, 1877-03-17

established, SO that the same species amt
the same sorts of species would be likely
to secure and retain Ioo.holl iutu' ,jmi.
lar climate, of Japan aud the Atlantj"
Uuitcl Sr,tas, bpt not in the intcrmndi-
etc regions ot djnorcrt distribution of
hest and moisture 50 that different
species Of the same genus, ne in Iomrya
or different genera Of the same group,
rs redwood TaXOdium and Glyp,O,tro
lus, or different associations OF forest
trees. might establish themselves each in
the region best suited to the particular
requirements, while they might fail to
do so in others. These views implied
that the sources Of our actual vegetation,
and the explanation of these pccuIIari.
tics were to be sought in and presup.
posed an ancestry in PIoccne or earlier
times, occupying the high northern re
gions. " The hypothesis sup
posed a gradual modification OF species
IN different directions under altering
conditions, at least to the extent OF pro-
ducing varieties, sub-species and rep
resentative species rs they may be varl.
ousy regarded likewise the Nngle and
local origination Of each type, which is
now almost universally taken for
granted.
The needfuI facts. Of which he was
then ignorant, have since then tor many
years been made known, through the re-
searches of Herr, confirmed by Lcsque-
reuX.
"The TaXodium, which everywhere
ahouuds in the miocenc formations in
Europo, has been specifically identified
VIII our common cypress of the South
ern States. 1t has been found fossil IN
Spitsber-en, Greenland and Auska-in
the later country along with the remains
OF another form, distinguishablc, but
very like the common species this hu,
been identified by Lesqurreux in the u j.
OCene of the Rocky Mountains. So there
is one species OF tree which has come
down essentially unchanged from the
Tertiary period, which for long. while
inhabited both Europe and North Amer
lea, and also at some part Of the period
the region which connects the two, but
which has survived only in the Atlantic
United States and Mexico
The same Se9HOia which abounds in
the same miocene formation in Northern
Europe has been abundaatly found in
those of Iceland, Spitzbergen, Greenland.
Mackensie river, and Alaska. 1t is
named S. LORgs9orfi, but it is pro.
nounced to be very much like s. Sem.
Peroireas, our living redwood of the
California coast, and to be the ancient
representative of it. Fossil specimens
of n similar, if not the same, species have
recently been detected in the Rocky
Mountains by Hayden, and determined
by our eminent archaeological botanist
LesquereuX; and lie assures me that he
has the common redwood itself from
Oregon in deposit of Tertiary ape.
Another SeQuoiG Is. StGmberyiO discov-
cred in miocene deposits in Greenland,
is pronounced to be the representative of
s; Gigan'sa' S the big tree of the oalitOr.
MA Sierra.
| think we may with our present LIGHT,
fairly assume that the two redwOods of
California are the direct or collateral de-
scendants of the two ancient species
which so closel y resemble them. The
forests Of the Arctic Zone in Tertiary
times contained at least three other spe-
cies OF SegNOtdS, as determined by their
remains, one of which from Spitzbergen,
also, much resembles the common red
wood OF California. Another, which
appears to be the commonest coniferous
tree on Disco, was common in England
and some other parts of Europe. So the
Sequoias, now remarkable for their re.
strlcted station and numbers, as well as
for their extraordinary size, are of an
ancient stock; their ancestors ancestors
and kindred formed part of the forests
which tlourished throughout the polar
regions, now desoate and icc.clad, and
which extended into low latitudes in
Europe.
Differences of climate, or circumstan
ces of migration, or both must have de.
termined the survival of the SeQU0a
upon the Pacific, and of Tar0diUm upon
the Atlantic coast And still the red
woods will not stand in the east, nor
could our TaDodium find a congenial
home in California, Both had probably
their opportunity in the olden time and
failed. As to the remninng near rola-
tive OF SeQHota, the Chinese Giyptostr0-
tus IL species ofit, and its veria6le rep
resentative, was contemporaneous with
ScQ'toja and Iaro3ium, not only in tenn
perate Europe, but throughout the Are
tic regions from Greenland to Alaska.
Accosdlng to Newherry it was abund-
antIy represented in the mioccne fora of
the Temperate Zone ot our own CONT
mani frnnh Mnl,r In u tlr D,n;., >. N