS RELATION TO MUSIC. By Professor
Pietro Blaserna. With numerous Illustrations. $1.50.
23. STUDIES IN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS. By J. Norman Lockyer, F. R. S.
With 6 Photographic Illustrations of Spectra, and numerous
Engravings on Wood. $2.50.
24. A HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE STEAM-ENGINE. By Professor R.
H. Thurston. With 163 Illustrations. $2.50.
25. EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE. By Alexander Bain, LL.D. $1.75.
26. STUDENTS' TEXT-BOOK OF COLOR; Or, Modern Chromatics. With
Applications to Art and Industry. By Professor Ogden N. Rood,
Columbia College. New edition. With 130 Illustrations. $2.00.
27. THE HUMAN SPECIES. By Professor A. de Quatrefages, Membre de
l'Institut. $2.00.
28. THE CRAYFISH: An Introduction to the Study of Zoölogy. By T.
H. Huxley, F. R. S. With 82 Illustrations. $1.75.
29. THE ATOMIC THEORY. By Professor A. Wurtz. Translated by E.
Cleminshaw, F. C. S. $1.50.
30. ANIMAL LIFE AS AFFECTED BY THE NATURAL CONDITIONS OF
EXISTENCE. By Karl Semper. With 2 Maps and 106 Woodcuts. $2.00.
31. SIGHT: An Exposition of the Principles of Monocular and
Binocular Vision. By Joseph Le Conte, LL. D. With 132
Illustrations. $1.50.
32. GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCLES AND NERVES. By Professor J.
Rosenthal. With 75 Illustrations. $1.50.
33. ILLUSIONS: A Psychological Study. By James Sully. $1.50.
34. THE SUN. By C. A. Young, Professor of Astronomy in the College
of New Jersey. With numerous Illustrations. $2.00.
35. VOLCANOES: What they Are and what they Teach. By John W. Judd,
F.R. S., Professor of Geology in the Royal School of Mines.
With 96 Illustrations. $2.00.
36. SUICIDE: An Essay in Comparative Moral Statistics. By Henry
Morselli, M.D., Professor of Psychological Medicine, Royal
University, Turin. $1.75.
37. THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD, THROUGH THE ACTION OF WORMS.
With Observations on their Habits. By Charles Darwin, LL. D.,
F. R. S. With Illustrations. $1.50.
38. THE CONCEPTS AND THEORIES OF MODERN PHYSICS. By J. B. Stallo.
$1.75.
39. THE BRAIN AND ITS FUNCTIONS. By J. Luys. $1.50.
40. MYTH AND SCIENCE. By Tito Vignoli. $1.50.
41. DISEASES OF MEMORY: An Essay in the Positive Psychology. By
Th. Ribot, author of "Heredity." $1.50.
42. ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. A Record of Observations of the Habits
of the Social Hymenoptera. By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F. R.
S., D. C. L., LL. D., etc. $2.00.
43. SCIENCE OF POLITICS. By Sheldon Amos. $1.75.
44. ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. By George J. Romanes. $1.75.
45. MAN BEFORE METALS. By N. Joly, Correspondent of the Institute.
With 148 Illustrations. $1.75.
46. THE ORGANS OF SPEECH AND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE FORMATION OF
ARTICULATE SOUNDS. By G. H. von Meyer, Professor in Ordinary
of Anatomy at the University of Zurich. With 47 Woodcuts.
$1.75.
47. FALLACIES: A View of Logic from the Practical Side. By Alfred
Sidgwick, B.A., Oxon. $1.75.
48. ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. By Alphonse de Candolle. $2.00.
49. JELLY-FISH, STAR-FISH, AND SEA-URCHINS. Being a Research on
Primitive Nervous Systems. By George J. Romanes. $1.75.
50. THE COMMON SENSE OF THE EXACT SCIENCES. By the late William
Kingdon Clifford. $1.50.
51. PHYSICAL EXPRESSION: Its Modes and Principles. By Francis
Warner, M.D., Assistant Physician, and Lecturer on Botany to
the London Hospital, etc. With 51 Illustrations. $1.75.
52. ANTHROPOID APES. By Robert Hartmann, Professor in the
University of Berlin. With 63 Illustrations. $1.75.
53. THE MAMMALIA IN THEIR RELATION TO PRIMEVAL TIMES. By Oscar
Schmidt. $1.50.
54. COMPARATIVE LITERATURE. By Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett, M. A.,
LL. D., F. L. S., Barrister-at-Law; Professor of Classics and
English Literature, University College, Auckland, New Zealand;
author of "The Historical Method," etc. $1.75.
55. EARTHQUAKES AND OTHER EARTH MOVEMENTS. By John Milne,
Professor of Mining and Geology in the Imperial College of
Engineering, Tokio, Japan. With 38 Figures. $1.75.
56. MICROBES, FERMENTS, AND MOULDS. By E. L. Trouessart. With 107
Illustrations. $1.50.
57. THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. By
Angelo Heilprin. $2.00.
58. WEATHER. A Popular Exposition of the Nature of Weather Changes
from Day to Day. By Hon. Ralph Abercromby. $1.75.
59. ANIMAL MAGNETISM. By Alfred Binet and Charles Féré, Assistant
Physician at the Salpêtrière.
* * * * *
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE HISTORY OF PLANTS IN GEOLOGICAL TIME.
(Adapted from Ward.)]
THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES
THE
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
OF PLANTS
BY
SIR J. WILLIAM DAWSON C. M. G., LL. D., F. R. S., &c.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_
NEW YORK APPLETON AND COMPANY 1888
Copyright, 1888, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
PREFACE.
The object of this work is to give, in a connected form, a summary of the
development of the vegetable kingdom in geological time.
To the geologist and botanist the subject is one of importance with
reference to their special pursuits, and one on which it has not been
easy to find any convenient manual of information. It is hoped that its
treatment in the present volume will also be found sufficiently simple
and popular to be attractive to the general reader.
In a work of so limited dimensions, detailed descriptions cannot be
given, except occasionally by way of illustration; but references to
authorities will be made in foot-notes, and certain details, which may be
useful to collectors and students, will be placed in notes appended to
the chapters, so as not to encumber the text.
The illustrations of this work are for the most part original; but some
of them have previously appeared in special papers of the author.
J. W. D.
_February, 1888._
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Preliminary Ideas of Geological Chronology and of the
Classification of Plants 1